I'm back!

From Columbus, that is. I had a great time at the show, looking at all the new yarns being introduced for the fall, getting books signed by their authors, grabbing sample bags where I could, meeting up with all my yarn shop owner friends, and dreaming about what to order in. And, as usual, the vendors did not let us down regarding treats....Interweave supplied us with cupcakes and coffee on Saturday, other vendors provided wine & cheese, champagne, pastries, and the obligatory knitter's chocolate was everywhere.

First, here are some of the books I was able to get signed by the authors, and there are more here in the shop not yet photographed.

I met and chatted with Debbie Bliss! for about 20 minutes. She showed me all the items that are being featured in the new magazine issue to be released in the fall. They are quite beautiful There is even a Union Jack pillow (which I thought would make a great tea cosy). She signed her pattern book The Big Easy for me.

One of the big exciting discoveries was that Addi is releasing extra cables and tips for the Addi Click sets. The set of cables and joiner are to retail for $30 US and the tips will be in the $16US range. I'm placing my order this week. They also are releasing an 8 inch circular lace needle! It was tiny.

I also brought back three Della Q circular needle storage bags. Made from silk, they are a little nicer than the worm wallets some of us are using.

Here's a shot of my haul from the Sample It! event where shop owners can purchase 1 item from each vendor to bring back...it usually is a stampede, but I was successful in getting the items I wanted.

So, here we have Supersock SemiSolids from Cherry Tree Hill Farm, a Fibersphere, 3 Ques from Della Q, a sock kit from Louet with 2 skeins of Gems merino and pattern included. There were so many other things to look at, but I restrained myself to just these items.

That being said, I lost all restraint at the Tilli Tomas booth. When Tracy at Tilli Tomas asked me if I wanted a copy of my order, I declined. Let it be a surprise!

Here's some of the displays of the Great Wall of Yarn. It's so big I couldn't stand far enough back to get all of the display modules in...

I think there are 10 or 12 modules with samples from about 40 companies on them. We can take a strand of the yarn and tape it into a book provided (I did this the first year, but it takes so long and I never did use the book afterwards). But it is nice to be able to play with the yarn the night before the show opens.

And finally, here's a shot of the "What's New" display. The photo does not begin to show how long this display is - it has to be more than 50 feet long, and 8 feet wide - and there are two of them!

As I unload and organize all the shade cards and samples, I will update you. It was a great trip, and I can't wait until next year. Have a great week.