I stopped by the Knit Picks booth to say hi to my friend Stacey, and my new friends Alisha and Jenny (above). I gave them an impromptu lesson on joining crochet in the round, which as you can see was very interesting. Punny aside: When I saw Jenny’s circle, after praising it, I said “I hate to be a knitpicker, but you could change the way you join these rounds.” She said, “Well, you are in the Knit Picks booth!” so it went over okay. I’m excited to see these ladies crocheting!

I spent a good deal of the weekend hanging with some of my favorite people, Simona Merchant-Dest, Marly Bird, Faina Goberstein and Robyn Chachula. I swear, I’m not sure that I really even saw all of the yarn because I was too busy running my mouth. I basically feel like I am on fire (in a good way) at trade shows because it’s only once every six months that I get to talk to people who do what I do.  I also finally got to meet my tech editor (KJ Hay) in person this show–finally, after working on two books together!

See, most of the time was spent laughing (with Marly and Robyn).

Now I just need to process and figure out what to do with all of the new ideas/opportunities the show brought. I have lots of ideas for the coming year and can’t wait to sort them all out.

That bear almost caught me!

Other than the selling off of things, we mostly relaxed and went to the playground (with Tegue) a lot.

I affectionately refer to this slide as My Nemesis. Twenty five years ago, I fell off the top off it and broke my wrist. Six year old me was bored at my grandma’s 80th birthday party, and since the town was small and walkable, I asked permission to go to the playground by myself. I had my dress shoes on, the steps were sandy, and the kids behind me were pushy and ready to go.  As I stepped up to the top step, I slipped and fell right off the slide. A man ran over and asked me where I lived, and I told him that I was staying with my grandma (and her name). He scooped me up and ran me right to her place. In retrospect, it was only 2 blocks, but it seemed far and amazing at the time! My family was out on the lawn and I  was scared that I would be in big trouble. According to my sister, I didn’t even cry. My parents had to get the guy who owned the gas station to open up so that they could fill their car up and drive me to the nearest hospital in Bismark (2 hours away). That summer, I got good at sliding bread bags over my arm so I could shower, and I remember having to have my corn sliced off of the cob for me, and not being able to submerge my arm when I went swimming. Of course, that damn slide was the first thing my nephew wanted to go on so I just  had to hold my breath and hope for the best. It all worked out fine, but it’s amazing how things like this can bring you back. I did feel slightly better seeing it again and realizing that at least it was a tall slide (and maybe I wasn’t a total wuss.)

We also drove a LOT (from here, to there, and back again but with a side trip to Kansas City), and the Dakotas were especially green due to the flooding . The intense yellow hue of these wildflowers made me want to dig out my paintbrushes again. I have a skein of Madeline Tosh laceweight yarn in a similarly lovely yellow, though, so one day I suppose I will just “paint” with that.

Other notable stops were the Petrified Wood Park in Lemmon, SD,  Mount Rushmore (I’m the 5th face, har har), several fun yarn shops (although my faves were in Missouri), and three dinosaur related things, cause Paul loves ‘em.

Oh, and we finally went to Wall Drug–we saw the zillion signs the last time we were driving through SD, but at that time we had a budget truck containing my whole life in it, so we didn’t make the side trip. It was fifteen minutes of quick cheesy fun. We also saw some friends in KC, which was great. I have to say, road trips are  not so bad.

I’ll be away from the blog for the next couple of weeks, off to  North Dakota with my siblings to handle some of my Dad’s affairs. I didn’t write about it when it happened, but he died late last year and now it’s time to deal with what’s left. Paul and I are driving, which I figure is a fitting tribute to my dad, who always crammed us in the car and gunned it so he could get us from TX to ND in 2 days. Here we are in 1982 on the local playground.

Of course the only thing keeping me sane in thinking about all of that car time is knowing that I can knit and crochet in the car. I have my Zipline Shell* packed, along with another scribble shawl (which is turning out so gorgeously, but I may run out of yarn, sigh), a swatching kit for an upcoming project…and the sleeves of a project I’ll publish in another month or so. Sounds like a lot, but it’s mostly “for fun” needlework, really. I was expecting to get some deadline yarn by now, but it looks like there will just be a pile when I return, instead. Something to look forward to, at least.

*Yes, I swatch even when I am using my own patterns. Which is a good thing, because this  Hempathy yarn works up completely differently than the Tahki Cotton Classic I used for the Interweave Sample. It’s a little tough on my hands because it’s so sturdy, but I think I will like the finished result. I think I made 3 swatches to figure out what I wanted, but I’m also adjusting the gauge to get an in-between size.

Anyway- back to the point of this post! My blog will likely be quiet for the next few weeks. But then I will return, like I always do.  Happy summer!

The show kicked off with an awesome party–Marly Bird’s Designer Dinner. Here I am with my roomie Robyn Chachula and Marly herself, apparently arranged in height order. The dinner was great–I got to meet so many new designers and reconnect with others. One of the things I love most about the show is getting to talk to “my people”–other designers who do what I do, so this was a very fun event. We also got amazing swag bags–check out this video blog by Sarah Wilson to see what was inside. I absolutely love the Namaste Monroe Bag that I got– I am super, super picky about purses but this one has an generous amount of pockets and organization (plus, it looks so professional!). Little Crochet fit perfectly in the outside pocket so I arranged it there like a little billboard and carried it throughout the show. I have already been singing its praises to everyone who asks about it. More photos of the fun that was getting the bags to the hotel can be seen here.

I also had the chance to squeeze in two classes.The first one was a hands-on class on dyeing sock yarn with Rachael Blackledge--and how could I not love it? It was so much fun, even at 8 AM. I can’t wait to make something with the 2 skeins we dyed, and I really love the first skein I dyed (not pictured, but hopefully I’ll show you soon!). I learned a lot but most importantly had fun and left the mess there! I’d definitely take this class again. Tammy from Yarnivore and I both took the class, and we had to laugh at the end when her side of the table was spotless and mine was covered in every color imaginable. We like to ask “Can  you tell who is the artist, and who is the engineer?” The second class I took was Gwen Bortner’s Making the Most of Handpainted yarns (see a theme?)–which was fun and informative, and I hope to apply some of the things I learned about knitting with handpaints to crochet in the near future. Gwen is a great teacher and I’m looking forward to diving into her Entree to Entrelac book, which was also in my swag bag.

I got to catch up with lots of old friends including Brett Bara, who was on her way to tape a fourth season of Knit and Crochet Now right after the show! We did a little interview which will be coming soon to an internet near you. I’m sporting my Peanut Butter Cardigan here–everyone always asks what you are wearing at the show and how nice to be able to say that it was a Linda Permann original. But, the best part was when I was walking toward the exit and heard these three ladies say “Stop, we’re following you!” They couldn’t believe my sweater was crocheted and wanted to check it out for themselves. TNNA: the place where it’s ok to pet strangers. Heh!  I was flattered.

Ooh, and here I am later in the day crocheting with Vashti Braha, Doris Chan and Ellen Gormley (who took this shot) at the Great Wall of Yarn. Here, you can sample all of the new yarns at the show but for some reason, there were hundreds of pairs of knitting needles and not a single crochet hook with which to try them. No problem, we got out our own and crocheted some swatches anyway. I picked up some stitches and knit mine back onto the needles to possibly cause some head scratching later. Maybe no one noticed, but it was fun nonetheless.

On Sunday, I did a book signing for Little Crochet in the Unicorn booth.  The signing is intended for yarn shop owners and lots of them lined up, so I had the chance to ask some of them whether they did crochet in their shops (and a lot answered yes!) and see some of the great crochet they were wearing. I got a lot of good feedback on the book, and some of it made me blush. My favorite feedback had to be when I asked Peggy Jo Wells (of Brown Sheep Company) if she received the copy that I mailed her [since she provided yarn support]. At first, she wasn’t sure, till I showed her the Strawberry Patch Party Frock–then she remembered, because she gave the book to a friend who crochets so that she could make one for Peggy’s new granddaughter. That’s what I like to hear!

One of the other cool things that happened at this show was that I got to meet one of my Craftsy students, Angela Tong.I had been chatting with her a little bit on twitter, but I didn’t realize that she also does her own knitwear designs, too! She’ll be posting a review of my class in the near future, so watch for it. I also found myself on the same plane as Stefanie Japel on the way home, and we talked about some of the classes they’re developing now, I’m excited to see where it goes.

All in all it was a fun–albeit exhausting–show, and this post doesn’t even begin to cover all of the lovely yarn, people, and dinners I attended, but I hope it gives you a taste of what TNNA is about. You can also check out more of my pictures on flickr, since I couldn’t fit them all here!

Here are the lovely ladies from my Tegue’s Jingle Ball class I taught, Julia, Melanie and Jacq. We got a good start on the ball and shared our crochet stories and tips.

And I finished my nephew’s sweater, plus convinced him to put it on for a full three seconds. I’m going to add some rows around the neck to bring it in, but otherwise it fits great. He’s 3, and I made the 4 year size.

All in all, it was a great day for Little Crochet!

But the cutest part was that both Marly Bird (aka Yarn Thing, aka the co-author of Curvy Crochet) and Joanna Johnson (who you might know from her adorable books for children–with knitting!) both brought their media copies of Little Crochet, for me to sign! I was so touched! My friends and family are all great at being excited for me, but real live knitters and crocheters getting excited? Well, that just made my night. I also got to meet some of Marly’s Minions (my loving nickname for the people who help her crochet and knit her samples)–Jolene is in the back row and Jenni is the one sporting a pretty red sweater (Marly’s design).

And the really nice thing about the dinner + the photos? I still had my professionally applied makeup on from the day of filming. Trust me, I usually don’t look this good, but maybe I should start trying!

Downtown LA.

Looking up at the Griffith Observatory. I love the simplicity of the building and of course, there were great views.

Oh, and on the way back we stopped at Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona. Stunning.

I’m actually in the market for a new camera. Point and shoot sized, and good at closeups (for tutorials) and low light/night time situations. I can hear the lens of my Lumix crapping out every time I use it and I have never been as happy with it as with my Canon Powershot. If you have any suggestions to share, please do so in the comments. I’m seriously leaning towards another Canon but open to suggestions!

Here was the view from my hotel desk on the first morning of TNNA, which was in Long Beach CA. I flew out, and Paul drove out to meet me. I took a grand total of maybe 3 pictures that can be called “of TNNA”, so I’ll go with those first. Here’s one of me and Doreen–we used to work together at Soho Publishing and going to their booth at shows still gives me a warm, homey feeling.

And I finally got to meet Erin Slonaker, aka Pepperknit,  the new editor of Yarn Market News (an industry publication for LYS owners and the like–sign up to get it if you don’t already). Unbeknownst to me at the time, she also edited Little Crochet and you might know her from her days at Crochet Today magazine.

I also got to spend some time with Robyn Chachula and her husband, who had the same “me too!” whim that Paul did and came out for the trip. We set them up on a man-date but I ended up tagging along because I like art and architecture too (and it was easy to wake up at 7 am due to the time change). We went to explore the buildings in downtown LA one morning before the show (but Robyn had to teach, boo!). It was like being back in NYC in a way, the colors and urban scenes were calling me!

We spent a lot of time at the Frank Gehry’s Disney building–which was located behind an eyesore of a parking lot. Makes for a nice juxtaposition, though.

And here’s one of the zillion shots I took up close. I’ll sift through them all one of these days.

All that left me feeling distracted that day, though. Oh, and I had a cold the whole time which I’m sure was utterly charming. Regardless,, it was fun to fondle new yarns and catch up with my peers. It’s a little odd to not work directly with any of your peers, so these biannual events are really important for me, just from a sanity perspective.

Once the convention was over we stayed in LA for two days and then drove back home. I did have time to get one of these in-n-out burgers though.

And we saw some cool stuff on the way back, which I’ll save for another post. In between the cool stuff was a lot of nothing (pretty nothing, different-looking nothing, but still, a whole lot of nothing!) so I took the opportunity to do some work. Here’s what my mobile work station looked like, with motifs blurred to protect the innocent.

Spending three days in a car sure is a good way to get a bunch of motifs cranked out– I would crochet 12 or 18 a day, then weave in ALL of the ends in batches. This way I will have less of a monstrous beast when I finish this secret project.  By my calculations, there would have been over 300 ends with this one, but it didn’t seem so bad to weave in 50 or 60 ends at a time, in small chunks, as a captive in the car. Keep that in mind next time you’re planning a road trip.

Nevertheless we made our way through all of the booths to pet anything and everything there was to pet. It was great to see so many local fiber-related businesses all in one place. I spent some time talking crochet with the Jackie and Mark (I think?), the new owners of Sustainable Fibers (formerly TX Fiber Mill). I’d like to go back for a tour one of these days, I’ve always wanted to see the fleece to yarn process.

I also spent a lot of time money in the Kai Mohair/Color Me booth–check out that rainbow of dyed mohair locks! This was a fun “salad bar” where you could mix and match locks for only $4/oz, so I got a bunch of bright colors to use for a secret project. Which will remain a secret, in case I don’t finish it in time! I loved the way this booth was set up, the colors were so enticing. I also purchased some really curly mohair (which I’ll use to knit a sheep), and a kit of odds and ends.

I love working from odds and ends–weaving in a few extra strands to save some $ has never bothered me, and sometimes it makes it easier for me to decide what to get. A little of everything, please!! All of the above yarn came in one 8 oz bag of fun, I spent last night winding most of it into the balls you see in the bowl.

And, we made sure to find a real life alpaca to pet, too. This was the friendliest alpaca I’ve ever met, usually they can be kind of skittish. Nikki tried to talk this one into coming home with her but it seemed happy just where it was. For some reason, I thought there would be more animals to see, but it’s possible we  missed them or didn’t come on the right day. Despite the smaller scale of the fest, we still ended up totally exhausted from all of the fiber fun, plus I ran into a few of my fiber friends from around TX. Anna let me try her glass crochet hook–and oh my goodness, I need to add some to my collection [when I win the lottery]. She also hooked me up with a few of her new crochet stitch marker designs, which I’m excited to try! I can’t wait to play with my goodies soon!

At market, I only took about two pictures and this was one of them.  I got to meet one of my favorite fabric designers–Anna Maria Horner. Anna Maria is a crocheter herself, as well as an amazing sewer and fabric designer. She has a new line of velveteen (yes, velveteen!) fabrics coming out in her collection, Innocent Crush. I have no idea how she does all that she does, but it’s inpsiring nonetheless. And you know I love a good cross-crafter–I don’t buy into the attitude that crocheters don’t sew, knitters don’t crochet, sewers don’t knit, etc. Crafty is crafty!

On Sunday we headed over to Yarntopia for Drew’s Crochet It. Love It. Wear It! book signing and Crochet Dude Product launch. Kim Guzman (above) was a surprise guest, and it was great to get to meet her. Plus I got to hang out with Brett Bara, who you may know as the former editor of Crochet Today. We used to work together in New York and it was so good to see her and talk yarn, crochet, and life.  She is holding up a sparkly ball of Kollage yarn in this photo. And  yes, I am wearing a light up pumpkin necklace. Because it was  Halloween, after all.

I had a lot of fun catching up and also, shopping! I have talked to Sheryl, one of the owners of Yarntopia, several times about crocheting as it relates to local yarn shops/high end yarn, and browsing her store I could just tell how much crochet love she has put into it. It was well stocked with lightweight yarns that come with generous yardage, and there were at least as many crochet samples as there were knit. It is always great to see that! If you’re a yarn shop owner, you can see more about how Sheryl has made her shop hook-friendly in my article, “Courting the Crochet Customer” in the October issue of Yarn Market News.

While I was busy gabbing and petting yarn, my sister Mary decided to sit down and learn to crochet. She made a couple of crochet-covered rings and was beaming afterwards. In the car, she said she never realized how easy it was to do! I’m going to have to round up some stray yarn and hooks to keep her going now!

I got home just in time to greet loads of trick or treaters. So even though I missed out on carving pumpkins, roasting seeds and dressing up this year, I think this may go down as one of the best Halloweens ever. I hope yours was lots of fun, too!

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