TNNA Recap Part 1

So, I just got home from a few lovely days in Columbus Ohio at the The National Needlework Association's Summer Show.  Yarn companies, hooks/needles, book companies come from all over the world to show off their new products and colors.  It's an industry event and it's big business and great fun.

The ever talented and entertaining Marly Bird, designer and host of the Yarn Thing Podcast, organizes a dinner every year. Companies sponsor the event and give the designers "Swag" of great products to try out and use in our work. O MY GOODNESS, there are so many great yarns and products that I'll be telling you about probably for WEEKS.  It's so exciting.  The list is LONG of companies who shared their new stuff with us.  AND I'll be looking into doing a GIVEAWAY next week, because, it's simply too good not to share.

Here's a few of the sponsors and products
For the second year in a row....Namaste bags was a sponsor!  I STILL use my ZUMA bag that I received last year and I LOVE it.  They make bags specifically to meet the needs of fiber folks.  Animal friendly, PVC-free materials, great features that help crocheters and knitters keep track of our little tools while offering great spaces for snag-free yarn storage.  Not to mention the bags come in a variety of cool styles.  This year, I received the Skinny Mini bag in Eggplant. Gorgeous!  The perfect size for many crochet hooks, a pair of scissors, my tapestry needle, etc.  really, a great piece to go inside my Zuma bag. It comes in many colors so you can match it to your project bag or get a contrasting color.

(this is Namaste's photo) THANK YOU Namaste for making consistently great products.

Another sponsor from Last year who continues to support designers is... XRX books, Knitter's Magazine and Stitches Expos (All the same people).
They provided a variety of books from their line-up!  This year, I received:


Swing, Swagger Drape Knit the Colors of Australia by Jane Slicer Smith  and last year I received Gwen Bortner's Entree to Entrelac.  This weekend, I was able to take a class from Gwen about the business of teaching. 

The third sponsor for today's list is the Simplicity/Boye group who have some awesome new hooks and needles out!  Drew Emborsky, the Crochet Dude has some ergonomic crochet hooks in his line of tools. I'm looking forward to trying them out. Follow the link to check them out. I haven't take a photo of mine yet.

Left to right, Marly Bird, Kristin Omdahl, Mary Beth Temple, me, Jill Wright.  We were all contributors to Robyn Chachula's Unexpected Afghans book. The blanket shown is Linda Permann's blanket from the book. You can't see Robyn, because she was busy signing for LYS owners, but it was great fun.