TNNA: The Stuff

It has been a nice relaxing, holiday 3-day weekend so far.  One of my goals this weekend has been to clean and organize a bit.  It is amazing how much piles up when you are on the go all the time.  Time to actually put away all the stuff I brought home from TNNA a few weeks ago.  Especially since Stitches West is coming up this week.....



Speaking of Stitches West, I'm excited to see more of Zen Yarn Garden there.  Roxanne's colors are to die for!!

It is so fun to see all of the new yarns and books and stuff that are coming to yarn stores this spring! I was able to bring home a few fun things.  One of my favorites is my new Namaste purse!



I'm a sucker for a new bag!  Jimmy Beans has a whole bunch of Namaste bags to choose from too. You'll see I also scored some new books that I'll be reviewing here on the blog too! 



These two lovelies are from Baah! A gorgeous infinity scarf in one of these colors will be on the needles soon!  My local yarn store, Nine Rubies, carries this lovely yarn and I'm so looking forward to finally getting to work with it.





These are just a few of the pretties from Sabrina at Anzula.  OMG! I just love her yarns and can't wait to show you the new design I have featuring her Cloud yarn.  It should be released in the next week!  Then Dreamy or Wash My Lace will be on the needles for something new.

With summer coming, I wanted a few lighter weight yarns to design more infinity scarves.  I've found that they are perfect for my chilly air conditioned office in the summer.  These lovelies will also be on the needles soon...


Berroco Captiva Metallic


Lang Yarns Moina

But before I cast on anything with all these new pretties, I have to finish up my new sock design in Bare Naked Wools Breakfast Blend.  Considering I haven't had a sock on the needles in awhile, this one is knitting up quickly.  I blame the lovely yarn :)



So what are you guys up to this weekend?  Anything on your needles you are trying to finish up?  I have two other new things on the needles that I'll show you tomorrow.

Happy Weekend!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

TNNA Recap

A few weeks ago I went to TNNA, The National NeedleArts Association, Tradeshow in Phoenix, Arizona.  I had such an awesome, inspiring time seeing friends, meeting new people, and let's not forget all the yarn!  Here's a quick rundown of my trip.

First, Sample It!  On Friday evening, yarn store owners are able to purchase at wholesale prices special items from some of the vendors.  I helped Erica at the Kollage Yarns Booth, where they were selling kits featuring their Riveting Yarn and the My Kind of Saturday and Bonnie Jean Scarf patterns.




I was good and didn't succumb to the call of the pretty yarn. BUT, knowing my knee surgery was coming up, I used that as a reason to get the new Namaste Boardwalk Backpack!  And it sure has come in handy while walking around on crutches the past two weeks (side note: looks like it is going to be another 1-2 weeks at least on these crutches, so I'm really! glad I bought the bag).



I bought the eggplant one.  Sherri at The Loopy Ewe has a bunch still in stock!

The rest of the weekend I was in the Deep South Fibers Booth, as they distribute my IGK patterns to retailers!!  I'll admit, I was a bit nervous, with this being my first TNNA where I was really hoping to get my designs out there to shop owners.  But Donna and Linda from Deep South Fibers were so incredibly welcoming!



Here are my designs on display, right between two amazing designers, Tot Toppers and Ysolda.  Deep South represents a wide range of talented designers and the booth looked fantastic.  CocoKnits had all of her new sweaters and also these cute little nests and necklaces.



The necklaces would make such great gifts too. I'm definitely picking up this pattern from Julie's booth at Stitches West.

Here is Grace Akhrem's designs.  Grace is another designer with Deep South and she is a riot!



So sweet, but sassy!  She convinced lots of us to strike a mustache pose.  Check everyone out here.





Anne from Crafty Diversions has such lovely work. She is beyond nice and such a talented designer.  It was so nice to finally catch up a bit with her and soak up all of her design experience!  Thanks Anne!


Ysolda was also in the Deep South booth signing copies of her new book, Whimsical Little Knits 3.  Another winner!


I met Michelle of Fickle Knitter Design at last year's TNNA and it was so nice to see her again.  She continues to inspire me with her amazing shawl designs!!  Check-out her recap of TNNA here.  I'm excited to be teaming up with her for a project with Knitted Wit and Sincere Sheep....more to come soon, but here's the info.


Let's not forget the yarn!!  I fell in love with Zen Yarn Garden's new colors!



And this Dreamy skein of Anzula Yarns has already been swatched and I'm ready to cast on my new design!

One last surprise.  I also did my first interview as a designer!  FiberStory TV did an amazing job interviewing a number of vendors, designers, yarnies, etc., at TNNA.  I'm featured here, in the Part 2 update (watch for me at the 16:00 minute mark).  Crazy nervous fun! 

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits