TNNA | Titus Love!!!

Last week we went to Indianapolis for TNNA's Summer Trade Show - it was a quick (and fabulous) 48 hour trip! I have a ton to share, but I'm in the mood to spill some beans today, so...

Mike and I met some amazing people, saw their amazing products, and ordered some amazing goodies for you! We'll share details as they arrive, but there's one that cannot be kept under wraps... Titus by Baa Ram Ewe! Maybe you've heard of this lovely yarn (Clara Parkes and Kate Davies have created quite a buzz), or maybe you haven't...

Either way, we hope you'll fall in love... just like we did. 

350 yards (320 metres) per 100g hank 50% Wensleydale | 20% Bluefaced Leicester | 30% UK Alpaca | 100% British

We've retained the delicious blend of Wensleydale and Bluefaced Leicester wool, combined with a touch of magical UK Alpaca in homage to philanthropist and Yorkshire mill owner Sir Titus Salt. This luxurious yet authentic combination is also reflected in the new shade range: deep, rich colours that evoke images and memories of a land which has such strong historic connections to wool and wool manufacturing.

For us, this is a dream come true: a luxurious local yarn with homely colours that supports our local industries. It makes us very happy. We hope it makes you happy too.

 We met Verity Britton of Baa Ram Ewe at TNNA and her passion for the yarn is contagious. As if she wasn't enough, she showed us a photo of this guy:

This beauty is a Wensleydale sheep and his locks make up 50% of Titus - don't you want to hug him? 

Titus will be arriving at Firefly Fibers later this summer (July/August) and I did manage to come home with a skein for a shop sample. *squee* Once I get through this next round of classes and the awesomeness of launching CustomFit, I'll wind it up and share more!

Cheers!

On the Needles | Inland & Big News!

I had grand hopes of finishing Inland within a week since some of the Knit Night ladies decided that knitting Inland was a contest - I always say that knitting isn't a race, but I guess a sweater race now and then is just fine. lol!  So, I've been trying to knit like the wind and posting snippets of my sweater progress on Facebook and Instagram along the way. Well, I'm not winning the Inland contest by any means, but I have managed to divide for and start the sleeves. Inland hasn't gotten nearly as much attention as it deserves since it's a personal project and my hope of completing it within a week has since passed. But, I'm totally okay with that, because...

A really exciting opportunity has come up for Firefly Fibers - like, really exciting - so I've been busy prepping the store launch of... drum roll please...

CustomFit by Amy Herzog Designs!

I was keeping things under wraps - shocking, right?! - but while I was prepping, the shop was spotted on the CustomFit LYS page and questions have been coming in, so the time has come to make the official announcement. I love the enthusiasm for CustomFit so far and I can't wait to share the fabulous shop offerings (and samples) I'm working on for you! Stay tuned...

In the meantime... I've been working with a couple really fabulous new yarn vendors to line up some great new yarn for the shop - sorry, I'm teasing, but it will be well worth the wait. Also, hubby and I are getting ready to head off for Firefly's biennial trip to TNNA next weekend in Indianapolis. This will be my third TNNA and Mike's first, so I'm super excited for him to see what this TNNA hullabaloo is all about. It's amazing, overwhelming, fabulous, exhausting, and so much more! I can't wait and will report back!

Cheers!

TNNA | Recovering & Recap

It’s been a little over 2 weeks since I returned from TNNA. If you don’t know what TNNA is, this is *the*event where the folks in the fiber industry meet up once a year for a huge trade show in Columbus, Ohio - basically equal parts of awesome & exhaustion. TNNA’s 2012 Summer Trade Show was a ton of fun. I’ve posted on the Firefly Fibers blog, but I wanted to share some highlights of the event and trip from my own perspective:

• Blue Sky Alpacas and Spud & Chloe: We met ‘Cousin’ Katie and she is nothing short of amazing! Here is a photo of their booth from Katie’s blog post on TNNA. I’ve been a fan of Blue Sky Alpacas since before Firefly Fibers and they have a very special place in my heart. They are a small company with very passionate employees that believe in their amazing yarn and their enthusiasm is contagious! You can expect more Blue Sky and Spud loveliness at Firefly Fibers and on my needles in the near future!

• Unicorn Books: Unicorn is one of our vendors and I was so happy to meet our accounts payable guy, Kirk, whom I’ve only corresponded with via email. He was quite the ‘bouncer’ in his black shirt collecting tickets for the book signings - those authors were totally safe with him on the job! We also met Josh, who works in the warehouse and he was busy applying Unicorn temporary tattoos any and all willing parties. They are a great group!
• New awesomeness at Firefly Fibers: I can’t divulge details, but we have some brand new yarns coming and they are fabulous! The waiting is driving me crazy so, rest assured, I’ll share as soon as the orders start to show up. Keep an eye on the Facebook page. Really, it will be well worth the wait!
• The vendors: This event is a lot of fun, but it is serious work for everyone attending and especially exhibiting. With independent designers on the rise, many of the vendors are small companies with just a couple or maybe a handful of bodies to work their booths. I appreciate the time the vendors put into their beautiful booths - I know this was exhausting for them, as well.
• Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream: I resisted this with all my might, yet the peer pressure of regular tweeting about Jeni’s finally made us give in. I thought, “really, people, it’s just ice cream”, I was wrong. I’m not a big on ice cream or sweets in general, but seriously, this stuff is amazing! We went twice and ordered Jeni’s Ice Cream cookbook from Unicorn.
• North Market: This place ROCKS! We decided to venture over for some ice cream and pleasantly found a delicious lunch, as well. It was nice to pick up a few things and take them back to our room so we had some fresh food in our fridge.
• Mike, my wonderful husband: My hubby has a job, one that he works very hard at, yet he always graciously helps out when he’s needed at the store. During TNNA, he took vacation time so Firefly Fibers would be open while I was gone. Thank you for all you do, my dear, you are my hero!

It was a wonderful time, the company couldn’t be beat and I can’t wait to do it again. Thankfully, it’s only once a year. :)