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TNNA Conference Yarn Report

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Knitter’s Review visited the TNNA early June in Columbus Ohio. ” TNNA stands for The National NeedleArts Association, and twice a year they host a conference where store owners, manufacturers, designers, publishers, and industry folk come together to learn, schmooze, and sell. Besides the marketplace, [tag]TNNA[/tag] also offers a fantastic array of classes, as well as various other programs and a fashion show.”

Knitters Review reports on several new yarns soon to be available.

Pam Allen now works at [tag]Classic Elite Yarns[/tag]. Pam helped to develop the Alpaca Sox yarn which is composed of 60% alpaca, 20% merino, and 20% nylon.

[tag]Knit One, Crochet Too[/tag] previewed its new sock yarn, Soxx Appeal. A truly springy and subtly textured sock yarn, Soxx Appeal is made of 96% Merino, 3% nylon, and 1% elastic, and comes in a host of variegated colors.

Among the numerous new hand-dyers at the show, the level of quality and innovation varied dramatically. The new yarn darling had to be [tag]ShibuiKnits[/tag], based in Portland, Oregon. They had seven yarns on display, each developed with specific intention and taking into consideration how its weight, fiber content and quality, twist, and ply would work in conjunction with the other yarns.

Vermont-based organic yarn vendor [tag]Vermont Organic Fiber Company[/tag] had two new yarns on display. Although this company is relatively new to the handknitting yarn market, they’ve been selling organic wool to the textile trade since 2000 and are making impressive inroads.

Visit [tag]Knitter’s Review[/tag] for the whole story!

Comments

  1. Did you go to the TNNA event? If you saw the fashion show one of my shawls was featured. You can see it on my blog (turquoise fleece shawl) which is my own technique using a felted fleece and freeform crochet and knitting embellishments. Check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks.

Have you read?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.