I can’t do it! I had visions of an orderly, well-crafted recap of my first trip to TNNA (the main yarn industry trade show), but it turns out my thoughts are as blurry as most of the photos I took on the show floor. It was such a whirlwind. I landed Saturday evening (a day or two later than most attendees) and left early Monday afternoon, and those 43 hours were jam-packed with yarn and ice cream and meetings and knitwear and ice cream and knitting and more ice cream. Columbus has come a long way since I lived there, very briefly, many years ago. For one thing, the Jeni’s that looms so large in everyone’s TNNA experience is on the corner of my old street (the same one the Mona Lisa lives on). Thank god that wasn’t the case then — can you imagine? I’d weigh a thousand pounds. But see? I digress.

The show was a brainful, and then some. So much to look at and so many people to meet. (Not to mention buying decisions — I have lots of great stuff coming for the shop.) And the evenings and late nights were spent knitting and drinking in the company of dozens upon dozens of knitwear designers and shop owners. I got to meet several of the fine, upstanding people who are selling Fringe Supply Co. goods in their shops: Jaime and Amber, who own Fancy Tiger Crafts; Karen Posniak, who owns Do Ewe Knit; Arthella and Trudy, who were there representing Fibre Space (big order en route to them right now); and Anna Dianich of Tolt Yarn and Wool (opening soon!). Chief among the designers I met was Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark, my roommate for the weekend, and wow did I luck out in that category. That’s her in the top left photo up there. Bottom right are Andrea Rangel, Carina Spencer and Allyson Dykhuizen, three of the most charming people you could hope to meet. But to try to name all the wonderful people I met is … hopeless. Nor can I begin to summarize what I saw.

So here’s the thing I really want to tell you. One of the highlights of the trip was getting to flip through a dummy of the Fall issue of Knitscene. Everyone had been raving about Mercedes’ contribution, and when I finally saw it, it did not disappoint. It’s the Emmanuelle sweater, pictured below, and I was going to have a hell of a time keeping it under my hat. Thankfully the official preview hit the internet yesterday, so I don’t have to! I love this design, and have been picturing it (predictably) in every possible combination of neutrals: Camel with alternating black and white chevrons? Black with grey and white chevrons? Grey with black and white, or camel and white? You get the idea. But if ever there were a time to embrace color, this sweater would be it.