It’s time to sign up again to become a PiPN Host for the coming year (2010-2011).

NEW this year.

• Hosts and applicants can now choose any time period during the 2010-2011 academic year, as well as throughout the summer.
• Association members can now easily and quickly apply online.  Click here for the Host Application.
• Applicants will also be able to register online.

Previous Hosts have applauded the program, and have commented that the experiences were enjoyable and rewarding.

Our interns have echoed those sentiments.  Visit PiPN Lane to see more of what our interns have said about their experiences this year.

If you’ve never been a host, please consider participating this year.

It doesn’t take much . . . just a willingness to mentor a young, enthusiastic fiber arts lover, to share your knowledge and experience and love of this creative industry.

For more information, please visit TNNA.org College Outreach

There you will be able to download a quick overview of the PiPN program, as well as a more complete overview of the 2010-2011 requirements and schedules.

If you have been a PiPN host in the past, please complete the online application as well,  so we have all your updated information.

Click here for the Host Application.

Since the change in format this year, Career Counselors and Professors in Fashion Merchandising and Design, Textiles, Retail Management, and others, are opening the doors of their classrooms to PiPN.  

In the last months, I've presented PiPN to students at six colleges including West Virginia University, University of Alabama, Colorado State University, Carnegie Mellon, Kent State University, University of Akron and also met with the Art Institute of  Colorado in Denver.

I'm on my way to talk to students at the Art Institute of California in San Francisco and the California College of Arts, then on to Moore College of Art & Design and Philadelphia University. 

We're also receiving inquiries and applications from students attending Bryn Mawr, Georgia College & State University and East Tennessee State University.

If you're a student who is interested in participating, you can download the host information by going to clicking here. 

You can also download a student application by clicking here. 

If you're a TNNA member interested in being a host company, it's never too late to add your name to the list. 

Contact me at bdirect @ columbus.rr.com for more information. (remove the spaces when emailing, please)

I had the chance to speak to a large class of juniors and seniors, many of whom are looking for internships for this summer. The students were more than welcoming . . . and after my presentation, were eager to put their names on the PiPN interest contact sheet.

The opportunity to intern in a small business makes PiPN a real find for many students. Rather than spending the summer with a large company where experiences may be limited, PiPN students really get involved in their placements. In addition, they truly learn what it means to have a small business . . . so besides needlearts, they acquire true business survival skills.

We’ll be posting the updated lists of opportunities, with explanations, soon. So check back!

Route #1 is the same as it has been in the past.  Students from colleges across the country are invited to participate in, what we now call, the PiPN Summer Scholar Program.  A partnership with the University of Akron, Akron OH, this program is a 6 credit-hour summer experience. 

Route #2 is open to any student interested in an internship.  Those participating do not need to attend the University of Akron’s program. Rather, the internship is taken through their own schools, and students must comply with the requirements of their own colleges.  In this case, students may register with PiPN and be matched with appropriate internship opportunities.  Internships may take place any time during the year.

Route #3 is open to anyone not attending a college or university but interested in a career in the needlearts.  Apprentices may not already be or own professional needlearts companies. As in Route #2, these opportunities may take place any time during the year.

More information about each new route can be found at TNNA.org.

From Cyndy Hartline interning with Coats & Clark, NC
Last week of June 2009

Charlotte, North Carolina is a beautiful place. There are flowers blooming everywhere and all the buildings, apartments, businesses, malls and houses in the area where I live and work are probably less than twelve years old. Coats and Clark has been located in Charlotte for about eleven years and in this new building for five. The company has a long history that dates back to the early 1800’s.

The people I have met are so nice. My first night here, I had dinner at Wolfgang Pucks Bistro and our desserts were on the house to welcome us to Charlotte. Then the hostess gave us free appetizer coupons to use next time.

My neighbor and host, Nancy Thomas, is the Creative Director at Coats. We ride to work together and she makes sure I don’t miss anything (both at home and at work).  Nancy always reminds me to take pictures and explains why something is done a certain way. She has written seven books on knitting and crocheting. She is extremely knowledgeable on every aspect of this business.

In my first week, I have attended meetings where new booklets were being planned and organized, new colors were being designed and named and new products that are just in the beginning stages of being introduced. I have seen sketches from designers with swatches proposing a new product. I am lucky to be working with people that have been in the industry in for years in so many capacities.

I didn’t realize that there were companies that built booths for trade shows. I got to go to our booth to get it ready for a trade show in Orlando next month. We put all of our samples and finished garments where we want them, and then our contact tears everything down and sends it to the show and sets it up again.

The most exciting thing that happened is that Nancy Jewell, the manager of New Product Development Sewing Products has asked me to make a bag that will showcase our threads for a photo shoot. I have to make some sketches and if she likes one, she will provide all the materials from our fabric and thread department. She gave me a couple of ideas, one of which is couching – one of the techniques that I just learned in Fiber Arts class.

Nancy and Bobbie are encouraging me to knit. They gave me my own set of knitting needles and I take home yarn every day. Bobbie wants me to knit swatches, try some patterns and evaluate our website and cd’s through the eyes of a new knitter. This may become my final project.

I took a page from Jenn, Zoe and Kari’s book and go out every night, even if it is just to the pool. I went out with my supervisor, Bobbie Matela (who has edited hundreds of books) and her husband for dinner and a tour of Charlotte. I go visit yarn stores, malls (there are a lot of malls), and to events (most of the strip malls have live entertainment on certain nights) and shopping. I am really have a good time and learning a great deal.

Click here or go to http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/48750357.html

Thanks to Carol Biliczky, a writer at the Beacon Journal, for helping us get the word out.

• Justin Campbell, University of Akron; hosted by Dr. Susan Kay-Williams, Royal School of Needlework, London
• Kari Capone, University of Akron; hosted by Jessica Cepek and Doreen Connors, SoHo Publishing, New York
• Kathleen Guanciale, University of Akron; hosted by Becca Smith, Bagsmith, Shaker Heights, O
• Cynthia Hartline, University of Akron; hosted by Nancy Thomas, Coats & Clark, Charlotte, N
• Lori Henry, University of Akron; hosted by Liz Tekus, Fine Points Inc., Cleveland
• Jennifer Lynn Kennedy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh; hosted by Francis Cester and Joann Walus, Cestari, Ltd., Churchville, VA, in partnership with Hand Painted Knitting Yarns
• Erin Scheiner, University of Akron; hosted by Ann Forquer, Wool and Willow Needlepoint and designer Barbara Bergsten, Shaker Heights OH
• Kristi Schwechheimer, University of Akron; hosted by Jessica Cepek and Doreen Connors, SoHo Publishing, New York
• Sothea Soum, University of Akron; hosted by Heidi Massengill, Stitch Cleveland, Lakewood, OH
• Zoe Valette, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI; hosted by Shannon Oakey, Knitgrrl, Cleveland

The newest class has already been immersed in needlepoint, embroidery and counted thread, and are loving it!  Their first week was capped off with a study tour . . . or what we used to call a “field trip” . . . Whatever the name, it was a wonderful opportunity for our students to visit some of the local host companies, as well as enjoy the amazing exhibits at both Kent State and Stan Hywet.  Check out the slide show at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRPY7R58-SQ

This week, the students will be attending The National NeedleArts Association’s June Needlearts Market in Columbus OH.  They’ll get a chance to meet the people who make up our industry, attend the Teacher Meet & Greet, Needlepoint Premier and Yarn Group Fashion Show.  Then they’ll be able to roam the floor of the show . . . something only open to the professionals in the field.

Some of the students will also be offering their own products for a Chinese Auction to help raise funds for their summer internships.