Good to be home!

Jill and I had a great time at TNNA, but it's good to be home. The garden is overgrown and windblown, but I've been eating some good veg out of it.

When I unpack from TNNA, I have to put all the shop models back, so I take the opportunity to rearrange things a bit. The shop is freshened for summer, which means scarves and hats are put away and summer knits are featured. Yarn balls have been returned to their proper places and bins straightened. (Who put the three balls of Malabrigo behind the Nature Spun?!) I've made room for some new product.

Jill and I order yarn for the shop at TNNA. One of our favorite times is Sunday morning when we enter the exhibit hall at 8 am and walk through, checking out vendors and selecting some yarn colors for later ordering. We're just to busy during the day at our own booth to get much done. We met up with Trisha from Frog Tree and she gave us the color card book to help us place an order, which we do with Donna, our sales rep. We sat with Donna at the Skacel booth and selected colors of Nimbus, Opus, Zauberball (it's really as awesome looking as we've heard), and new Zitron Trekking colors for the sock knitters.

Our favorite find was Frabjous Fibers where we ordered all kinds of fun things. I'll post more about those when they come in--felt balls, silk ribbons, sari silk in distinct colorways.

Malabrigo has a new yarn. I can't find my sample now and I don't know the name, but it's a worsted weight, baby merino, thick/thin. Imagine 8 strands of lace plyed together. Jill has a wonderful design underway that will make snuggling in this yarn a fashion statement. Yum!

We checked out the Hiya Hiya interchangeable and have passed muster on those. We'll be taking preorders for the small sizes, 2-9. I was knitting with the sample needles last night and wasn't even aware I was using an interchangeable. The needles screw onto the cable.

Kraemer has new colors of Sterling Silk. We'll have those soon.

One of our new favorites is Zealana. Jill designed two pieces out of their wool/cotton/possom yarn. It's a luxurious fiber. Jill also designed a beautiful sweater (pic here catches it at an awkward angle) in the yak/bamboo from Bijou Basin. It's soft and smooth and drapes well. Sandy did a fantastic job of knitting this sweater.

As always, fun to see old friends and make new ones. We had good meals and great laughs (thanks, Kristen C, for always providing a bit of comic relief). Thanks to Kristen ES for all the help in the booth!