Breathe. It's over.

TNNA ended yesterday afternoon, and after a super fast break-down and a very fast drive home, it was really over.  I still have a few things to put away but I'm pretty much done with trade shows until next TNNA. And that's just fine.  The past 2 months have been devoted to working at the nursery and TNNA prep and I'm looking forward to moving on to the next thing... which I haven't quite decided on yet.

*To the non-knitters out there: TNNA is a needle arts convention, the biggest in the US.  It was my third time there but first with Good For Ewe.

So first I'll show you the very few pictures I have from TNNA...(you aren't really supposed to take any pictures inside the trade show)

I finally got this hat done!  We sold the pattern and the kits and have plenty leftover which I will take to trunk shows this fall. Thanks to my good friend Meghann and her lovely Lucy for modeling.

The Good For Ewe booth with myself, Meghann and my mom.  My dad met up with us for the last day of the show.  My parents are not fiber crafters and were bored to tears. 

Meghann and I chatted with Stephen West for a while.  He even picked out a hank of Kettle Steps to take home with him. 

Jeni's Ice Cream.  I went once with my mom and once with Meghann.  If you ever get to Columbus Ohio, make Jeni's your first stop. 

My loot from the show.  When breakdown begins at the end of the show, you grab your oddballs or some cash and ask other vendors if they're willing to make a deal so they have a little less to take home. I got some fabulous orange merino and patterns from Baah Yarns, some omgamazing yarn from Zen (they were across the hall from us, Neville (one of the owners) and I hung out at the reps meeting and he let Meghann and I each have a hank.  It's amazing yarn, the Zen Yarn Garden people are super kind, and if you ever see one of their beauties at your local yarn shop, grab it.  But of course make sure you're getting some Good For Ewe yarn too. :p

I also scored a yarn bowl from Pawley Studios (also super kind people) and my mom snuck over and bought me the matching mug when I was away from the booth. The knitting pirate is actually a tattoo I've been wanting for about 10 years but I'm too afraid of needles to get it.  So the Yarrrn bowl will suffice...for now. 

The brown yarn is Yak from Myak, a newer Italian company.  The woman in the booth was quite pregnant and came wandering in to the Good For Ewe booth and wanted to trade some yak for some Claddagh- my merino and baby llama tweed to make baby clothes.  I'm always game for a trade, so she's taking some Claddagh back to Italy, and I have 3 hanks of Yak.  I haven't a clue what to do with it, but it's going to be pretty fabulous when I get to it. And that's my loot.

Some other highlights of the TNNA trip:

Jess and Casey from Ravelry wandering into the booth and hanging out for about 10 minutes, talking about Bob and other dogs. 

Ysolda thought my booth was cute.  She told us twice. 

Picking up a rep that used to be a friend from Lantern Moon.  He's new to repping but I know he'll do great, and I'll be his first company to sign him on.  So I think that's pretty cool for both of us. 

Stacy Charles (who I met in February) remembered me and told me I could email him if I ever needed to bounce an idea off someone about a new product or marketing approach. 

Standing in line for lunch with Jess and Cat Bordhi and then sharing a waffle with Jess.  Casey remembering who Meghann and I were at the end of the show and waving goodbye at the end.  We did a fangirl squee as soon as we passed. 

I'm so glad Meghann, a fellow yarn dork was able to come to the show with me.  My mom was there the whole show but the significance of some people and events were lost on her.  It was nice to have someone to be starstruck with. 

So...the show's over.  What now?

Good For Ewe work is never done.  I've got a few orders to ship out and a few patterns I'm still working on.  There are 6 trunk shows on the books for this fall, and I'll need to prepare for those next.  

The first pattern I'm taking down is this baby blanket of doom.  I actually really like it, I'm just over the ribbing pattern.  It's been on the needles for almost a year now. I'd like to have it finished and the pattern written up for a trunk show that's happening in 3 weeks. 

I was really excited to start a new quilt after the trade show, but Esther the sewing machine called it quits halfway through the last curtain.  I'll get a new one after I save up a little more money and finish a few more projects.  It's absolutely killing me that I have all the fabrics washed, ironed and cut and I can't actually start my quilt top. Maybe it will force me to finish the lingering projects faster. 

I've also been in the mood for a cardigan lately.  I will need a green one or two for when it gets chilly at the nursery this fall.  We'll see.  I've got to finish this baby blanket, a circular afghan, a beaded shawl, a dog blanket and a pair of socks before anything new gets going.  I'm counting on you, dear readers, to hold me to this.