Knit and Crochet Now Coming Soon!

Knit and Crochet Now tv is coming sooner than you think. In the mean time, catch more details in the new issue of the Talking Crochet Newsletter. 

Read my behind the scenes recaps while we were filming... here, here and HERE.

More New Friends! Knit and Crochet Now!

We last left off with introducing you to Meredith Crawford, OneSocialGirl.
Then I got to meet MORE new friends to the Knit and Crochet Now show.

I know I already shared that Melissa Leapman was in the house! Did I also share that Jenny King is back visiting from Australia?

Jenny is adorable and sweet and a great business woman. I can't wait to tell you about her new yarns! If you can't wait either and want to go take a peek, head on over to her website... Jenny King Designs.

Then I got to meet the effervescent Kristen Mangus! Here Kristen has a fangirl moment with the Crafty Gemini, Vanessa Vargas Wilson. 

But first, Kristen is the Youtube star of GoodKnitKisses. She is especially passionate about loom knitting! She really opened my eyes to what is possible on the loom. You're going to fangirl over her and her patterns.

 

I didn't get much time with the lovely and intelligent Crafty Gemini, but we had some stimulating conversation at dinner where we talked Business! That woman knows her stuff! You probably are already one of her more than 300,000 YouTube fans but if you aren't familiar, go check out one of her more than 390 videos. 

Above is the whole cast except for the darling Melissa Leapman who had to fly home before the storm hit! The cast is: Co-hosts (and co-producers in charge) Connie Ellison and Lena Skvagerson, And then, myself, Jenny King,  Melissa Leapman, Meredith Crawford, Kristen Mangus and Vanessa Vargas Wilson. 

Knit and Crochet Now, Season 8 MORE, and Crochet Coaching!

First... my first month crochet coaching slots are filling up quickly. If you want help with submissions, design consultation, etiquette for CGOA and TNNA, you need to sign up with me QUICK. We are running out of time.  Send me an email for more details Ellen@ GoCrochet dot com.
And see these previous posts about the program to get your crochet career going! Slots will be open on an ongoing basis but I can only take a few 'first month' people at a time so they get good attention.

(Pin it!)

Back to Knit and Crochet Now! Season 8 has some major changes from previous seasons but all the great project inspiration and tips and quality is there!

 If you missed reading my previous posts about Knit and Crochet Now, Season 8, click here to catch up! I already shared that the amazing Melissa Leapman, has joined the cast! (above on the left).

 Meredith Crawford joined the show! She's from Dallas, TX. She's One Social Girl! And she wrote Crochet with One Sheepish Girl for Soho in 2013.

She's super cute and you can find her everywhere as OneSocialGirl.

On the show this season, I am demonstrating projects and I'm back in the Technique Corner! Any of you who enjoy my online classes are going to love the technique corner. Here, Scott Campbell takes some promo photos! Yes, you caught me.. Business on the top, runner on the bottom. Yoga pants and running shoes with full hair and makeup... yep. That's me. :) 

Knit and Crochet Now, Season 8

What a whirlwind! The taping of Knit and Crochet Now is always so exciting that this year was no different!

I made some new friends! I arrived at the studio on Tuesday and spent the day preparing all the projects I was going to teach, organizing my step-outs, making sure I had all the tools and details I needed. I met the crew and got familiar with the studio.

We filmed at a new location in Cleveland this year. The set looks gorgeous! Every color seems to pot pop on this set! Pictured below, Melissa Leapman looks beautiful and chic!

Melissa is new to the cast this year, which is totally a smart choice! When I search for Melissa in Books on Amazon... I got 229 results. Seriously. Her Indispensable Stitch Collection for Crocheters
is currently in my take-everywhere tote bag.  Check out her book!  Of course she is also a successful knit author. (cough, cough, understatement)

Here, Melissa and I are with Connie Ellison. Connie and Lena are co-hosting the show this season. Connie has been in the industry with Annie's for years! She works tirelessly on the Annie's Signature Collections, Annie's books and now the show too! Connie is the brilliant editor who saw the potential in my love for Bruges Lace. 

I still have so much to tell you! Come back Wednesday when I'll reveal another cast member! (The top photo is a hint!)

Knit and Crochet Now! Behind the Scenes!

We are taping Knit and Crochet Now this week! It will begin airing in September. Depending on your local station it may air right away or they may air it in January/February. To get it as soon as possible, become an All-access member.

Back on the set, this year with Lena Skvagerson, Connie Ellison, Jenny King, Melissa Leapman, and I haven't met three more mystery cast members that I will reveal to you later!

Knit & Crochet Now

Oh where to begin?  I'm sad that it has been so long since I've visited my blog.  Right after the Knit & Crochet Show in Manchester, NH, I had a week-ish at home and then left for Detroit to tape Season 6 of the Knit and Crochet Now show! 

Then... The kids went away to camp, Chickee broke her arm, soccer started, school started, we had a death in the family :(  and now we are recovering and trying to get back to something that resembles 'normal'. 

In the midst of all of that, I've been trying to keep up with my running and I'm hoping I'll be ready to run the first ever Queen Bee Half Marathon in October.

Here's the fun part... some photos from my trip to Knit & Crochet Now!

Above, I grabbed this banner from the Knit and Crochet Now Newsletter because it has the only photos of Lena I could find!  On the left is me, Brett Bara, our host, Candi Jensen (executive producer) and Lena Skvagerson (associate producer).  Lena is so sweet, I talked more about her on my Crochet! magazine blog, Behind the Hook.  You can find that interview here. That's Lena in the middle photo. She has been designing both knit and crochet for years mostly with Drops Design before joining us at Annies. On the right photo is the lovely Jenny King, who is joined us as a guest for Season 6 along with the host, Brett.

Robyn Chachula is back for another season! It's always good to catch up with her and plan how she can help me in the magazine too!

Here I am curious about the project that Kristin Nicholas and Brett are about to discuss. Click on Kristin's name to take you to her blog to see her new book, Colorful Stitchery.

Drew Emborsky is BACK!  As you can see we harmoniously picked up where he left off a couple of seasons ago and we fell into step and were even color coordinated without even trying! I had with me... my All Shook Up Shawlette that I designed using Drew's yarn for my book, Go Crochet! Skillbuilder. If you can hang in there, Monday I'll post how USA residents can order signed copies of Skillbuilder from me directly. If you can't wait, get the book as softcover or digital version HERE.

Knit and Crochet Now season 5 Debut!

Check it out! Season 5 of Knit and Crochet Now is airing this month and the DVD is ready! Get all the details here.

One more photo

Knit and Crochet Now....

Behind the Scenes: Knit and Crochet Now

We taped the 5th Season of Knit and Crochet Now last week.

Here is Kathy, a camera operator, who was helping set up the stage. The table is the table we use when demonstrating projects, but it is protected by a cloth while the crew looks at photos of seasons past to update the set back-drop. There is Keisha, an intern, in the background. 

 When I'm standing at the table during a taping, if I look to my left, I see this big video monitor with me on it. (I try not to look that way!  It's kinda like a mirror during childbirth, I really didn't want to see it happening....) LOL

Me goofing around.  The pictures on the wall behind me eventually came down, because when we are standing at the table taping, the pictures on the wall were "framing" our heads, looking like square halos. So the crew took them down. in the show, the mannequins are dressed.

 When I stand at the taping table, I'm wearing running shoes... with every outfit.... no matter how fancy.  The floor is concrete and all the standing can get tiring.

 Here's the whole set from the back of the studio.  Sometimes we have observers hanging out back here. Sometimes we watch each other tape from here or in the control room. We also have a monitor running in the "work room" so we can crochet and knit and prep while watching the other segments film.

Here I am with the lovely Amanie right before my first segment. Amanie has won a few Emmy's (I don't know exactly how many...) for her make-up artistry.  Every time I tape, I have her tell me a few more products I need to add to my home make-up bag. It's really a treat to have an expert tell you EXACTLY what to buy, because really, for me it's just a guess.

The crew were teasing me about my "Texas" sized hair, but looking at it now, it really wasn't too big. 

Knit and Crochet Now TV

Thanks for being patient. I've been away taping more new episodes of Knit and Crochet Now. I'm so confused which season we are on... and probably you are too!

First the show was called 'Knit and Crochet Today'.  Later, for sponsor-ship reasons, the show was re-named Knit and Crochet Now.

There are NEW episodes now airing on PBS Create channels across the country. Check your local listings. I know that a few of you are starting to actually see the episodes, so I know it's true. Some markets will begin airing episodes May 13.

There are also new posts on the Knit and Crochet Blog and the website has been updated.

My first appearances on Knit & Crochet Now are now available at AnniesCatalog. 
The past season DVDs are also available. The DVD's also include all the patterns from that season on a CD-Rom. (OH! As I am looking this up on Annie's website, if you put "DVD" in the search box, my online classes are also AVAILABLE as a DVD! I didn't know that! cool).

I JUST got home from taping.  We tape in "shifts", so Kristin Nicholas and I were there together with Brett Bara and Candi Jensen and the team for the first two days, then Robyn Chachula and Maggie Pace come in to do their turn with the production team. The good news is that we all usually "overlap" for dinner in the middle. :)

 Here I am with Brett in the Wardrobe/make-up room. (I made her take a self-photo with me in the mirror, she was the smart one who looked at the camera!)

Here I am with Maggie Pace in the Production room.  That's the "back stage" room where we work in between taping and we have a monitor so we can watch each other as taping is going on... looks like the hands of Kristin Nicholas.

I was freezing, so I kept putting my jacket on between each shot. Thank goodness goose-bumps don't show up on camera (or so they assured me...)

You may find it interesting that we have the same camera crew/production team each time we tape. I get confused with their official titles, (I wish I knew them, because they are impressive) but we have Fred (who manages the "floor"), Cathy, Eric and two more camera people, then there is a "control room" where the Director, Alex, Carlotta (with an impressive title that escapes me) and a bunch of other technicians monitor the lighting and "choreograph" which camera and angle is being used each moment.  Also, Amanie, our Make-up and Hair Artist extraordinaire sits in the control room too (when she is not making someone up).  She likes to see how the hair and make-up are looking on camera under the lights so she can come to the floor and help us when we get "smudge-y" :)  It's not unusual for the "Head Honchos" of the tv station to make their rounds while we are taping, asking questions, getting ideas, and brainstorming.

Do you have any questions about how this stuff all works?  I'm still the newest member of the team, but I'd be glad to answer questions.

Crochet Guess...

Where I was last week? I was crocheting...

in Detroit...

with the cast of Knit & Crochet Now! Here I am above with crochet expert, Robyn Chachula. Below is Host, Brett Bara on the set.  I only got a few photos since we were super busy episodes. Thanks to Annie's for buying the show and Candi Jensen for bringing me on board!  I had a really terrific time. Brett is such a pro, she made my appearances so easy. It really helps that I've worked with Brett for a few years now on different projects!  And Robyn too!  We have so much in common that it makes working a really fun.

Here's a really old photo when I visited the set in 2009, who would have guessed back then that I'd be a "regular" on the show one day!