One Long Beach

Post By // Kristin F.

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• shibui knits booth at tnna long beach

Now that the dust...er, fiber fluff...has settled, we have a minute to fill you in on the fabulous TNNA gathering in Long Beach last month. We won’t trouble you with weather details (clear, crisp and sunny... it’s California, after all) because so many of you are covered with ice and snow right now. Besides, we saw very little daylight - we hated to leave the yarn-drenched convention center with so many yummy things to explore, not to mention the wonderful populace of Knit Fanatics!

Day One was all about hard labor; however, thanks to our amazing Goddess of Graphics, Jenny, the booth went together in record time. At the forefront was our new beautiful and classic 100% silk worsted weight yarn, Heichi, with the accompanying booklet of 8 modern and wearable designs gracing the mannequins. After a successful Sample It, the crew of four had an early night, followed by a rather heated debate over who got to wear which samples the next day!

Days Two through Four flew by in a blur. So many wonderful yarn shoppers visited and purchased both Heichi and Shibui classics like Silk Cloud, Sock, Staccato, and the Alpacas. We also had the opportunity to visit with several of our favorite designers who have used the Shibui line: Julie Weisenberger of cocoknits, Cookie A, and Kristy McGowan, author of Modern Top-Down Knitting. Eunny Jang, the editor of Interweave Knits (who has designed some of my very favorite colorwork designs), also stopped by to see what was new in ShibuiLand.

The outside world crept in to this fantasyland in the form of a football game with special meaning for the Shibui crew - who are of the Oregon Duck ilk. Word drifted into our booth that the Deep South girls were wearing the blue and orange of Auburn. A taxi ride to Walmart at 7 am provided us with the tools to make them sit up and take notice as they entered their booth later that morning.

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• Duck-ed out Deep South Fibers booth
• Close-up

We’d prefer not to discuss the outcome of the game, and hope they have the good manners to do the same! We'll find out when we see them - and you, as well! - at the next bash in Columbus this June.