New York Sheep and Wool Festival 2013

For the fifth year in a row, Patricia's Yarns chartered a bus to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival held annually in Rhinebeck, NY.  I love this trip!  It is always fun to have an adventure, see all of the gorgeous wool, and yes, see the lovely animals that provide all of our incredible fiber.  Not to mention, I get a chance to catch up with many of my favorite knitters (including author Ysolda Teague, Lorna's Laces owner Beth Casey [both pictured]), customers, and friends (hooray, tentenknits was there!).  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this year's trip.  Knit, Crochet, Create!

TNNA 2013: A Huge Success

Stitchers from all over descended upon Columbus Ohio this past weekend for the summer TNNA needlearts market to shop for new products, get inspired and see friends old and new. It was a huge success. 

When walking the show floor frequently people ask if you have found anything new and exciting. As this is my tenth show there is a lot that I have seen before - with many new booths sprinkled in.  I find it all exciting. 

One of my first stops is Lorna's Laces to say hello to Beth & Michael.  Their yarns are a staple in the shop fall lineup. Shepherd Worsted is a wonderful machine washable wool that is hand dyed and lovely.  I am also very excited for their new yarn, Haymarket, which is 100% Bluefaced Leicester wool. It is so very soft and in Lorna's colors- amazing.  

I was very excited when I was walking down the 1000 aisle and ran into Lesley Scanlon who is the amazingly creative mind behind Mac & Me.  She was displaying her new patterns, all classic designs with a modern twist.  I was so happy to catch up with her and place an order for the shop.  

The Koigu booth is always full of buzz and excitement.  We picked through their hundreds of colors deciding what stayed and what didn't (this is never easy.  I love it all!).  Below is the beginning of the process... 

Wow, I love Koigu!

The show wouldn't be complete without seeing some favorite knitwear designers.  The cherry on top was visiting with Ysolda Teague. We talked about her designs, her new book, and even got some new tips for casting-on toys! She is such a nice person to chat with and I am so excited to work with her distributor, Crafty Diversions. 

With all that in mind I still have quite a few surprises up my sleeves for fall.  I cannot wait to share them with you.

Knit, Crochet, Create!

Day Three

We are sitting in the Drury with our favorite sales rep (Rowan, Manos, Misti, Fibre Company), Antonia, thinking about the great day we had at the show. We are pooped from all the knit excitement!

Above isone of our signed books, Vintage Baby Knits, a note pad from Blue Sky, a skein of superior & our ring for ordering Mac & Me. It is so fun seeing friends!

It all started at Lorna's Laces. We beelined right over to our favorite yarn line to put in an order for the fall. A few color choices later and we were feeling mission accomplished and it was only 10:30am!

Our next stop was at the Fibre Company and we got to meet Kate and Courtney the distributors. You know them best as the distributors for our "crack" yarn, Road to China. Kate has some great designs that are showcased on their website and a popular pattern coming out in the Fall Knitscene. (Margaux's pretty excited about that one!)

We got to see so many great knit designers and industry influencers including Veronik Avery, Norah Gaughn, Kate Gilbert(Twist Collective), Teva Durham and Stacey Charles (Takhi Stacey Charles).

From our book distributor we got a few great books to show you including one that we believe was made with us in mind called Pints and Purls. How can you not love a pattern book that has drunken knits!? We also were particularly excited about the Vintage Baby knits book which Margaux can't stop looking at.

We also got to stop at the Mac & Me booth and see the great new designs by Leslie Scanlon. Patricia enjoyed the new Mac&Me patterns as well as Margaux modeling some of the garments - especially the bling we got for our new fall order!!

Another new yarn that we are excited to bring to you is Aslan Fibers. This great wool is soft and has a beautiful palette of colors.

Our last stop was at Blue Sky and their new line, Spud & Chloe! The new line is fantastic and we cannot wait to get it in for you to enjoy. It's such a great line that even Margaux forgot her inner monologue and exclaimed for joy as our order was being made. It caught the Blue Sky rep a little off guard but she said it was understandable ;).

We snapped a few photos from the Rowan booth,
The actual new magazine, number 46, which we will have to wait to receive along with the ball of Lima & an image from the Lima Collection.

The cover image from their new book the Lima Collection with a ball of it which we are very excited about.

Getting ready to head out for dinner with Beth & Michael from Lorna's, Antonia, Craig & Mark from Loop & the two of us! All in all a great knitting day! We cannot believe we have to leave tomorrow.