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Originally uploaded by plainsight

We saw this little guy on the way to the opening day of The National Needle Arts (TNNA) conference which is happening this weekend in Long Beach, CA.

I’ve been getting energized by all the yarn and great folks here and have lots of new ideas for designs and projects.

The big news is, I, along with friends Julie, Shannon and Kristi, learned the ancient art of Tatting! Here we all are trying it out:

Some great new yarns have been unveiled–I love seeing more truly certified organic cotton–like that from Nashua Handknits, and Blue Sky Alpaca. Here’s some lovely and soft yak down yarn which is gently collected from the big animals who roam around Colorado twice a year.


The woman who owns Bijou Basin Ranch said she feeds her yak a little grain so they’ll be happy to come when she call them, and then when they’re ready uses a big dog brush to comb out the down. She sells all gorgeous natural colors, and the yarn is as soft as cashmere.

Here’s a new design that I just completed for Lana Knits (Hemp for Knitting). It’s a crocheted shawlette, and we’re making plans for more designs to come soon.

More to come…

James was only a snail…