Karen King and I are just back from TNNA (The National Needlarts Association) Tradeshow which was in Long Beach, California January 9-12. We flew down on Saturday morning and returned on Sunday evening, giving us about 36 hours of concentrated shopping for K2TOG.

So what did we find?

We found a new organic cotton line from Ecobutterfly, a company that matches beautifully to the K2TOG mission. These beautiful, organic, natural cotton yarns will be a treat to knit this summer. Baby blankets are a 'natural' project, and I am already planning to knit several sleeveless tops for summer wear from the lace weight yarn.

Natural cotton colors are white, brown and green and vary in depth of color. White cotton is more available and therefore costs less than the beautiful dark brown and deep green colors. We will carry a variety of colors in each of the weights that are available.

On another track, we went to TNNA to find a new line of handpaint yarns to carry in the shop. Our criteria included fibers, quality, beauty, affordability and environmental footprint. After looking at 11 lines at the show, we decided to carry Claudia Hand Painted Yarns. I met Claudia, the owner, dyer and designer of these beautiful yarns and she is a real treat. The yarns come in silk, linen, cotton and wool and in different weights. The colorways are spectacular - we chose 24 different colorways in the lace-weight 100% silk. I will be knitting something using a strand of lace-weight silk with a strand of lace-weight linen for the summer. I'm going to use 2 different colorways combined, which should produce an entirely different, beautiful fabric. These yarns will be arriving in mid to late March.

A third line of yarns we will be carrying is Hand Jive Yarns, a natural-dyed line created by Darlene Hayes. These beautiful yarns have subtle coloration and a great feel.

As I was standing in line to get a beautiful new book signed (that's another story) I was chatting with several shop owners. One was a yarn store owner in Southern California, the other a needlepoint shop in Arizona. From that conversation and based on my description of my wonderful Berkeley customers, the Arizona shop owner suggested that I check out the booth of a young woman from Hong Kong that made 'fascinating and unique' yarns. I couldn't resist that description, so before lunch (and I was starving, though Karen was doing okay - she ate breakfast, I didn't) we found Knit Collage. The yarn is like nothing I've seen! It's super chunky wool with 'stuff' spun in. The stuff includes ribbon, crochet flowers and fruit, mohair ... (the list goes on and on). Take a few moments to read the about us link. The yarn is spun by local women who wouldn't have a job otherwise. Evidence that knitting will change the world!

But Wait - there's more!

We are adding more bone and wood buttons from Nepal, wooden swifts from Sweden (guaranteed for many years), new color knit kits, and LOTS more books! We spent 2 hours on Sunday morning putting together orders for books from Interweave Press and Unicorn Books. I can't even remember all of the titles we will receive. That will have to be another blog entry.

That's a short description of our whirlwind tour of TNNA. We got a lot done and I hope you will find something that inspires your creativity this spring and summer.