TNNA Recap

On the drive home from Columbus last night, Jill and I made a running list of all the things we did at TNNA. Then, I forgot to make a copy, so I'll do the best I can to remember. It really is an overwhelming four days of meetings, networking, fun, connecting with friends and business acquaintances, eating, walking, selling, buying and more.

This year's adventure started on Wed in SF for Jill, taking the red eye to Dulles. I picked her up Thu morning at 7 am and we drove back to Hagerstown to pick up the rental car. Enterprise did us good by finding a hatch back for us. It's so much easier to load and unload. We got our personal items and our entire display in a Toyota Matrix!

We left Y2Knit World Headquarters in Funkstown at 10 am. The drive was uneventful and no rain. We talked about business that we hope to accomplish and some changes we want to make, but we're both tired, so it's not super organized, but some good stuff got talked about. We stopped, as usual, at the rest area in WV that is on top of a mountain and very beautiful. It was perfect to sit there and eat our homemade crackers and cheese, pea pods, asparagus and strawberries. Jill had a piece of chocolate for dessert. The rest of the drive was smooth and we pulled up at the hotel just a few minutes after 4.

After checking in, we buzzed over to the convention center to check in, get our badges, and check out the Great Wall of Yarn. Yarn companies hang hanks of yarn so we can preview new items. Designers knit swatches to go with them. Jill knit an amazing counterpane for Alpaca's Kiss. We then walked over the North Market, a block away to check out what was new there. Polish replaced Mexican food, but the rest seemed the same. We anticipated yummy lunches.

We had dinner at a restaurant new to us, sort of Mediterranean. Being tired, we decided to eat light and chose some small plates. While we waited for those to be served, we chatted with Nadine, Tanis and Christine from Be Sweet who had taken the table next to us. They were as tired as we were.

Friday was a busy day: we gave two presentations in the morning, set up our booth after lugging all our display to the booth, lunch at North Market, meeting for Jill, AKD panel discussion, Fashion Show, meeting for Jill. Capped it off with dinner at Haiku with Maureen and Kennita. Nadine from Be Sweet sat at a nearby table (are you seeing a theme here?)

Saturday Jill had a meeting in the morning, so Maureen and I picked up scones at North Market and put the finishing touches on the booth. We were pleased to be taking orders almost immediately. Maureen surveyed yarn shop owners for data we plan to use to improve Y2Knit products and services. The day sped by. Kristen joined us, so with Maureen and Kristen in the booth, JIll and I could get out and check out products and visit with vendors. It's good to catch up. After the 10-6 in the exhibit hall, we attended the Teacher/Designer Meeting (well, kinda. We arrived late and it finished almost as soon as we settled.) We had a delicious dinner at Lemongrass with Jill, Jenny and Melba from Zealana. Skacel staff was at the next table. We didn't see Nadine from Be Sweet. Jenny and I planned a Y2Knit /Zealana trip to New Zealand. Start saving those pennies!

Sunday, more of the same. We connected with Hal from Universal and were pleased to see Ilhan from Bursa, Turkey! So many wonderful people to talk to and lovely yarn to behold. We placed some orders. Dinner with Mountain Meadow Wool at Barcelona, this amazing restaurant we always go to. Little plates, good business connections and lots of laughter as we get to know Karen and Valerie better and plan some joint ventures, including our trip to Buffalo, WY this September.

Monday, more of the same, we saw Nadine at breakfast. It's a short day so we run around placing orders and making necessary connections. Good chats with Peggy Jo from Brown Sheep, Darcy from Angel's Kiss and Antonio from Malabrigo among others. Lunch at North Market, meeting with Zealana. Then it's 3pm and it's over. I get the car and we take it down, load it up and head home. I took Jill to the airport early this morning. I'm tired now. I hope she gets some sleep because she has to teach when she gets to SF.

More about impressions of yarn, etc. tomorrow or soon.