Back from the Summer TNNA Show

Here we are again, silence from me for a couple of weeks while I got ready for the TNNA Summer Trade Show. Now I am back and delighted with my meetings I had at TNNA and all the new yarns and other fun goodies that I saw there. I arrived in Columbus late afternoon on Friday and took a taxi with friends to our hotels adjacent to the Convention Center. That evening was the Fashion Show and the Designer Dinner. My Sunrise Shawl made in Elemental Affects “Civility” was the 12th item in the Fashion Show. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a good photo of it at the show, my phone battery had died and the camera I borrowed from a friend at the event wasn’t up to the lighting challenges. So the photo taken on my dress dummy before I shipped the sample is all I have for the moment. The pattern for this design will be available June 20th (note: due to some family stuff the original release date of June 15th has been moved out). After the Fashion Show it was back to the opposite side of the Convention Center to the Crowne Plaza hotel to join many of my designing colleagues and other yarn industry folks for the Marly Bird Designer Dinner. Again  not much in the way of photos since my phone was still dead. The dinner was interesting though I was sitting at a table with a bunch of folks I hadn’t met before. I did see a lot of my friends in the room and caught a quick moment to chat with some of them. Some were only at the TNNA show for that evening, so I was glad for a chance to see them. During the evening there were a couple fun give-a-ways, I ended up with the little goodies above. I got the yellow clips for having a crochet hook on me, surprising right? Me having a crochet hook (I see you chuckling). After dinner we were all presented with our official Goody Bags. Look at all the fun stuff that was in there! I was really glad the dinner was in the same hotel I was staying at. All I had to do was take the elevator to my floor and collapse into bed. I was wiped out. Saturday morning I was moving a bit slowly, but made it to the show floor only 15 minutes after they had opened the doors.  I cruised around the floor checking out the new products and new yarns. Eventually I met up with my friend Tamara (Mooglyblog.com) and we continue to explore the booths. We made a stop at one of my very favorite vendors, Clover Tools. As you all know, I love their crochet hooks. I introduced Tamara to them and they showed us their newest addition to their Amour line of hooks, 12mm and 15mm sizes. I’m really looking forward to playing with these more. The rest of Saturday slipped by in a bit of a blur. That evening I had dinner with my friend Mary Beth Temple and then called it a night pretty early. Sunday morning I met up with Tamara and Jessie (JessieatHome.com) at the Willow Yarns designer brunch. All of us were given a fun messenger bag with balls of yarn and sample skeins. I did a quick dash back to my hotel room then I was off to a meeting. Later that day I caught up with Tamara and Jessie again, as well as Charles Voth and Mary Beth. I stopped by the Brown Sheep booth to chat with Peggy and her family. We were planning for my trip to Nebraska this September when I will be one of the teachers at the Scotts Bluff Valley Fiber Arts Fair. If you are in the area come join us for lots of fibery fun. That evening Tamara, Jessie and our friend Becky went out to dinner, then joined the big group of designers in the Hyatt lounge. It was after 11 p.m. when I got back to my room and realized I still needed to get all my stuff packed up for checking out the next morning. Yikes! Monday went by in a whirl between checking out of the hotel and then making a last trip around the floor. I picked up some yarn from a few of the vendors and said my good-byes to as many of my friends as I could. Then back to the hotel to get my luggage and rearrange things for my flight home. I had a few adventures getting back to Colorado, delays for flights and delays for luggage, but eventually I made it back (unlike a few of my East Coast friends who got stranded overnight in Columbus and Chicago). It’s been a week of recovery and reconnecting with my family since then. My boys are out of school for the summer break, so everyday feels a bit like a Saturday I’m going to have a lot of wonderful things to share with you this summer, so be sure to stop by regularly. Next weekend is the Estes Park Wool Market and I’ll be heading out again in 6 weeks for the Knit & Crochet Show in San Diego. So if you are going to be at either of those events be sure to look for me and say “Hi”.