I made it to Columbus safe, healthy, and happy. The hours leading up to my departure were a tad stressful, though. I somehow found myself with increasingly more and more to do, and fewer and fewer hours in which to do it all. I was running around the apartment, throwing clothes in the wash, making stacks of other already-clean clothes to go in the suitcase… Checking off things from my list, trying to shake that feeling that I was forgetting something… And when I wandered into the living room at one point before I’d packed the suitcase, I saw this:

Seymour says, “Take me with you, Mommy!”

I guess Seymour didn’t quite like the idea of being left home alone with Gambit for the whole weekend, and decided a trip to Ohio would be far more fun (all that yarn - it’s a cat’s paradise!)

I did finally get everything together and was at the airport by 12:30 pm Friday, signed up for a standby ticket for the 2:05 pm flight (as opposed to my own scheduled 6:55 pm flight). I was lucky - there ended up being one seat open on the flight, and since I was the first person to sign up for standby for that flight, I got on, and arrived in Columbus by 3:30 or so. I met a very nice older couple outside the airport while I was waiting for a shuttle. After waiting around the shuttle stand for about 10 minutes, the three of us decided just to share a cab to the hotel, since it turned out we were going to the same place and we had no idea when the next shuttle was going to be arriving.

The hotel is fabulous - literally across the street from the Convention Center, no more than 30 steps from the hotel front door to the Convention Center main entrance. Free internet, a wonderful buffet breakfast, the most comfortable pillows I’ve ever slept on in a hotel… And this awesome full-length mirror on the closet door that, when cracked just slightly, makes me look like the size 4 I wish I were! (Nevermind that I have no head when I’m that skinny, according to the mirror…)

So far, TNNA is a sinful amount of fun. It’s a bit overwhelming meeting all these people, though. I’ve only seen one or two people I actually know, but I swear, I’ve been introduced to absolutely no fewer than 100 people in the last 30 hours or so, and 9/10 of them have started by saying something like, “Oh, you must be Meg’s daughter!” or, if mom introduced me as her daughter first, something more like, “It’s obvious you’re her daughter - you look just like her!” I swear, neither mom nor I see it. But hundreds of people can’t be wrong, can they? *shrug*

I wore my new Sahara sweater today, and it was a huge hit. I finished knitting (re-knitting, really) it Friday night, but I didn’t get around to sewing in all the ends this morning, while mom was in a class. Several people stopped me to tell me how glad they were to see it done up in one of the larger sizes (it can be hard to gauge how well a pattern will work on a more full-figured person when the pattern models are all sticks), and a few people stopped me to say to a friend, “See? This is the sweater I was talking about…” or “Ooh, I’m glad to see this on a person - I just ordered x number of that pattern for my shop!” Tomorrow I’ll wear a t-shirt, but I was glad to be able to wear a hand-knit today.

And now, some obligatory photos of the sweater (now that I’ve removed that obnoxious stripe down at the bottom). Forgive the boring backdrop - I figured I’d get some photos of the sweater tonight in the hotel room before I wore it too much more. The yarn is soft and lovely, but being so loosely spun, it’s already starting to fuzz a bit after just one day of wearing it.

My Finished Sahara :: A “Diva” pose for a Stitch Diva sweater

Another shot of my finished Sahara sweater (I feel a bit like Superman in this photo)

The obligatory close-up shot of my finished Sahara sweater

They strictly prohibit cameras on the floor at TNNA, but I do have a sample of a new yarn that was given to me that I was able to photograph. It’s a new sock yarn from Kollage Yarns called “Luscious.” It’s 63% cotton / 37% nylon, works up to 6-8 sts / 1″, and is stretchy and wonderful. Mom ordered some of the solids for the store, and I think I might have to buy a few for myself - they look really interesting, and there really aren’t many options as far as non-wool sock yarn goes, so it’s pretty novel.

A sample mini skein of Luscious - a cotton/nylon sock yarn - from Kollage Yarns

Well, I’m totally exhausted, and there’s still another full day of browsing, ordering, and socializing to do tomorrow. So… Time to hit the hay.