Louisa Harding Event at Yarnmarket

On Tuesday night we hosted an event for all our Yarnmarket knitters in the mid-Ohio region -- plus a few from Michigan! This was the first time we'd invited a designer to our shop so we were all a little nervous. But it turned out to be a wonderful evening and the ladies who attended asked when we'd do it again. Isn't that great?

The presentation by Louisa was to start just after 6:00 p.m. so we figured we'd better provide food for our hungry guests. Devin, the event coordinator at our local Panera delivered sandwiches, salads, chips, cookies -- and we had lots of candy around so people could munch as they listened to Louisa and then did a little shopping.

Guests started arriving as early as 5:00 p.m. -- and the first was a lovely designer who was visiting town for the TNNA Conference. Ysolda is from Edinburgh (one of our favorite cities) and she was meeting her friend Erin here. Erin's the lady who organizes the Sticks 'n Stitches events in Columbus and brings members of his various knitting groups to visit with us on occasion. You probably see her a lot on Ravelry.

We were also delighted to welcome our longtime friends from Nationwide's Head Office. What a terrific group of ladies they are! It's always so nice to have them visit us because they inspire us to do things like buy couches for the showroom so people can relax, paint it so they'll think it's pretty, and add a nice new seating area with a table so they can spread out their yarns and patterns. Thanks for joining us Margie, Susan, Fran, and Karen. (Sure do hope I haven't forgotten anyone.) Let me know when you'll be coming for your annual autumn shopping excursion. I don't know what I'll do this time to spruce the place up for them. Maybe install a hot tub?

Ann Smith, who won First Prize for her "Ladybugs for Lesa Shawl" in the Yarnmarket/TKGA knitting design contest, was here and we introduced her to all the other ladies who thought her entry was gorgeous.

We were happy to welcome lots of ladies who'd never shopped at Yarnmarket before. Some of them were surprised that we're open to the public. We've heard through the grapevine that there are local folks who think we're Internet only. Au contraire! We love to have visitors! We're running an ad in the local newspaper next week just to be sure everyone knows.

By the time Louisa began her talk the room was packed and we had standing room only. (Don't worry. All our knitter got seats. YarnMartians stood at the back of the room.) Louisa spoke for quite a while about her beginnings with Rowan, her family life, her success with those absolutely wonderful Miss Bea books. It was really inspiring to listen to her and to learn about how she gets her ideas. I particularly enjoyed the parts about her family: her husband is the photographer, her kids and nieces and nephews are the models. Everyone pitches in to help.

Louisa has been in the U.S. for the TNNA Show, and to promote her new book, Bizoo Bizu #21. We feel really honored that she'd come to Yarnmarket to show our knitters the designs they'll find in her newest collection.

After the presentation, Louisa signed copies of her books in our showroom and chatted with knitters who also shopped, knit and talked together about knitting, motorcycles (?!) and life.

If you'd like to attend an upcoming event, be sure to sign up for the Yarnmarket Newsletter where we'll be sure to mention what's happening at the store. You might also want to become our friend on Facebook or follow us on Twitter where we're now posting and Tweeting to our heart's content!

Many thanks to Louisa Harding and to all our knitting friends for making this a truly wonderful evening!