TNNA Columbus, A Good Time Indeed!

I arrived in Columbus on Friday the 12th, the day before the first TNNA market day. I couldn't wait to head over to North Market with my good friend Kim of Dolce Handknits. We had been anticipating having Jenni's ice cream since our last visit, but after lunch we opted for the fruit instead. Go figure. Jenni's is the talk of the town, and I had been anticipating a scoop of the most delightful treat imaginable, but after all those peanuts and cookies on the plane, I just couldn't imagine eating more empty calories. I blew my points by lunch, and I hadn't even had a glass of vino yet!

I must say how spoiled I felt staying at the Crown Plaza, perfectly located across the street from the convention center. My usual schedule at TNNA is constant rushing from the moment I get off the plane. This time, I had a chance to relax and take the most luxurious shower and nap before Friday night's festivities. A nice shower and a power nap can sure work wonders. I was fresh and ready, right in time for the AKD Meet & Greet. it was nice to see many familiar faces, and chat over a few glasses of wine. Then, onto the fashion show, which is always the highlight of the weekend. Laura Nelkin of Schaefer Yarn and Nelkin Designs, Kim Dolce, and myself headed over to the show and had a grand old time. I think the three of us just might be a little dangerous put together!

Saturday- first day of market and my book signing. The show started with a bang, as it always does in Columbus. I could feel the energy walking down each aisle. I stopped by my distributor's booth, Deep South Fibers to drop off my new igottknits design: Roman Holiday, pictured on the left. I was quite impressed with the roster of new collections- Danger Craft and Marie Grace to name a few new exciting designers in the mix. Then, with 15 minutes to spare before the signing, I was lucky enough to catch Lily Chin to talk about the illustrations I'm producing for her upcoming book: Lily Chin's Tips & Tricks by Potter Craft. How cool is it to catch up with so many people in the industry all under one roof in one exciting weekend?


Then, onto my book signing at Unicorn Books! It was so encouraging to see that the stores have been anticipating Tops & Toes. Since this was my first book, I didn't know what to expect, but it was so exciting to see the buzz surrounding it.

By the time Sunday rolled around, I was ready to get home to Jay and London. It would have been nice to stay for one more day, but the idea of sleeping in my own bed was a bit more enticing.

The weekend is never quite long enough to meet with everyone I would like to, but there's always Long Beach in January to look forward to!

Columbus Here I Come!

Happy to say that I can sit back and bask in all the hard work I've put in over the past few weeks for my TNNA preparations. I'm now happy to announce the latest addition to the the igottknits collection: Roman Holiday. Miraculously I managed to create this pattern in between an illustration or two.

For this design, I decided to use Schaefer Yarn's new Nichole because it's just the perfect weight for a nice early fall piece. It's also a super wash yarn, making it a breeze to care for. Coupled with the Audrey Hepburn-esque feel, I thought the color ash was the perfect choice. As a result, Roman Holiday was born. With form-fitting details, this piece hugs in just the right places, creating a very dramatic and becoming silhouette.

If you happen to be at TNNA this coming weekend, don't forget to pop by the Deep South Fibers booth see this sample and others featured in the collection.

Last but not least- don't miss me Saturday, June 13th, at 3:45 pm at the Unicorn Books booth where I'll be signing copies of: Tops & Toes: A Whimsical Collection to Delight Hat & Sock Knitters.

TNNA Recap

I'm finally recovered from San Diego time. Never thought a three hour time difference would do such a number on me! It was so nice to be there with London and Jay too. We had a breakfast each morning at Buster's, in the Seaport Village. My plans were to take more pictures, but I managed to take just a few at breakfast and one of mountains out the window of our 29th floor room at the Hyatt. (I'm lame, because I don't even know the name of these mountians. Gosh, they're beautiful. What a refreshing sight compared to how flat it is in Florida!

Now onto the "knitty" gritty of the show! As always, there's so much to see and do at these shows. My igottknits collection was featured for the first time at the Deep South Fibers booth, and it's great to be represented along with many other talented designer collections, such as: Pick Up Sticks, ImagineKnits, Heirloom Designs, Knit and Tonic and CocoKnits to name a few. It was great to get a different perspective this time time around to see what the stores are looking for.

I managed to find some time to navigate the show and thank many of the yarn companies that contributed to Tops & Toes, as well as check out some new vendors too. One new company that I found interesting was Punta Yarns. It was very clever of them to send mini skeins out in the mail with confetti in the envelope. My husband was yelling at me for week about all the sparkly hearts on the floor! I just found one in the bathroom today- very clever reminder. The yarns are so yummy! The Mericash Hand Painted, and the South American Hand Painted. They were very generous with giving away mini skeins at the show. I can't wait to start swatching.

Some new books made their way to the show. Hot off the presses is Wendy Bernard's new book: Custom Knits: Unleash Your Inner Designer with Top-Down and Improvisational Techniques. I especially like the glamorous, rock star layout and conversational style of the book. Another impressive title- Stephanie Japel's Glam Knits: 25 Designs For Luxe Yarns is filled with sultry Hollywood-style photos and designs to die for! And I just love the felted rings in Alterknits Felt by Leigh Radford.

After a fun-filled day, I enjoyed a great dinner with, Kim Dolce of Dolce Handknits and Laura Nelkin, designer of Nelkin Designs, and Schaefer Yarn. We had an awesome Thai dinner, enjoyed great conversation and and great bottle of Pinot Noir. After dinner, as tired as we were, we ventured over to Pinkberry. When they say frozen yogurt-- they REALLY mean it. This is no TCBY. It was fabulous- the choices are plain, green tea and pomegranate. The plain reminds me of Greek-style yogurt. You can mix in the usual chocolate chips, oreos, etc. Or, choose from Captain Crunch or Cocoa Pebbles. Yum!

To "Top" it all off, Sunday night was the "Meet & Greet" at for Tops & Toes: A Whimsical Collection To Delight Hat and Sock Knitters. It was great to have a chance to meet some of the designers from the book face to face. Faina Goberstein and Laura Nelkin stopped by, as well as Lois Young and Nazanin Fard. It was also nice to see Simona Merchant-Dest, and it was a pleasant suprise to see many from DRG attend as well. It was nice to chat, have a drink and talk about new ideas on the horizon.

TNNA is always a memorable experience! Forming new alliances and discovering new and exciting yarns is always part of the experience, but I always seem to leave with some new friends too!

Looking forward to Columbus........

Countdown to TNNA!

Looks like I'm just about there! Tweaking patterns and last minute stuff. I'm really trying to keep it simple--something I haven't yet mastered! London's taking nice long nap while mommy is printing 200 patterns. What a good boy. Somehow, I think he knows that mama has to stuff to do. Also- tweaking a few illustrations, sending a few emails, then this girl's ready to soak in the tub with a nice glass of wine before heading off to TNNA!

The pattern collection this season is really special to me on so many different levels. I started the process before my son London was born-- and actually did some work through labor too! When I say I never leave home without a project, this certainly proves that I mean it! Also, being a mom for the first time made me fearful about how I could possibly manage it all- baby, family and business. But somehow I did it, and I think better than before! It's amazing what can done with passion, excitement and focus. Instead of looking at each day and having the "to do" list. I now have more of a "weekly wish list," and it all gets done, but only upon little London's approval :)