Archive for the ‘PiPN Student Reports 2009’ Category

My time spent working at Knitgrrl Studio this summer with Shannon Okey has been a terrific learning experience. Shannon does a wide variety of things in her business; she is an author, magazine editor, designer, teacher, and more. She recently opened her own studio space, so I got to see firsthand what it takes to start a small business from the ground up. She works with a wide variety of fiber arts; not just knitting but also spinning, felting, dyeing, and sewing.

Shannon has been a great mentor, including me in her meetings and in the general planning of her business so that I could really see what it takes to run a small business in the art and craft world. I’ve gotten to do a little bit of everything while I’ve been here. I’ve worked on knitting patterns and knit samples, and I researched and wrote an article for Yarn Forward, the UK knitting magazine that she edits. I’ve gotten to meet other local artists and business people that she works with on a regular basis. It’s been really useful for me to see what kinds of opportunities, both in business and the arts, are available in this area and might apply to me back home. One of the big projects that I took on this summer was working on her new online store; she sells a wide variety of fiber arts supplies as well as knitting, crochet, embroidery, and cross-stitch patterns from a wide variety of designers. Tech-savviness is not one of my strengths, so it has been really useful for me to learn to work with some of the on-line software that she uses.

It’s been a great summer; I’ve gotten to help Shannon start really interesting several long-term projects in different areas. The hardest part about the internship ending is that I won’t get to see all of these cool projects that we started continue to develop first-hand.

This week was my last week at SoHo Publishing and I can say that I’m going to miss interning here.  I’ve have been able to experience great opportunities here at SoHo that I would have not had anywhere else.  Along with learning so much, I also worked with a group of absolutely amazing people.  Those that I worked with were not only helpful, but also took time to get know me and sometimes laugh at me.  Along with being able to experience more than I thought I would, I also have had the best summer living in New York City.  The places I have gone and the people I have met have made this a once in a lifetime experience that I am so glad I can say that I have done.

At SoHo Publishing I worked on a number of different projects.  Generally, I worked with marketing in our magazines, Vogue Knitting, Knit 1, and Knit Simple, or with our book publishing side of the company.  I have never worked for a magazine company before and I was able to learn such a different side of advertising that I had never learned in classes.  I enjoyed being able to see the issues of each magazine come together piece by piece and it’s really amazing to see it all happen.  Sometimes, it seems like ciaos, but once the copy is finished the pages all make sense together and it is awesome to look through it for the first time.  It has felt like such an accomplishment to say that I was able to be a part of it.

Some of my favorite days during this internship were being able to help at the photo shoots.  I was able to go along to two of them, one for Knit Simple and the other for Vogue Knitting.  The issues that we worked on were for Holiday 2009.  It was at first crazy that we were setting the back grounds to look like winter and dressing the models in sweaters, but we were in a studio overlooking a beautiful view of the New York.   At one point, I even texted my mom to tell her I felt like I was in a movie! Those days I was able to work closer with some people that I generally didn’t get a chance to work with.  The Art Director was really inspiring.  He set the background and still shots and really had a great eye for what would be perfect in the magazine.  I also worked hand in hand with the stylist.  It was amazing being able to help with the outfits and accessories that the models were being photographed in.  I was defiantly on cloud nine.

Along with the marketing projects and photo shoots, I also learned so much about the Textile and Knitting industries. I myself am not a great knitter… (at all), but I try and I loved to see the editorial staff knit some of the most beautiful garments I have ever seen.  During the lunch hour a group of people would hang out at the table to knit and talk.  I would ask what they were working on, and they were knitting the designs created by the designers, which were going to be in the Vogue Knitting magazine.  SoHo Publishing employees a group of very talented knitters. Being that I worked in the Marketing Dept. we spent a good amount of time working with Yarn companies all over the U.S. and it was nice to get to know more about the Yarn Industry and all the companies involved in so many different ways.

Overall, I’m so happy that I was able to not only be a part of a great internship, but also the experiences I gained through both The University of Akron and PiPN.  AkronU. and PiPN has brought me great opportunities, but also more importantly I have met so many people who really inspire me. As my final days of being an undergrad student at Akron come, it makes me excited and confident to use these experiences and what I have learned while taking my step into the professional world.

I’ve been spending my summer with Liz Tekus in her wonderful yarn shop, Fine Points.  Fine Points is located in Cleveland’s Larchmere district and features distinctive yarns, fibers and accessories for knitting and crochet.

I have never been surrounded by so many colors and textures.  The shop is a wonderland for knitters.  The inventory is just amazing.  I have been keeping busy by putting together my own scarf kits.  That has been a wonderful experience and a task that utilizes the color theory lessons I’ve learned at school.  I have also learned to substitute yarns and convert meters to yards when putting kits together.

I also participated in a public art project called Knitscape.  Knitscape is a temporary community public art project that will create a visual line of color and pattern in the Larchmere business district.  Last Sunday we at Fine Points had our launch where knitters and crocheters were invited to participate.  Each needleworker was given macrame’ cording to knit or crochet into a square that would envelope a tree or parking meter on the designated street. The finished project will project a color uniformity in the district. It was great to help newcomers to the needlecrafts get started and participate. The project will be up for two years.  So it will be nice to come through the area long after my interning experience and still see something I helped create.  It has been a great experience.

Today is June 21, 2009, week five, and day 10 of my internship at Bagsmith. I cannot believe how fast the past few weeks have gone and I can honestly say that I have learned so much.  Every day brings a new experience and I cannot even begin to explain all the business knowledge I have acquired over the past few weeks.  I even surprise myself sometimes when I sit back and think of things that I have learned and I literally get excited about them. Today was no different.  Today is a very good example of what goes on, on a day to day basis at Bagsmith, and this is simply put best in one word “Innovation.”

Let me start by stating that every single sample design in the Big Stick collection can be described as nothing less than a masterpiece, a work of art that each member of the Bagsmith team has a part in.  It is an honor to even be able to see these items, let along lay my hands on them and work side by side with this team to make them into a final project.

Today we worked on a black and white Big Stitch Rug.  The tasks at hand were to apply the border that Jackie, a fellow employee, had crouched onto the outside of the rug, as well as attempt to tighten the spiral pieces of the rug so that when it is lifted it would not open to reveal the netting on the bottom.
After a few hours we managed to apply the border to outside and I must say it looked amazing.  The only problem was that when we tried to turn the border under it was not turning out as good as we expected. After brainstorming for quite some time and talking it over with Janette, one of my supervisors,  we decided that we should just leave the border as is and wait for Becca Smith, owner of Bagsmith, to inspect the rub and make the final say.

As amazing as the rug looked so far, even with border dilemmas, my tightening job did not look good.  I could not manage to tighten the pieces together enough that it would not break apart when you opened it, not only that it broke apart when you touched it, even worse!   Well being the “innovative” team that we are Jackie and I put our heads together to come up with a solution to the problem, well what we only could hope would be a good solution.   When I was done with applying this solution the rug was in no way going to be breaking apart anytime soon.

This is just one of the many aspects of the job I have learned. Expect the unexpected, always be ready to come up with new ideas that will in turn better the products and company. Something that Becca Smith and the rest of the Bagsmith team are always doing.

The thing I love the most about Bagsmtih is that while the work aspect of the job is always changing the people I work with stay the same.  I have never in my life met such wonderful, supportive people.  While being supportive may to some seem like something that would not go hand in hand with an office environment, I disagree.  Every day when I come in I can expect to be greeted with smiling faces, and the usual questions and discussions about life. “How are you doing today?” “Have you heard any news from Afghanistan?” and my favorite line of them all that we all are getting accustomed to is “No news is good news.” As silly as this may seem there is no better motivation to work hard for your employers than just knowing that the people who you are working for care about you on a personal level, and want nothing but the best for you. While the job itself is very much unexpected, in a good way, I know I can go in and expect nothing but the best company at my job.

On a final note I would like to congratulate Janette on the birth of her granddaughter, say hello to my friends all around the US interning with Pipn, send a hug to my supportive husband who at the moment is serving in Afghanistan and last but certainly not least a Thank you to my professors and everyone else who made my internship possible.  I feel like I just made an award show speech!  Happy needling!
-Kat Guanciale-Clift

Erin S. Scheiner

Week 4

July 15, 2009

I worked at 11 today.  There was not a lot too do when we got in to the shop.  We started the day off my just doing a little bit of straitening up from the night before.  The UPS man came early today.  We got new canvases in and more stock.  We put the new items into the computer and put price tags on everything.  Taped all of the new canvases and put everything out onto the floor.  I tried to place the canvases in a good place that we might sell the items.

We had to order Silk and Ivory threads and Watercolors.  So, I went through all of the hooks and anything that had 3 or less then we ordered six, if there were 3 then we only needed to order 3.  Anne does all of the ordering for the store.

Towards the end of the day I walked around the store picking up anything that needs to be put away.  Making things look better.

July 16, 2009
Today was the day that the lunch ladies come in. There weren’t a lot because so people were on vacations.  We also had a few customers that came in with their dogs.  We had one family that came in that had three generations of needle pointers.  They had never been to the shop and they were so excited that they found it.  We sold some things that Anne had for over four years.

After everyone left we need some major cleaning.  We cleaned the entire counter.  Now you can see into the display case on the counter.  We re-did everything in the counter display.  We got a new display from ‘Bagsmith’.  It was a little wooden chest, which has drawers.  Now it is the only thing that is on the counter so you can see all of the items that are for sale.  We also did a lot of dusting.