Whew!

Well, I survived my first time exhibiting at TNNA. My mind is still reeling. It was an entirely different experience than walking the floor as an anonymous, unknown designer since not only did I have a booth, but people are starting to recognize my name. Donna (my booth babe) kept saying that before too long, I'll be insufferable. I don't know about that, but I do know that I had a great time and really enjoyed everything (after I managed to get through my stressful events relatively unscathed).

The weekend started off with a bang on Thursday night - I had a sweater in the fashion show which got lots of compliments, and then we headed over to the Hilton (which I thought was only three blocks from the convention center - turns out it was more like three miles!) for the AKD meetup. We had a great crowd, including a bunch of AKD members along with prospects and other movers-and-shakers. I got to reconnect with Cookie A and Janel from the Cat Bordhi retreat.

I was also delighted to chat with Eunny and Kim Werker of Interweave Knits and Interweave Crochet. Jess and Casey of Ravelry stopped by and were instantly surrounded by fans. My Portland friend Larissa also came by with her co-author and hubby Martin - they got to do all kinds of promotion for their upcoming book, Knitalong, which is coming out in February (or April? I can't remember exactly.) All in all, a fun time was had. It was just how I'd wanted it to turn out, so now we're going to plan for another one in June. It's so nice to be able to network with other folks in a positive, casual environment.

I can't even begin to list all the fabulous, wonderful people I met over the weekend, so please forgive me. I met a LOT of folks, from designers and authors, to yarn company people, to shop owners, and they were all fabulous. I got to meet Clara Parkes of Knitter's Review, and she was totally delightful. I got to fawn all over Debbie Stoller when she stopped by my little booth - she was totally delightful as well and really liked my Autumn in Oregon sock pattern (so I gave her a copy - hee hee!). I was very happy to finally meet Pam Allen in person. And my AKD friend and cohort Jennifer Hagan. And Joan Michael-McGowan of Knitting Lingerie Style, who had a booth down at the end of the row. And Mary Beth Temple, who was doing a book signing for her new book The Secret Language of Knitters (lucky me - she brought me my own signed copy!). And Shannon Okey, who is just as delightful in person as she sounds on her blog and her podcast/radio show. And I know there are many others who I've missed but was just as delighted to hook up with.

I also got to reconnect with friends that I don't see too often, like Susan and Jill Wolcott from Y2Knit, Margaret Fisher, Chris de Longpre of Knitting at Knoon, Darlene Hayes from Hand Jive and the wonderful Cat Bordhi.

My head is totally spinning, and I'm going to have lots of work to do when I get home! Now that I've sold all my patterns, I'm going to need to get them printed off and sent out! Now it's time to get ready for our last dinner out - we're going to meet up with the Ravelry folks and have some barbecue. Yummy! Stay tuned for more...after I get home and get a little sleep!