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January 18, 2008

TNNA roundup!

Though it was slower than usual (compared to the other winter TNNAs, even), those of us who went had a fabulous time. I have some photographic evidence:

Amy and Jess (yes, Ravelry Jess) at dinner. Tequila Jack’s. And yes, there was tequila. You can’t see Casey, who’s sitting to my left with a nice big tequila, heavy on the lime.

Imaginary internet friends made real! Larissa Brown, who I’ve known online forever, and who was in a fiber arts show I curated, and sold on my old online shop, and etc etc etc was at TNNA promoting her new book, coauthored with her husband. This is a blanket made from squares knit by dozens of other knitters, assembled by Larissa. She reports it made an appearance with Kaffe Fassett on TV that weekend, too.

(I taped a segment for the same show and the editor said, as we finished, that I was a “soundbite talker.” First take, no retakes, no stumbling. I’m inordinately proud of that, for some reason. Maybe if this knitting gig doesn’t pan out I should be a politician? It is one of my undergraduate degrees, after all…)

There were classes! I taught some, I took some. Here’s Cat Bordhi’s “Open Up A Moebius and Anything Can Happen” class — we’re learning the cast-on through hula here, apparently. My fab friend Kristi Porter at far right.

The first book my publishing company ever put out is still selling well. Here’s a poster about it in the author’s (SWTC’s Jonelle Raffino) booth.

There was buzz! About a designer’s union, the (let’s face it) welcome death of excessive fun fur, and a little tiny secret bit of buzz about the design cooperative I’ve been working on.

I’m not kidding about the fun fur. It’s dead, y’all. I’m tempted to gather up as much of it as I can find, stick it in a coffin and stab it with a wooden stake — a real stake, not needles. (Just in case I inadvertently knit a stitch and bring it back from the dead, you see). There’s a time and a place for good quality novelty yarn. Crystal Palace Shag comes to mind. It’s wool, and the black looks really nice as a trim or in a Rockstar. But the neon plastic eyelashy stuff? Oh please, no.

What’s in? What’s always been in — quality natural fiber yarns in a wicked good color palette. I could’ve seriously fallen over in a swoon over some of them. A tomato red from Shibui (“Chinese red”) wins my Partridge Family I Think I Love You Award. Malabrigo has a new 50/50 merino/silk in 46 special colors that make my heart flutter. Good stuff.

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10 comments

  • Jennifer

    Looks like much fun! And why are you surprised that you speak so well? I wasn’t surprised to hear that!

    Reply to Jennifer
  • Natalie

    Oh I love this round up!! I wish I was having tequila with you fab ladies there! 🙂

    Reply to Natalie
  • julie

    It was great hanging out with you. You really showed me how to “do” the floor.
    I like fun fur for soots and werewolves and little else.

    Reply to julie
  • tina

    Now Now Now………… fun fur while frightening to many of us still has its place! My youngest daughter adores it, and requests items from it. Naturally I bought her needles and yarn urging that she consult her own inner muse. HA! Y’know we’re all a big happy community and everybody can’t like the same thing. If we did, well life would be boring. And as my Mama says, it takes all kinds to make the world go round!

    Reply to tina
  • Post authorShannon

    Tina, it’s the neon, eyelashy stuff that terrifies the hell out of me. Seriously — when have you seen that used to good effect any time recently? But on the other hand, there ARE “fun fur -ish” yarns (like the Crystal Palace Shag I mentioned above… in fact, they’ve got a couple of decent ones) that are fine and that add the fuzzy, cuddly look without breaking your eyeballs in the process.

    I’m also looking at it from the perspective of someone who teaches knitting all over the place. Students come in wanting to use that when you know it’s just going to make it harder on them to learn the stitches properly. It frustrates me from multiple perspectives, from the design to the teaching to the end product!

    If you like it, use it! But as someone who was just WAITING for the pendulum to swing back in the opposite direction to yarns that are truly multipurpose AND beautiful, well… I’m excited.

    Reply to Shannon
  • Emma in France

    Coming to this a bit late but…

    Fun Fur isn’t dead. (Unfortunately.) It’s just moved to France. It’s the Big Thing here at the moment.

    Reply to Emma in France
  • Post authorShannon

    Awwww, poor France!

    Reply to Shannon
  • larissa

    Hi Shannon, it was soooooo great to meet you. Finally. Thanks for the cute picture you took of me. How often does that happen? And the Kaffe blanket was a different blanket, but yes one of them is behind his head. It was probably behind yours too, if you filmed on Saturday for Knit & Crochet Today. It was sort of on a table hiding some sound equipment in the back of the room. So glamorous!

    Reply to larissa
  • Cathy-Cate

    I came over from Stitch Marker to see the bingo wing camouflage, and to my surprise, there was my square peeking out at me! What a shock! Like seeing someone you know in People magazine or something!
    🙂
    Not that my square in Larissa’s blanket is a movie star, it’s Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island instead of Ginger, the dirt brown, umm, cocoa brown one on the left. But it’s still my baby!

    I have some Chinese Red Shibui. It is not to be knit, of course. It is to be looked at and petted only.

    Reply to Cathy-Cate
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