TNNA Report: February 2013

Amber and I just got back from warm Long Beach for TNNA, The National Needlearts Association trade show. This is where we go to see new products, get inspired by new designs, and touch base with our favorite companies and designers.

As you already know if you're a blog reader, we debuted Heirloom our 100% American Romney yarn. We had a cute little display set up in the Elemental Affects booth. It went great and we heard some positive and exciting feedback. Look for Heirloom soon in fine LYS across the US.

Jeane deCoster, Jaime and Amber with Heirloom!

We loved Moving Mud artisan glass works. We picked up (and brought home with us!) these beautiful handmade glass darning needles. Come by soon, they won't last long!

Glass Darning Needles from Moving Mud

Malabrigo has a gorgeous new yarn coming out late Spring - Mecha. Mecha is a superwash, bulky weight single ply and, as always, the colors are stunning. We can't wait to get this in stock! We will let you know as soon as we get it in...

Mecha by Malabrigo

We were thrilled to pick up not one, but two new lines from the Fibre Company. Tundra and Acadia will be joining Terra and Road to China Light here at Fancy Tiger Crafts. Stay tuned for more on these lux yarns when they arrive this Spring. We are always inspired by the Fibre Co. aesthetic--they and their booth were too cute in their fancy shoes and cabled Flor tiles!

Fibre Co. Tundra color cards and Maura's hot shoes on knit FLOR tiles

Local company Schact was there with an adorable new pin loom - the Zoom Loom! This simple and affordable little loom is perfect for anyone wanting to dabble in weaving as well as a great way to introduce kids to the wonderful world of weaving. These cuties will be here in April.

Jaime and Jess make magic with Zoom Looms

A new trend that we are on-board with is mini-skeins! Some yarn companies are now offering their yarn in smaller put-ups for colorwork, small projects and general craft uses. We loved the design of Knitted Wits mini-skeins, called Gumballs, Gobstoppers and Jawbreakers! We ordered a bright palette of Gobstoppers - little hand-dyed skeins of worsted weight wool--perfect for colorwork and stripes.

Gobstoppers and a kids sweater made from them!

We did it. We finially ordered the unique Silken Straw yarn from Alchemy Yarns. We love how unusual this 100% silk yarn is and can't wait to see what you do with it. More to come when this gets here next month. Alchemy's booth featured this life-sized felted owl...I'm pretty inspired to make one of my own!

Silken Straw by Alchemy Yarns and the coolest felted owl of all time.

We can't wait to see what you'll make with all the inspiring new yarns, products, and patterns we have coming!