WEBS Yarn Store: That's My Story and I'm Stickin' To It

Well, I guess we can check January off the list!

It appears that 2008 has no intention of moving any slower than 2007 did. At least we're one month closer to warmer weather. Has anyone noticed that the days are getting noticeably longer? Five o'clock around here isn't even dark anymore. Gives us summer people hope, despite what the thermometer says.

TNNA was a whirlwind all to itself. I went out a day early for industry meetings, which was nice. I love my work, I love my family and I treasure my alone time. Steve caught up with me the next day and we had the luxury of a dinner alone - no committments, no sitters to worry about. We were both exhausted with the time change, but we did get to enjoy a lovely meal together. Who cares that it was only 5pm "local" time - we were fashionably appropriate according to our internal clocks :)

After another day of industry stuff, TNNA finally kicked off with the fashion show. We had a dinner engagement that night so we were only able to stay for part of the festivities, but the garments we saw were breathtaking. I am looking forward to receiving the DVD and viewing it at home where there is much less distraction.

The next morning we attend the Tahki Stacy Charles breakfast. They host this event at each market for their customers. TSC previews all of their new yarns and designs and invites both Vogue Knitting and Interweave Knits & Crochet to present their editorial of TSC products. I love this event, even though we've already made our purchases. It's a good chance to review things again and see if we've missed anything.

Then, it was off to market! We had an extremely full appointment schedule for most of the show. We are usually focused on filling in any holes we may have, looking for smaller, independent companies or new companies and of course accessories. In all honesty, there was not a lot new or super exciting.

Friday night we attended a reception hosted by Potter Craft. Many of their authors were there along with retailers, magazine folks, etc. Here's a shot of a pretty impressive gathering of who's who:

Saturday featured THE highlight of the show:

In addition to signing books, Melissa did a reasonable job of spending money for us. First, she helped us pick colors of Louet Gems, which is a gorgeous yarn and featured heavily in her book. Then, at various times throughout the show, we'd walk into a vendor booth and they'd say "Oh, you're from WEBS! People have been stopping in saying if you added XYZ product they'd love to buy it from you". Now this is weird because the show is full of OTHER shops - nobody who would be buying anything from us. This happened a couple of times and we were a bit perplexed. Then, we were nearly tackled in the aisle by the owner of Conjoined Creations with a similar testimonial. That's when we finally figured it out.

MELISSA!

This is a shot of Long Beach from across the bay looking back at the city:

Thanks to Mother Nature for that last day of 75 degrees and sunny. The hour or so I got to enjoy sitting outside in the warmth of the sunshine was spectacular.

While we were gone, the renovations continued. Our office was packed, our furniture moved out and gutted. We're still in chaos, but things are coming along. We're living in the old shipping area, wrapped on two sides by plastic and functioning out of boxes. It will be worth the wait - saw the first coat of paint on the walls yesterday!

One of the major projects waiting for me when I was back was our next catalog shoot. The Spring Knitting catalog will be out shortly, as will our next weaving catalog. Spring knitting will feature lots of great new yarns and designs, including a few of our own. Here's a couple of behind the scenes shots: