It's been over a week since I was at The National Needlearts Association Convention in San Diego but I haven't been working with my photos. (And in my mind, what's a blog without photos?) This show is where yarn shop owners go to purchase items to bring into their shops. I have to remind myself that my shop is small, I'm not open 7 (or even 4 or 5) days/week so don't go crazy. As always I found a few things that I'll be very excited to bring into the shop over the next couple of months. Part of the fun though is hanging out with my friend, Irene, who owns Cotton Clouds. She made our hotel reservations. What fun place!This is the beautiful Horton Grand Hotel......and this is Sunshine, a paper-mache horse who stands in the lobby. He came from the saddle shop that was on the ground floor of the neighboring less formal hotel. The hotels were built in the mid 1800's but the saddle shop originated in 1912. Wickipedia says: "Both hotels were scheduled for demolition in the 1970s when the City of San Diego purchased them to build the Horton Plaza shopping center on the site. The hotels were dismantled brick by brick, with each brick numbered, catalogued, and stored. In 1986 the hotels were rebuilt into an entirely new hotel at the present location at Fourth Street and Island Avenue."Our room was lovely.What fun to decorate a hotel like this. The furniture was all old so I assume it was found at estate sales and flea markets. We even had a fireplace (gas so no wool hauling).We spent a lot of our time at the San Diego Convention Center.Here is a message to be read on the way there. This quote in context of time and author if quite serious. In my world the last sentence has particular meaning and is serious enough in my life, if not with as profound a meaning. Fun view while going up the escalator in the Convention Center.Leaving the hotel at night. This is the Gas Lamp District, kind of like Old Sac is for Sacramento.We ate one night at The Field, an Irish pub, while listening to Irish music and dancers. This sign caught my notice.

So what did I buy? My customers sent me on a quest for "sock yarn" so that is what I focused on. Purl & Loop sample loom But first I found some new equipment. These are prototypes of cool little sample looms designed by author and teacher, Liz Gipson. The unique thing about these looms is that they will be produced in 8, 10, and 12 epi versions, enabling quick sampling of yarns at those setts (and at 4, 5, and 6 epi). There are a few other gadgets I am purchasing here as well. This is the Meow and Woof collection from Ancient Arts Yarns. Each yarn has a photo of the cat or dog that inspired the color. I strayed from my "buy American" plan because I was so enamored with these. They were spun in Italy and are sold by a Canadian company and a percentage of sales goes to dog and cat rescue groups. I have wove a scarf out of the calico cat yarn--that is another post. I already carry yarn from Imperial Yarn Company and these are some inexpensive and simple kits some of which use the yarns that I already have. I want to have a knit-along with some of these.The Fiber Seed will be a new yarn for me. They have some wonderful gradient yarns put together in kits. I'll get those as well as some of the solids and variegated yarns.

Mountain Meadows is a company who has their own mill. I'm getting a sock-weight Merino yarn that is grown in Wyoming. How to choose from all those colors? I'm getting yarn in about a dozen colors.

What will be first in the shop? I can't wait for the UPS truck to show up.

Here is one dye pot that won't quit. I guess I didn't actually take a photo of the dye pot. But here is a post that has a dye pot full of black walnuts. I had been soaking black walnuts in a 5-gallon bucket for a few weeks in anticipation of getting a shipment of Timm Ranch yarn here. It turns out that due to medical issues at the mill I won't be seeing this yarn any time soon. But a Fibershed event was coming up and I wanted a naturally dyed cloth to cover my table. I decided to use the black walnut, but I didn't want to waste any dye so I thought I dye some yarn too.

This is 5 batches of yarn out of the same dye pot. The first four skeins on the top are from the first batch. The next four are from the second and I crammed the tablecloth in that pot too. The rest of that row is from the third batch using the same dye. It looked like there was still plenty of dye in the pot so I did two more batches that are on the bottom row. They are lighter but still colored. Here is another view. It is interesting (at least to me) that the fifth batch appears to have slightly more color than the fourth. It is a different yarn. The first four batches included Anderson Ranch yarn, white Jacob, and gray and white Jacob. The last batch was Columbia yarn that hasn't been sold and I'll use in a project now.