As always, I had an amazing five days of meeting people, seeing friends, buying yarn, etc. Mango Moon had a contest this year. They gave out 100 pedometers and offered a prize to the person who logged the most steps during the show. I wasn't concerned about winning but we really curious to see just how much walking I did during the show.
22534 steps. That's from 10 AM on Saturday until about 1 PM on Monday. That's about 12 miles, I think. Oh, and I won. By 5000 steps. I really do get around.
I can't share photos of what I saw but I will tell you what I thought was great in no particular order.
The Sincere Sheep. My favorite vendor from the last Sock Summit, Sincere Sheep offers interesting and unusual base yarns naturally dyed in gorgeous colors.
Sweet Georgia. I've been reading Felicia's blog for years. I remember someone bringing a skein of her yarn to Purlygirls maybe 6 years ago and coveting it. Her bases look luscious, her colors are deep and vibrant, and her booth display was top-notch.
Blue Sky Alpacas Royal Petites. These sumptuous little nibbles of yarn are delightfully packaged and are supported by a line of faux-vintage patterns. Each one has an illustration of a smashing 50s-era stylista sporting hand-knit accessories. The patterns all use only 1-2 skeins of this delicious little yarn. (Their other new yarn, Metalico, is also drop-dead gorgeous. You have to touch it to understand how amazing it is.)
Schacht. This Colorado-based loom and spinning wheel company partnered with about 20 yarn companies and created a unique display for each of their booths featuring their yarns woven on a 10" Cricket Loom. The displays were beautiful and the amount of work was staggering. Plus it was like an Easter egg hunt at the show. I looked through every booth to see if they had a loom with their yarn on it. Schacht also has a new 15" Cricket loom which I may just need to get for myself...
There was so much more but those are a few off the top of my head!
After tearing the house apart for an hour I have located my TNNA namebadge. I am now ready to go to Columbus (on a 5:53 AM flight but OHMYGOD I can't even talk about that right now). See you all next week!
Saturday is the first day the show is open. There are 15 or so aisles of booth to check out. I'm always looking for something new and interesting. Sometimes it's a new vendor; sometimes it's a known vendor with new products. I had to skip a lot of booths on my first pass because they were swamped. Madelinetosh has two (maybe three booths) this year. Last year they had just one little booth. It was absolutely packed.
Random stuff that I saw that I'm excited about (but did not necessarily buy):
Bijou Basin has teamed with Lorna's Laces to create their first dyed yarns. Up to now they've only sold naturally colored yak yarns.
Swans Island had the most gorgeous organic merino yarn that is naturally dyed. It felt divine and the colors were lovely. However, at $30/220 yard skein of worsted, I don't think it's viable in my shop.
Imperial Stock Ranch has a great story. They also have fabulous yarn that has an undefinable wonderfulness to it. The Columbia 2-ply is minimally processed and spun on an 1860s mule spinner. It's plump, robust and has loads of character but is still wonderfully soft. I can't wait for this yarn to arrive at the shop.
Namaste has a new urban, unisex line coming out with the Hip Holster and a new messenger bag. You can see them here.
Elsebeth Lavold is bringing out Silky Wool in an aran-weight. The colors are gorgeous.
The biggest splash at TNNA this year was made by Ysolda Teague. She had a block of four booths in which she created a parlor with tables, chairs and a sofa. She was there to promote her new book due out this fall. In her booth you could try on the sweaters and have your photo take in her photobooth. She served tea and cupcakes each day at three. It was delightful and definitely where all the cool kids were hanging out.
I'm leaving out a million things but it's all a blur at this point. The Ravelry folks did a great tumblr that is really worth checking out.
*check out Cecily's cool new sweater, Goodale. She was wearing it at the show. It's really lovely with clever construction.
Wes kindly took Younger Son to school so I can start attempting to assemble my thoughts on TNNA. Overall it was a great show. There was a much higher energy level than the last few shows I've attended. Attendance also seemed quite high. In fact when the show opened I headed to the first row of booths (I wanted to walk through the entire show before making any purchasing decisions) I couldn't get into most of the booths. So I hurried ahead and looped back around later.
When I went to my first TNNA it was also the first show that Jess, Casey and Mary-Heather from Ravelry attended. A lot of people still hadn't heard about Ravelry, weren't using it, etc. Now they are heavily involved with the show. They hosted an ice cream social on Firday night after the fashion show that was absolutely mobbed. I waited in line for at least an hour for ice cream. They also put together a very cool Tumblr and Twitter feed called Hello TNNA with snapshots and videos from the show floor.
Friday is for classes. This year TNNA offered a new set of mini-classes called TIPs, which is an acronym for something I can't remember. (Trends, informations, products? Something like that.) There was a series of half-hour sessions, with a wide selection of sessions for each time slot. Some were informational. For instance, I attended one in which Norah Gaughn and Cirilia Rose presented a slideshow of Berroco's fall books and explained the new yarns. Some were instructional, Clover was doing sessions to teach Tunisian crochet. I attended a session presented by Alpaca with a Twist about easy class ideas. I also went to a presentation by Beth Casey of Lorna's Laces about creating custom colorways. I had the most fun in Ysolda Teague's presentation about her new book due this fall, Little Red in the City. You can see some gorgeous preview photos here. The sweaters are all presented twice in the book. Once in Ysolda's size and once in a plus size with information about modifications. She asked for some plus-size volunteers to try on some of the sweaters and I very happily obliged. The designs are all really lovely and I can't wait for the book to come out. I pre-ordered a big pile for the shop.
Friday evening is Sample It! During this event, that only buyers can attend, vendors offer a sample product or small selection of products at wholesale or slightly below. The original idea is that it allows you try a product out and see if you'd like to bring it into your shop. I believe the reality is more that buyers use it as an opportunity to get cool stuff for themselves that they wouldn't normally stock. Namaste always sells a bundle with one of their bags and accessories and their table is deluged with buyers. And if you look around the show floor most of the buyers--myself included--are carrying Namaste bags.
After that comes the fashion show. It's always quite a mixed bag. Last year's was so long I thought it would never end. This year I was smart and ate some dinner beforehand. It was also a much shorter show. The trends I saw repeated quite a lot in the show were cables, lace, bobbles, drapey cardigans, boxy vests and the color burnt sienna.
On Saturday the show opens and it's eight hours of walking the floor and learning about all the lines and products.
I may have to turn in my blogger card. I spent five days in Columbus looking at yarn, patterns and accessories and talking to the people who create them and I didn't take a single picture. Honestly, not one.
The show was great and I do have several things I'm feeling pretty excited about. But I have a ten year old who needs to go to school so I'll have to start filling you in later.
I'm busy/distracted/anxious because I leave for TNNA tomorrow morning. One the one hand TNNA is a big yarny party and all the cool kids will be there. On the other hand I have a lot of work to get done when I'm there. It stresses me out worrying that I either won't get enough done or I won't have a chance to see people I only get to see at TNNA. It looks like there might be some really exciting things this year. I'll give a full report when I get home.
In the meantime my older son and I had a really good time reading through the tweets of @God_Damn_Batman. Our favorite so far.
It's up. There are a lot of ill-fitting hats in this issue. How hard is it to knit a hat that fits? My favorite design from this issue that I saw at TNNA, the Rib & Random Cable sweater, isn't photographed well at all for the magazine. You can see it here in the fashion show video. It's the first item up.
Thursday: I flew to Columbus on Thursday. I left very early in the morning after too little sleep and didn't arrive at my hotel until nearly 8. I was starving. I looked around the convention center hotel lobby for some familiar faces and saw none so I headed to Marcella's by myself. I thought I'd waltz in for dinner or get a seat at the bar. There was a 30 minute wait for a table and no free seats near the bar. I hovered feeling exhausted and so hungry. The general manager passed me several times and finally stopped and asked if she could get me anything.
"I'm just looking for a seat." "Can I bring you a chair?" "Yes!" I was so grateful. "Can I bring you something to drink?" "Yes," I replied, nearly tearing up, I was so exhausted and hungry and grateful. When my table was ready and the hostess showed me to my seat I felt a tug on my leg. I looked down and saw the yarn for Georgie trailing through the entire restaurant and back to the bar. I followed it back, rewinding it until I got to an amused though confused young woman standing in the bar holding the remainder of the skein in her hand. "Bet that's the first time that ever happened here," she said. "There's a yarn convention in town. It's going to happen a lot."
Friday: I had an all-day class with Cat Bordhi on writing patterns. It was about formatting and editing not the creation of a design. I got some very good information from it. Then there was Sample It. This is an event where vendors, if they choose, can offer one item at wholesale prices--sometimes slightly below wholesale--to buyers. This, in theory, allows buyers to try out a product before committing to a whole order. But really people just use it to buy themselves a bunch of stuff. It's always super-hot and jam-packed. I got some items for my shop--not for me!--and then fled to the much cooler, calmer lobby. There was a teacher's gallery where experts who offer classes can connect with shop-owners. Mary Beth Temple was there. She is a crochet designer and teacher. Her brand is called Hooked for Life. There was a slight typo in her signage.
Next was the fashion show which was much, much better than the January show. It went more smoothly and faster and the designs were better on the whole.
Then it was off to the Tip Top for a much needed late dinner. I ordered a Diet Coke and was handed a vat of soda. Seriously, look at it compared to my cell phone.
Saturday the market opened. I shopped and walked and shopped and walked and shopped. I'd say I'm most excited about Spud & Chloe. Blue Sky Alpacas are a class act and they do a beautiful job on the yarn, the patterns, the whole packaging. Plus they always have the cutest, most inviting booth at the show.
There are social events and lots of food in the various booths. Interweave hosted a Twitter meet-up (tweet up) called Let Them Tweet Cake. They served massive cupcakes and coffee. So that was lunch (nutrition and sleep both suffer terribly at TNNA).
More shopping and walking and shopping. Then out to dinner with several designers from Stitch Co-op plus several other crochet designers. We met up with...well, everyone in the universe...back at the Hyatt lobby. There is a huge circle of chairs, and couches. We rearrange all the furniture. We sit and knit or spin. You just grab a free chair and when you see a free seat next to someone you want to talk to you just go over and plunk yourself down. That is how I met Melissa La Barre and Cecily Glowik MacDonald. These two extremely talented ladies, who are also a hell of a lot of fun, are collaborating on a book from Interweave. I am really looking forward to seeing it.
Sunday was more market. At this point I was operating on almost no sleep. More shopping and walking but also more staring off into space. So tired. A huge group of us had converged on the Stitch Coop booth where Cat Bordhi and Ysolda Teague were on the floor playing with a trash can full of water and dry ice. It was in part a recreation of last year's dry ice session. I'm sure the internet will soon be flooded with photos of it. After trying for a while to find a restaurant that could accommodate 20+ people with no notice, we gave up and split into small groups. I had a really great dinner with Laura, Ysolda, Miriam Felton and Mandy Moore. We then made the required trip to Jeni's for awesome ice cream. Everyone wanted t-shirts but they were pretty much sold out. The guy behind the counter was apologetic.
"Yeah," he explained. "There's this knitting conference in town and they just went nuts."
Back at the hotel, during all the hanging out, knitting and laughing, Cirilia Rose and Ysolda began to act out all the cliches of knitwear photo shoots. It looked something like this.
Had 4.5 hours of sleep then did a crochet class with Lily Chin at 8 am (5 am my time). Worked and socialized all day and night. It's 2:15 am and I'm getting on an 8 am shuttle out of here. Still need to pack. If I'm crying uncontrollably the next time you see me it's probably due to fatigue.
I'm in Columbus. TNNA is good so far. I took a class on pattern writing from Cat Bordhi yesterday that had some good info. I went to the Sample It event (I'll have to explain it later) but it was so crowded I just got one thing for the shop. Then there was the fashion show. Definitely some Thursday fodder in there but I liked a lot more than I thought I would. Then there was a reception for the Internation Year of Fiber where everyone was weighted down with drink tickets and trying to give them to everyone else. There was a chocolate fountain which I had never witnessed before. Would you drink from a recirculating water fountain? No. Then why would you eat from a recirculating chocolate fountain?
I reconnected with many lovely people I haven't seen since the January show or last year. I met Laura (Cosmicpluto) and Ysolda Teague. Got to hang out with them and the Ravelry/Berocco group. Had lots of fun. Now I have to put myself together--to the extent that I ever do--and go to the show!
I'm trying to get all packed for my trip to Columbus for TNNA. I leave very early on Thursday. I think I'm all ready to go but somehow it seemed too simple. I'm sure I must be forgetting something really important. I'm sure I'll remember when I'm half-way to Denver. I packed an extra empty suitcase because you end up with so much swag and books and whatnot that it's a real struggle to get it all home.
I'm getting back on Monday. Then on Sunday I leave for a ten day trip to Japan! I have never been and am extremely excited. I'm also totally unprepared. I'm going with a group and a lot of my time has been mapped out for me already. I'll be in Tokyo for nearly the whole time with just a few day trips. My biggest problem is what knitting do I bring? I don't want to lug around a big, heavy sweater or anything with charts. Socks seems obvious but I haven't been feeling the sock love lately. My top contender is the Featheweight Cardigan. I have some lace-weight something I won as a door prize at the Knitter's Guild in a great raspberry color that I hope will work well. Then I'll need a back-up project too. Hmmm...
TNNA was good, but not great. I don't have the wherewithal to do a whole big write up right now. There was lots of cool swag so I'll try to coral some photos. I did not take any photos while I was in San Diego except this one of some Elvis impersonators congregating in front of a Mexican restaurant and this one at the airport before I left to prove that I was actually in San Diego.
I'm in San Diego. I know most of the country is being gripped by brutally cold weather but damn, it's hot here. Blech. Anyway, managed to bump into a whole group of people I knew while trying to find something for lunch. So I had great company for lunch. Heading to the fashion show. I'm sure much of it will be very Thursday, if you get my drift. More later.
When you go to TNNA you practically have free yarn thrown at you. I was honestly turning down offers of lovely free yarn because...well, I don't need more yarn. And I didn't want to carry it all home. But when the ladies at Sheep Shop Yarn asked me to take home some yarn to test drive I said yes. The same day I got word of some friends making an afghan for another friend who is going through a rough time. I needed to knit an 8" x 8" square in worsted weight yarn. I wound the Sheep 1 (by hand) and started trawling Ravelry for dishcloth patterns. After a few misfires I found a pattern I liked that I hoped would create an appropriately sized sqaure. The yarn is really nice. I was told it was softer than Manos, harder wearing than Malabrigo and with a consistent grist (thickness). It is all these things. The square is a little less than square but I'm hoping in the larger context of an afghan it will be just fine.
I brought only one project with me to Columbus, the Auburn Camp Shirt. I wanted some dedicated knitting time to make actual progress on the project.
My progress after the first leg of the trip.
After two days in Columbus (I think).
Every time I pulled out my knitting everyone around me would start asking me about it. "What are you making?" "What size needles are those?" "What yarn is that?" "You're making a sweater in lace-weight?" "Are you nuts?" When I finally met Chrissy Gardiner, the pattern designer, I proudly pulled out my knitting to show her. Before even looking at it she emphatically announced, "I never want to knit that sweater again." I had hoped she'd be the one person who wouldn't think I was crazy for knitting it. It turns out she had a crazy deadline for the sample and had to knit the sweater in two weeks along with some socks. So I can understand her negative associations.
Here's where I am now. I don't know about you but I am pretty impressed. It's growing. And I keep reminding myself that the sleeves are tiny. I will finish this sweater damn it. And I will wear it with pride.
I'm going to TNNA in Long Beach on Friday. Will anyone else be there? I'm fretting about what knitting to take with me, of course. Sure hope this cold is gone by then.
from Cecily Glowik MacDonald* and Melissa LaBarre comes out next month, 
is full of retro-fabulous designs, 
is bound to be a monster hit, Miriam Felton's 
