gosadi At Vogue Knitting Live: Collaboration and Celebration

As we were getting ready to launch our Early Access Program and onboard new users, team gosadi recently traveled from various points across the country to the heart of New York City for Vogue Knitting LIVE! We were eager to make our mark on Vogue Knitting Live (VKL) and announce our platform arrival to the fiber community and let us tell you…the trip did not disappoint.

Though some of our team members have been to VKL in years past and loved it, this was our first trip as a group to VKL, and we were determined to make it an unforgettable experience for our team and also for the VKL community. We were focused on sharing what gosadi is all about: built by makes FOR makers.

One of the highlights of our trip was the creation of the gosadi Grotto, a photo op made in collaboration with Knit Picks and We Crochet Yarns, and our Designer Showcase of patterns from the gosadi community of designers. Both setups were a labor of love, with all hands on deck to bring the yarn grotto and designer showcase to life.

We paid attention to every detail - which pieces from designers were paired with other pieces to best show off their work. Placement of designs and mannequins. No detail was left unattended.

We spent the month leading up to VKL collecting samples of designs from gosadi designers and wanted to be sure that everything was ready for the big show. Set-ups of both began early in the week of the event - and thankfully our team member Abbey is an accomplished wardrobe stylist on Broadway so that gave us an edge on dressing and prepping the display. Fortunately, with so many hands involved everything went up without a hitch and we were ready to dive into the week’s events.

first up: teacher’s meeting

On Thursday, 2 years from the day that our co-founders decided to build this platform, we had the privilege of hosting VKL's teachers and lecturers meeting. Our co-founder Michele Costa shared the story of gosadi with the teachers and lecturers of the show. It was our chance to connect with designers who are and will become gosadi community members.

For our Product Manager NaKeisha, it was her first trip to Vogue Knitting Live, and she was welcomed with open arms by the community. Designers who she had been emailing with and on Zoom calls with for months during our build lept off of the screen. It was an opportunity to fully understand the WHY behind what we are building and who we are building it for.

For those of us who haven't made it to a VKL in years, it was a chance to reconnect with old friends and to catch up on long overdue hugs.

game night

VKL volunteers played a crucial role in helping us fill over 300 gift bags for guests of the first-ever gosadi Game Night on Friday featuring so many treats from our generous sponsors (all listed below) It was a night filled with laughter and camaraderie, as makers bonded over bingo and board games and many prizes were won!

One of the highlights (and our favorite things of the night) was the custom coloring pages created for us with the help of our friend Vita Pascone, The HeARTIST. She spent time with Michele and was able to truly capture the heart of what gosadi is about: this creative community and then put that into a special treat for our event guests.

Those drawings from Michele’s time with Vita were turned into coloring pages that guests could relax with throughout the night.

Friday night's game night was the perfect opportunity for makers to unwind and let loose, discussing business opportunities and connecting over games of Settlers of Catan and coloring.

Game night also marked the launch of the gosadi scavenger hunt, which was the first ever VKL Scavenger Hunt (and we are sure not the last), and that lasted all weekend.

We're immensely grateful to the VKL team and volunteers who stepped in to help us create such a magical experience for the community.

marketplace

As the show officially began on Saturday, we were thrilled to see both the designer showcase and the yarn grotto come to life as makers filtered in the doors.

Guests scanned QR codes on the displays to pick up the patterns they loved before heading onto the show floor. We loved seeing the community interact with the setups that we had spent so much time carefully curating. Seeing makers scan the designs and choose the Sselling Channel that they wanted to check out on was the opportunity to see gosadi in action. Months of work on the platform were made real.

The scavenger hunt REALLY took off on Saturday! We loved following along on social media and in person as attendees snapped their finds. Winners who found all the items were able to take home special prizes from the Asylum Fibers booth thanks to our incredible sponsors of the weekend.

We're grateful to all our sponsors who made this weekend possible. See the full list of our awesome sponsors below.

what did you make

In case you haven't heard, What Did You Make? is the question we love to ask and we love hearing about your makes and the designers you love. Dr. Akia Parks, Dr. Charlie Untangled came with us to the show for a take-over all weekend long and we hit the show floor to ask YOU what you made to wear at the show. Seeing the creativity of the maker community is always one of our favorite things.

Our round-up YouTube video of all of these inspiring makes is coming soon! Make sure to subscribe to gosadi on YouTube to be the first to hear when the video is out.

Patty Lyons book signing, q&a, & meet up

On Saturday, Akia hosted our dear friend and gosadi community member, Patty Lyons’ Book Signing, Q&A, & Meet Up on the mainstage at Vogue Knitting Live! Patty Lyons.

If you missed it, you can watch the replay on our Instagram account!

After the event, audience members had the opportunity to get their copies signed by Patty and meet the designer herself!

community

A highlight for team gosadi, and especially for Michele and Hilary, our founders, was that we spent the weekend giving demos and walkthroughs of the gosadi platform. Those reactions and real-time feedback to what we have been pouring our hearts into was like magic. Hearing designers’ questions and seeing them understand what we are building for the community energized us and was the perfect way for us to launch gosadi!

And as the weekend came to a close, our hearts were full of gratitude for the incredible journey we had experienced at Vogue Knitting Live. To the VKL Staff and team, our hearts are full of gratitude. Looking ahead, we're excited for the future of gosadi and the opportunity to continue empowering creators worldwide. This is only the beginning of our story, and we can't wait to see where it leads next.