Recap: TNNA - Phoenix, AZ 2012

The weekend before last, I flew to Phoenix, AZ for the semiannual needle arts trade show. It had been exactly 12 years since I had gone to Arizona. Then I was traveling with a 9-month old and have done quite a bit of sightseeing! This time I had seen not much more of the city than the Convention Center, a hotel and couple of restaurants.

This trade show was slightly different for me than the other trade shows before. I had spent majority of  time talking with people rather than walking the floor, so I had not gotten the whole scoop on the latest and the greatest.  The three days really don't seem to be enough to be able to see everything. But that's OK. I had spent time with my clients, friends and met new ones. While at the show, I had invested my time into brainstorming upcoming collections, came across some new opportunities and sparked some new ideas for the upcoming year.

So here we go. This is what I did. 

I attended a few book signings.

Dora Ohrenstein's Custom Crocheted Sweaters book signing .

Kristin Omdahl's Seamless Crochet book singing

with Faina Goberstein.

Robyn Chachula's Simple Crochet book signing with Marly Bird and me.

I had met up with some of my favorite people: Faina Goberstein, Marly Bird, Linda Permann and Robyn Chachula; as always lots of fun. 

Faina Goberstein and I.

Andee Graves, Faina Goberstein, Marly Bird, and me.

Robyn Chachula, me, Linda Permann, Jill Wright, and Tabetha Hedrick.

I enjoyed talking with fellow designers Tabetha Hedrick and Jill Wright.  It was nice to see  Anne Kuo Lukito of Crafty Diversions,  Kate Oates of Tot Toppers, Stefanie Japel from Craftsy, Grace Akhrem, Kristin Omdahl of Styled by Kristin, oh and many others.

With Grace Akhrem.

 I had gotten the opportunity to meet a star designer Josh Bennett of Boy Meets Purl, who had introduced his new menswear knitting line with Rowan yarns. In addition to his own line, he works with Irina Shabayeva, the winner of one of the seasons of Project Runway. Go see her collection where you can see the knitwear Josh had worked on for her. Very impressive. What a talent.

Josh Bennett, me and Faina.

And of course, I saw some beautiful yarns. Below Linda Peramann, Marcy Smith, editor of Interweave Crochet, and I are at the Berroco's yarn tasting bar, knitting and crocheting with their newest yarns for Spring/Summer 2012.

Linda Permann, Marcy Smith and I at Berroco Yarn Bar.

Below you can see the new color scheme of Imperial Yarn.

Imperial yarn - new colors for spring/summer 2012

Lantern Moon has introduced the Scrumptious (45% silk, 55% merino) yarn designed by Jeni Hewlett of Fyberspates. The yarn is offered in a variety of weights ranging from lace to chunky. I really liked this one, it is so soft and has a beautiful sheen. I'm looking forward to getting an opportunity to work with it.

When I am at the show,  I usually forget to take pictures, but I think this year I got a bit better. What do you think?

Well and that's a wrap. :)