This past weekend I flew to Manchester, New Hampshire for the 2010 CGOA Chain Link Conference. The conference had vendor booths with yarn, roving, books, knitted and crocheted items, needles and hooks, and much more. It was like a mini-Reinbeck. There was a display of amazing projects from the design competition. There were classes in all kinds of knitting and crochet techniques. There were knit and crochet fashion shows. You name it, the conference had it. Hundreds of people attended including many stars of the crochet world. I made lots of new friends and had a wonderful time.
I took three Karabouts dolls with me. Here they are hanging out in my gigantic hotel room. I used Mike's Hilton Honors points to book the room and somehow ended up with an executive suite!
When I got to the conference I met up with my CGOA mentor, Susan Lowman. Susan was a huge help to me during the weekend. She introduced me to people I wanted to meet, made sure I found my way around, and she even let me squeeze into one of her sold-out classes.
Susan is incredibly talented. She's a crochet technical editor, teacher, and pattern designer.
The pattern for the beautiful crochet necklace Susan's wearing in this photo is available here.
In Susan's class I learned to do something called "wiggly crochet." Here is my version of the coaster Susan designed for us to make.
I love this technique. Now that I've learned how to do it I'm going to make this amazing rug, also designed by Susan. 
If you want to make the rug too, you can find Susan's pattern book that includes the rug at Annie's Attic. It's currently on sale for $3.95!
Next year's conference is in Minneapolis. Anyone want to go with me? The dolls were good roommates and they got a lot of attention, but they didn't talk much in the evenings.