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TNNA Recap « »
(More F&W author blog posts and pics from Shannon, Hanna and Cosy.)
A lot happens at TNNA…you meet TONS of people and (usually) mayhem ensues. Several times. I had so much fun this year catching up with old friends and meeting new ones at the Stitch Cooperative booth!
(Mary-Heather, Jess, Me, Amy on Saturday night.)
It was kind of a whirlwind trip for me (Just the one full day, one partial day.) I’m back home already, and have lots of things on my “to investigate further” quicklist:
Lorna’s Laces Green Line
Shibui Knits yarns
O-Wool
Yarn Thing podcast
SWTC Therapi
Tilli Tomas Fil de la Mer
Knit a go-go
…I’m sure there’s more that I’m too punchdrunk to remember.
TNNA is such a great time for me as a designer to go through all of the booths and check out new yarns and toys. Usually the vedors are really nice but sometimes when I tell them that I’m a designer, I get the “OH. (eyeroll)” reaction and they turn away or just shut down.
To me it seems like a yarn company would WANT their yarn to be included in a book or in a pattern that might reach a few tens of thousands of people. Fitted Knits is in its third printing of 15,000 copies! But I suppose not everyone is on the internet or knows which books are even out there. SO, rather than blog about the people who don’t talk to me, I’ll just spend time raving about those who do! 
(…and just not ever use the mean ones’ yarns.)
Here’s me and (new mom) Lexie Barnes. I’m checking out the Jinx model in the diablo fabric. I carried this bag with me on the trip home…and I was stopped three times by people wanting to know about it! I LOVE this bag! It reverses to a cordura-type of fabric in a copper color. Really, really cool!
I also really enjoyed my personal tour of Lorna’s Laces Green Line. The colors are just beautiful, and the yarn is soft but has a great stitch definition. They had lots of projects on display that were knit with it. The yarn does great in cables and lace and holds its shape really well. You will definitely see some Glampyre projects in this yarn!
Tilli Tomas had some intriguing new things in her booth. One that I hadn’t yet seen in person (but really do covet) is the Fil de la Mer. It catches the light and shimmers like pure silk, but has the resiliency of the sea cell along with a binder thread that holds the whole thing together. One thing I’ve heard people say is that 100% silk both grows and pills, and I think that this blend is a great solution. Amy was wearing a blouse that she crocheted from this yarn, and it was so pretty!
Another company I always enjoy meeting with is Malabrigo. They are always such a pleasure to deal with on email and in person. Just really lovely people. (There are FOUR Malabrigo projects in Glam Knits!) I got to see a super-secret preview of 2 hanks of the new sock yarn! It is so pretty. It’s going to be one of those yarns that knitters covet. It’s dyed in that speckly process that produces a semi-solid with flecks. They’ve also got some colorways that are dyed in their traditional non-pooling multicolors. (They said that they are doing fine under the circumstances, and will be fully recovered from the fire in about 3 months.)
Mission Falls launched their new DK weight yarn, and are bringing out a DK-weight organic cotton that’s also organically dyed. I’m coordinating the pattern booklets for both of these yarns, so I’ve known about this for a little while, but wanted to wait ’till the official launch to say much. The DK wool is really easy to work with and knits up into a SOFT fabric. I took home several hanks of the cotton to get started working on my patterns for that book. It’s similar in feel to the 1824 cotton, but (obviously) finer.
SWTC is known for their unusual fiber combinations, and this weekend I got to try out the new Therapi. It’s a blend of jadeite, wool, and silk. The geology geek in me f***ing LOVES this! And the knitter in me also effing loves it! When on Earth have I EVER had the chance to combine my two nerdiest passions?? Jadeite is a MINERAL, dudes! And now you can KNIT with it!! I’m definitely making a project with this.
I also stopped by Berroco and oogled the samples of Norah’s garments. Ooh. Can I just say, “ooh.” and you know what I mean? SO cool. They also had a wall of “Comfort” in all its colors that was just beautiful. I love Comfort.
Artyarns had an amazingly light-catching display of beaded and sequined yarns. Iris was wearing a shawl that she made from one of the sequined ones and it was casting so much sparkle that I could track her from all the way over in the F&W booth! (I’m a glitter girl, so this was a good thing in my opinion!) I love that she uses beads of several sizes AND sequins all in the same hank of yarn.
Another favorite of mine is the Blue Sky Alpaca booth. Sylvia showed me their new Skinny Dyed yarn, which is a smooth, silky organic cotton.
Neighborhood Fiber Co from DC was there in full effect. One of the garments from Glam Knits was on display (sneak peek!) in Karida’s worsted semi-solid yarn. Karida and Libby have a book coming out soon from North Light (my publisher.)
Shibui Knits has yarn in the most gorgeous colors. Bright but not trendy…with a depth that just reaches out to you from across the room. I have to use this in something soon. (The owner, even though we had never met, was very warm and welcoming to me, too.)
I also really want to try O wool. I love the colors, love the concept. The yarns are soft and the colors have a very natural feel.
Well, Mazie’s getting cranky, so I’d better wrap up my wrap-up. Check my Ravelry stash for enhancement photos …in a little while… as soon as I can get them taken and uploaded! Ok, don’t check any time today…but maybe soon. I didn’t pick up much yarn to bring home this time, it’s easier for me to manage if I just take cards and contact the people later.
**I keep editing this to add more links and things as I remember them. Mommy Brain strikes again! (and again, and again…)
This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
7 Responses to “TNNA Recap”
I’m sad I missed out on the fun Saturday night! Count me in for next time. Wow, Therapi sounds perfect for you - you should go the extra mile and design the nerdiest thing you can think of with it!
So great meeting you, Stef!
I LOVE the purple top you are wearing in the pictures. And it look wonderful on you!
Can’t wait to see the stash enhancement pictures! fun stuff!
It was so great to spend time with you, Stef!! Thanks for the tip on Mission Falls ORGANIC–I somehow managed to miss their booth, and that’s great to know!
Tilli Tomas Fil de la Mer is the BEST, truly. I’ve knit with it several times for Stitch Diva and not only does it turn out a really beautiful product, but it smells like the sea, too!
Poo on the not-nice yarn vendors! Who doesn’t know you, for pete’s sake? They definitely don’t deserve to have their yarns featured in your wonderful books!
I might be able to shed some light on why a yarn company wouldn’t be overjoyed to see a designer. Long time ago, there was a large brick-and-mortar fiber arts store called “Straw into Gold” in Berkeley. It had a large line of yarn too called Crystal Palace Yarn. (Now they are only on line: http://www.straw.com/)
I overheard the managers one day talking about the losses they ended up taking from this one designer, who would take a suit’s worth of specialty yarn, at deeply discounted prices, or on consignment for generating a design to publish, and use it for personal clothes.
Perhaps the businesses that react badly have been disappointed by other designers who didn’t come through on promises.
If you go into saying how you have created designs for other companies etc, perhaps they’ll warm a bit.
Sell yourself on what you can do for their image
Sorry I never got a chance to make it over to the booth–we had to rush out on Monday because we found out that my car wouldn’t be fixed until the end of the week, and we had to run and get a rental car to get back to Maryland for a funeral. It’s been just a wonderful week. But it was really great seeing you again! I totally thought this year was going to be less crazy but apparently not. Maybe next year