Yarn Vacation Photos - with no photos of yarn.

So, there was this whole spotty-posting thing last week. That's because I was at the TKGA national conference!! Wheee! While I can't show photos of my classes (the teachers tend to prefer no photos, and I'm good with that!), or the Giant Yarn Heaven that was the expo center, Hamish wandered around a bit and got some photos. Mostly of him. But I managed to get some proof that I was there, too.


Proof I'm here


Proof my mom's here
Note: EVERYONE in the background of the two above photos is a knitter or a crocheter (or both)!!! I did finish one of my HPKCHC classes, Ancient Runes, by making bunches and bunches (ok, four) finches for my Dad. The little ones are made using a skein of "Purple Finch" colorway Caron Feathers, and they're very cute & soft & fluffy. I also managed to finish a choker (which had nothing to do with knitting, but was pretty), got most of my Tilting Tardis Cowl done, and started a Warm Hat with Neck for me and the Baby Shrug for my sister's baby-to-be. By the end of the weekend (Sunday, after I'd flown home), I also started a Green Leaves shawl (based on the Frozen Leaves pattern).


Here's where we stayed (because that's where the convention was): the Radisson in Manchester, NH. Our room indicated by red circle.


There was a nice restaruant with GREAT fish & chips on-site, which was really, really important, since it was 100+ degrees F outside most of the time we were there!!


Manchester is an old factory/mill town; the park that was part of the hotel property had a couple of features that incorporated this history. One of the nifty ones was using the actual carved-in-stone names and numbers from long-gone businesses along one side of the walkway.


Oh. Wait. Hamish says it's time to check out the Actual Convention, or at least the setup. Here he is by the Event Schedule. For each "class period" there were probably a dozen or more classes between the two guilds - probably more!


There were CLASSES EVERYWHERE.

classes HERE!!

classes THERE!!!

... Well, except for, you know, Over There.

Ahem. Anyway, after finding some signs, it was time to head to registration.


Hamish wants you to know that he has nothing to do with the photography end of this blog, although he has some choice comments for those who do. (He's the one who insisted on the horizontal shot; he knows that I sometimes miss converting them.) Anyway, we located the Main Pretty Sign...


... and then the Big Welcome Sign.


We looked at all the freebies, and checked out the Class Evaluation box. (I don't know how much help I'll be in evaluating classes; I thought all of mine were fantastic.)


Then it was off to scope out the lay of the land. When we saw how big the Expo Center was, we wanted to check it out!


Sadly, it was closed. But huge. And full of yarn. Lots of yarn. (Photos are forthcoming, as soon as the boxes arrive. Yes, I had to send home some boxes.)


Then it was over to registration. (The Offinger folks did a bang-up job running the whole thing!)


Here, Hamish spotted some pins. Whole collections of pins, in fact... however, they were available to members only.


So, he signed up. He's now a member of the Knitting Guild.


About ten minutes later, though, he thought I'd hoodwinked him, since the Crochet Guild actually had a Dance Party!


This whole thing was a TON of fun, and while some of the reason I don't have a lot of pics of Things Happening is because teachers preferred (or mandated) that photos not be taken in class, most of the reason is that I was just too darned busy knitting or crocheting or chattering with other knitters/crocheters to worry about taking pictures of much of anything!!