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Knitters’ and Crocheters’ (etc.) Travel Guide « »
My TNNA booth was “in the nosebleed section” right next to Michelle and Bruce of Direction Press. Michelle is the mastermind behind “The Knitters’, Crocheters’ [etc.] Travel Guide.” (And Bruce is the smiling, friendly guy you’ll find wherever you find Michelle.) We had a LOT of time to talk there on the show floor, and I’m fully convinced that this book is a must-have for me.
Aside from the fact that I do travel a lot (it seems like I’m gone almost as much as I’m home) this book will be great when it’s time to organize book signings. I’ve got the contact info of every shop in the country in this one book!
If you have a book, or are a yarn dyer, knitting bag manufacturer, or whatEVER…this is a great resource! They do list all of the shops that are in the book on their website, but how often when you’re on vacation do you have unlimited free internet? Not if you camp, or stay in MO-tels, rather than HO-tels!
Check out the website, leave reviews of your LYS, and update the database of Knitting Guilds.
I’ve been reading blogs the last few days, and it’s so fun to read peoples’ posts about TNNA. I had a great time, met a LOT of bloggers that I hadn’t met before, met people from all the big publications, and got to hang out with some of my favorite crafters…there were just too many…so I won’t go through the whole list with links.
Here’s the general rundown of what happened:
Got into San Diego at about noon on Friday, and turned in my Fashion Show sweater first thing. The time deadline was 3:30, and I had this awful feeling that if I didn’t turn it in RIGHT AWAY, some unforseen event would make me miss the deadline. Then, mom and I unloaded all of the stuff from the car and set up the booth. We just had a tabletop booth, so we brought small stands and those flat half-mannequins to dress. I numbered all the pattern garments and laid those out, and put out business cards, postcards, etc.
After we got the table set up, we went to an early dinner and then met up with my fellow “Yarn Group Membership Committee” members. At 6, there was an appetizer/cash bar party and at 7 was the Fashion Show! I didn’t take many photos, but there are some on Flickr, just search “TNNA.” I didn’t win the fashion show, a wedding dress in Lorna’s Laces won. If there are regular sweaters competing against a full-on wedding dress…with a room full of ladies voting…the wedding dress is *always* going to kick butt. (Not that I’m sour-grapey at ALL…I loved the wedding dress, too.)
THEN, we went to dinner with the Fiber League at the same place Mom and I had our earlier dinner. We went home early, because we were so tired.
Saturday we got up bright and early to sit/stand at the booth. That day was pretty uneventful, except for getting to meet lots of knitters and shop owners and talk about my book and patterns, and new freelance design opportunities. Saturday night was the Interweave party. They have a party every year for their authors/contributors with food and an open bar. It was really nice. Interweave is poised for world domination. In a very GOOD way. Aquiring television shows, publishing TONS of new books and magazines, etc.
After that was the Potter Craft party. I didn’t know anyone at Potter, but Vickie, Jonelle, and Kat smuggled Mom and me in. They had a raffle, open bar, snacks, and gave everyone a gift bag with Erica Knight’s “Casual Knits” and a book on CD, an inspirational notebook…I don’t know what all else…We got home from that evening pretty late.
Sunday, more of the same with the booth sitting/standing….Sunday night we went to dinner with some of the members of the Knit_Design yahoo group. I enjoyed that TOO much. When we got there, there were no tables, so we had drinks waiting for the table. I think a table fiinally opened up for us at around 10:30! So…too much time sitting and drinking. The table was full of Very Cool Women, and we had a blast. Again, got home waaaay too late. Mom woke up that morning, thinking it was 7 am, took her shower, etc., then tried to get me up (GET UP! GET UP! You’re going to be LATE to the BOOTH~!!) She opened the curtains and looked out and it was STILL DARK. Somehow, one of us had mis-set the clock when came home…it was only 5am. So she got back in bed and let me sleep for a few more hours.
Monday was more sitting/standing at the booth, and then we picked everything up and left at about 3:30.
I think this is a great convention. It’s such a great way to meet in person the people that I’ve been working with over the internet. Plans were hatched, decisions made, collaborations decided upon. I highly recommend it. Even without a table, just going to walk around and meet people is worth it. Just to see what’s out there, the new yarns and tools, new publications, meet the editors of your favorite mags, authors of your favorite books, creators of your favorite yarns. SIGH. Six more months till the next one.