Top 7 moments from Long Beach Market.

This year's Spring TNNA market in Long Beach was the best yet, by far. We bought more bags and buttons than we should have (thanks, Gina and Ellen) and more linen than we can hold (thanks, Ingrid). We made some really exciting cashmere purchases for fall and worked out a very exclusive appearance agreement for fall as well. And best of all, we secured a huge deal to be one of only 5 stores in the country to carry one of the top European yarn lines - but for now, we have to stay mum on that one.

Many of the yarns and goodies will start coming in right away - like Opal sock yarn (yeah folks, you heard right), Schaefer Laurel (a multi cotton) and Heather (a new sock yarn with silk and no mohair!). Others are planned for our spring Hot Loops debut. Either way, you won't want to miss a single week of Loops happenings this season.

But now, for the good stuff...my top 7 favorite moments in Long Beach:

#7 When we arrived after a 5-hour series of flights, we were all famished and headed for King's, a local fish restaurant. Our waiter "Joe" was straight out of the movie Hairspray, and was thrilled to find some Oklahoma corn-fed women who weren't afraid to dive into a plate of mussells (or whatever those are, Ellen!) and then ask for the dessert menu!

#6 Brushes with fame: Spotted the two guys from ThreadBear, such a cool shop up north. Looked hard for the Ravelry people who were there, but apparently under the radar. Chatted with Louisa Harding (see you Thursday, Louisa!). Rubbed elbows with too many folks to name - the Alchemy pals Gina and Austin, Wenlen Chia of Twinkle, and a buyer who I swear was the guy from "Queer Eye" wearing a black sweater he had ripped, then torn up and added chains to because it was too boring. Never got his name.

#5 We went into a bathroom marked "Ladies" that had urinals, so we were all a bit discombobulated (the number of men's bathrooms steadily decreased day by day as the women took over the exhibit hall - poor guys!) We were all washing our hands when we noticed Ingrid banging on what she thought was a paper towel dispenser, trying different knobs to get a towel. We all broke into guffaws when we saw her because of course, it was a tampon machine. (No photos of this - Ingrid was too quick for that!)

#4 Got up early the last morning to soak in a little bit of the Long Beachiness, since most of our time was spent in the exhibit hall. Here are some shots from our balcony on the 17th floor:


#3 Had a nice dinner with my "date" Gina, since Ingrid and Ellen pooped out both nights and opted for room service (how was that burger, Ellen?). I even wore Gina's ring 'cause I forgot my wedding ring back at the room and didn't want to give any waiters the wrong idea. But I think maybe he got the wrong idea about me and Gina! ;-)

#2 On the return flight, Gina and Ellen plugged in to Gina's video ipod to watch old episodes of "WKRP in Cincinnati." Who downloads that??? Worse yet, they found it so hysterical that their guffaws disturbed the blonde in front of us who was tallying sales figures for Botox on her computer (sorry, couldn't help looking).

And the #1 moment...only because it is such an utterly rare sight...Ingrid NOT knitting:

She finished her travel project early (tiny violin playing here) and RAN OUT OF KNITTING. Oh the horror. The contraband sock yarn we secured for her on the show floor was not to her liking. Though we had ordered with them, Habu Textiles (oops, let that one slip) would not release a kit to her. So she pouted and suffered and did crosswords and read a frickin' magazine all the way home. Let this be a lesson to everyone: No matter if you only bring one outfit to wear over and over again, always bring plenty of yarn.

Last but not least, a photo of me in a happy moment - in the Dallas airport, almost home. Thanks to all the Troops and my dh for keeping things humming here at home-sweet-home:

- Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com