PiPN Summer 2008

Pathways into Professional NeedleArts — Summer 2008

PiPN, the academically acclaimed partnership between TNNA and the University of Akron, Akron OH, creates a positive needlearts presence in the college community, educates and involves new, young stitchers and inspires the professionals of tomorrow.

In addition to providing host companies with valuable assistance and energetic support, PiPN provides young people with an opportunity to learn about the wonderful world of needlearts and the many opportunities for future careers in a strong and growing industry. Within this unique experience, students earn 6 hours of credit (3 hours for the in-class, hands-on training; 3 hours for on-site placement.)

Ten interns successfully completed this summer's PiPN 2008. Host companies have called, emailed, and posted blogs about the incredible experiences everyone has had. We also asked our interns to send us blog entries throughout the summer.

Here is a glimpse into their travels through PiPN 2008:

Erica Bruner
Columbus College of Art and Design, OH
interning at Tanglewood Fiber Creations, St. Helens OR

Sunday, June 22, 2008 2:10 AM

Hey Everyone!
This is Erica Bruner interning at Tanglewood Fiber Creations in Oregon, with Trish Andersen. Trish and I are currently in Eugine, OR for the event called Blacksheep Gathering. Tonight I got to help with the judging of the fashion show. Trust me, It's not a fashion show until you include sheep! It was a lot of fun to see what everyone had made from the sheep they owned. I have learned many things about the world of fiber so far and am looking forward to learning more. We haven't done too much quite yet because I arrived on Tues. and Wed. was declared restful Wed. so I can adjust to the time change considering I had finally arrived at 4:30am Ohio time (1:30am in Oregon). I'm very excited to make a new red colorway for Trish and to help her further her "business". So that is what is going on so far and trust me it only seems to get more interesting from here. I hope all the other interns are having as good as a time!!
Until Later,
Erica Bruner

Natalie Dugan
University of Akron, OH
intering at CNS Yarns, Montreal Canada

June 30, 2008

Bonjour!
Montreal is quite an interesting city...filled with the old and the new. I am starting my third week now, and both the city and CNS Yarns are treating me very well! The language barrier has been challenging, but certainly manageable. I am learning a bit of French. :) I am living in a more English speaking side of town, and also a corner block away from a popular street called "Sherbrooke," filled with great one-of-a-kind shopping and quaint french eateries.

It takes me about 25 minutes to get to and from work, between walking and the subway. I am in the "textile district," and on the 12th floor of my building, which provides an amazing view of the mountain and the city. CNS Yarns Inc. is a manufacturer/wholesaler/distributor of specialty knitwear yarns. I am extremely happy with the experience I am getting thus far. I am learning so much about business practices in general, CNS Yarns' industry and operations, as well as internatioanl
trade and operations. 75% of CNS Yarns' customers are in the U.S., leaving about 15% throughout Canada, and about 10% in Europe and South America. My team has been so welcoming and certainly teaching me a lot.

I have been meeting many nice people here. I play soccer on a recreational team every Thursday, which is so much fun. The mosquitos here are INSANE! Bug repellant has been my "best-friend." :P Some people I met here took me "up-north" over this past weekend, and I was able to see the country side of Montreal...beautiful! I also got the chance to go through my first ever Zip-Line Course. It was so challanging, and so much fun!

This summer's journy has kick-started a growing experience for me, both educational and personal.

I hope everyone is enjoying their internships so far. I am anxious to hear about them.

Take care and God Bless!! :)
Natalie Dugan

Katie Dutton
University of Akron, Akron OH
interning at Misti Alpaca, Arequipa Peru

Hello, my name is Katie Dutton and I am a graduate student at the University of Akron. This summer I had the opportunity of interning at Misti International inArequipa Peru. I am learning every aspect of the yarn industry from the ground up. Thus far I have learned how to make yarn maps which dictate the placement of colors on a skein of yarn which can be in the upwards of fifty colors. Following that I had to use my impressive math skills and measure out concentrations of dyes to create an assortment of shades of colors. After that I was given the reins and able to create new colors. They were given names close to me such as
"Cleveland Brown" and "Ho, Ho, Ho, green giant." With these colors I designed my own color way and dyed a skein of yarn my color choices. I then knitted it into a sampler (shown in picture) and was happy with my vibrant color choices.

Today I dyed an alpaca and silk blend with the help of Lucile, my giggling teacher. We taught each other the letters in the alphabet in our own languages and were able to communicate without talking. Miguel arrived today and we made plans for the rest of our adventure here. I am going to help out with a photo shoot, product development, and then visiting an alpaca ranch. There is so much to do and so little time!

Philippa Eccles
Harvard Univeristy, Boston MA
interning at Classic Elite, Lowell MA

So far, my internship at Classic Elite has been a wonderful experience. Initially, I was surprised by the small size of the company- it consists of about 10 people, one floor of office space and one floor of warehouse. For such a big wholesale yarn company, this was unexpected, but the small size has actually one of the highlights of my experience. I got to know everyone quickly; the workspace has a warm and inviting atmosphere. The office space is so open that you can overhear everyone’s conversations so it all feels very relaxed and informal. Not to mention the little routines like Thursday’s Chinese food lunch that make you feel right at home.

I’ve been working on one main project which is to inventory all of Classic Elite’s old patterns. I’ve already completed an Excel sheet with the basic information of each pattern and I’m in the midst of scanning an image of each. There are several reasons for this project. Customers often call in to acquire after older patterns. For this and other reasons, it’s good to have a database of the company’s history. In addition, my boss, Betsy Perry, is also hoping to make more patterns available online at Patternfish.com. This requires going through all our past patterns, seeing what have and what might still be of interest. Finally, the archives of patterns badly need cleaning out! Too much warehouse space is being taken up by hundreds of copies of old patterns that no one ever needs. Once the information is organized and in one place, all the excess copies can be thrown away. It’s a big but incredibly gratifying job. I’ve seen the company’s history and can now recognize different knitwear designers pretty well. I’ve seen interesting and different designs/techniques that have given me inspiration for my own knitting. Most of all, I feel like I’m working on something concrete and necessary. The database has already come in handy a few times with customers calling in to inquire after old patterns.

I’ve also done a little work on online advertising. As a wholesaler, Classic Elite has an interesting dilemma concerning advertising since their ‘customer’ is really the retailer rather than individual. Nonetheless, the actual knitter has to be interested in Classic Elite yarns for the retailer to request them. My boss is trying to figure out how to take advantage of newer knitting ‘communities’ out there like Ravelry and Knitty.com. No consensus has been arrived at yet about the best way to do this (for instance, should we focus on advertising the yarns themselves, retailers that carry the yarns, Classic Elite patterns?) but hopefully there will be by the end of the summer.

One of my favorite things about working at Classic Elite is the fact that being surrounded by creative, hard working people- not to mention endless amounts of yarn- is inspiring. It has encouraged me to take my own interest in designing a step further. The first day, Cecily (with whom I share a cubicle space) gave me the email addresses of the editors of various knitting magazines so I’ve been spending all my free time designing for submissions. I also made a hat out of one of Classic Elite’s new fall yarns that will hopefully appear in one of their Fall web-letters as the week’s free pattern. It’s been really good for me to turn my own design into a more formal process- and to start putting myself out there. Knitting has always been one of my greatest passions, and I’m finally seeing how it can evolve into a career- one that involves a lot of hard work but also the type of creativity and energy that really excites me.

Finally, I’m learning a lot about yarn! I used to be much more concentrated on the process of knitting and finished project and paid less attention to the quality/brand name of the particular yarn I was using. My time in Akron began to instill a new appreciation for the fibers themselves, and Classic Elite has only augmented this. I love all the colors, the different blends of natural fibers, the care and thought that are put in to selecting beautiful yarns. I’ve even taken advantage of my employee discount (which is very good!) to buy a sweater’s worth of 100% cashmere yarn from Classic Elite’s Luxury branch. It’s heavenly to knit with.

It’s hard to believe that three weeks have already gone by. I’m looking forward to continuing (hopefully finishing) my projects and seeing what else the summer has in store!

Pictures to come . . .
The hat I designed for the Web letter. It’s made from Ariosa,
a Merino/Cashmere/Angora blend yarn that is new for fall.

Just some of the beautiful Classic Elite yarns! Inca Print is
100% alpaca, Lush is angora and wool and the one in the
middle is Alpaca Sox- it’s really gorgeous sock yarn and comes
in many vibrant colors.

My Classic Elite tote, I wear it with pride! And
my cashmere hanging out of the top. Hopefully
by the end of the summer, I’ll have made myself a
cashmere cardigan!

Autumn Glock
Humboldt State, CA
interning at Misti Alpaca, Arequipa Peru

I am a Zoology Student at California State University Humboldt in northern California. My focus is on fiber animals, especially silk moths. I was eager to intern with Misti International in Arequipa, Peru, to learn about the manufacture of yarn, how commercial hand painted yarn is produced, observe an alpaca farm in progress and learn about the grades of Alpaca wool in Peru. This was a once in a life time opportunity because I have been a handspinner for 15 years, a knitter for about 6 years and a life time fiber enthusiast.

One of the major projects I worked on while in Peru, was a workshop with a designer named Randi Sunde from Norway. Randi Sunde taught me a higher level of excellence in knitting, and also about how to do all the touch up knit work for a photoshoot. This workshop consisted of teaching twenty five local women who knew how to knit to read patterns. This was a challenge as I didn't speak Spanish. It was to make a baby sweater in five or so days. It however turned out to be an inspiring experience to connect with knitters from a different part of the world and to learn knitting terms in a different language. I was featured in the local paper, on the front page El Pueblo.

My internship consisted of making color ways, visiting yarn factories, the alpaca ranch, a Photoshoot (for a pattern book) I did with Katie Dutton, and the workshop. I already felt I had a knowledgeable back ground in fibers and knitting when I started this internship. This internship further enhanced my knowledge of the industry and I also feel that I have a life mentor. Being able to travel out of the country and experience fiber and needle arts in another country is life changing.

For a day to day account of the PIPN program and my internship please visit my personal blog at http://monkeyspinner.livejournal.com

Becky McNaughton
University of Missouri
interning at Coats and Clark, Charlotte NC

This summer I worked with the Design Production Manager at Coats and Clark. I helped organize and keep track of four new knitting and crochet books she is putting together. Each book has 12 to 15 projects, which we had designers make. I was in charge of photographing and tagging each project as it came in. My favorite book was the book of projects to make for charities. I researched many charities and did write ups on each to be included in the book. It was great to see the whole process of how a project book gets made.

That was a majority of my summer as well as various other office duties including updating spreadsheets and making copies. I also did the color layout for one of our new yarn catalogs. There were many different projects I did along the way, but these two stick out.

For my final project I worked through an old learn-to-crochet book and then rewrote and retyped the entire book. I also suggested projects to go in the book and helped with the general layout.
This whole summer has been a whirlwind and a journery that I am so glad I took. I learned so much in the class in Akron and my eyes are now open to how big and wonderful this industry is. I didn't really know anything about the yarn industry before this summer, and now I am considering a carreer in it! It is definately a program worth looking into.

Also participating this summer:

Kelly Fetteroff
University of Akron, OH
interning at Original Sewing and Quilt Expo, Westlake OH

Trina Gannon
University of Akron, OH
interning at Stitch, Piece ‘N Purl, Cuyahoga Falls OH

Dana Gorbach
University of Akron, Akron OH
interning at KnitWhits, Emeryville CA

Anna Iles
University of Akron, Akron OH
interning at Thymbles, Smithville OH

The full list of PiPN 2009 Host Companies and schedule will be available soon.

Interested students may contact Professor Tenna Jennings-Rentenaar, School of Consumer and Family Science, University of Akron, Akron OH, for more information and an application.

For more information about PiPN, please contact Sherry Mulne at bdirect@columbus.rr.com.