Did you know you can already register online for the Fall Needlecraft Market, September 25 – 26, 2010 in St. Charles/St. Louis MO.  Fall, you say?  Certainly far, far away.  But it will be here before you know it, and now’s the time to make your plans, and let your customers know you’ll be bringing home some treasures for their holiday purchases.

You can also find information about PiPN 2010 — TNNA’s Pathways into Professional Neeldlearts internship/apprenticeship program.  This summer’s students have been in the field since the middle of June, and are finding their experiences to be beyond their expectations.

I recently heard from one of the interns working with Handwork Studios.  Trekina Miller of Mississippi State University commented “I love it and everyone that I am working with. I look forward to going to work everyday. I am also working with the Fashion Bootcamp program in Rosemont, PA for the Handwork Studio. I can not thank you enough for this great opportunity!!”

To streamline the entire process we’ve created an online Host Application Form.  You can now go online and request an intern for the upcoming fall, winter or next year.  Students will also be able to register online within the coming months.  If you’ve been a host in the past, please let us know and we can make sure you’re information is entered correctly.

You’ll also see that TNNA is heading off to Maker Faire in Dearborn MI this week. We’ve had an enormous response from volunteers who have offered to come out to our Needlearts Stitch Zone

to help teach knitting, cross-stitch, embroidery, needlepoint and crochet.  In fact, we’ve pretty much filled all our time slots!  If you’re in the area, you should stop by the Henry Ford Museum.

If this is even half as much fun as the San Mateo Maker Faire, it’s bound to be a real kick.

Stitch N’ Pitch has been in full swing this season.  Check out what’s been going on by visiting StitchNPitch.com.

This year, the theme of the event was “children,” so we were even more tuned in to the kids.  Again, we spent time knitting, crocheting and stitching (needlepoint) with the kids on our oversized needles, hooks and canvas.  You can get a glimpse of what it was like at http://tnna.org/Outreach/tabid/100/Default.aspx.  And, again, we estimate we taught over 1000 new stitchers . . . this time, even more appeared to be under the age of 12.

Ada Lai shows a young boy how to crochet!

Now you might think, ok . . . these kids really aren’t going to go home and knit or crochet . . . but we also know most of the fiber lovers of today first learned when they were younger than 12.  So, today’s play will eventually turn into tomorrow’s passion.  We also know, many of the parents who were watching will go home and get out their old projects, left unfinished years ago and just waiting for the moment they’ll be picked up again.

Even the young ones are able to pick up this lace making technique.

Recently, Jules Kliot (Lacis and the Museum of Lace) sent me some picture of an event at the Exploratorium in San Francisco in early July.  They demonstrated lace making to young and old . . . These picture really tell the story.  Even the young ones were enthralled, and obviously were able to pick up the techniques themselves.

The children were enthralled with the lace making demonstration by Lacis at the Exploratorium in SanFrancisco

If you have pictures of young stitchers, send them to us so we can show the world the stitchers of tomorrow.  (Of course, get their parents’ permission first!)

For those of you in the professional needlearts community who made it to Columbus OH, you enjoyed a long weekend filled with education, education and more education.  The TIPs program, a first time event for TNNA, was a huge success.  Wholesalers were able to present, demonstrate and offer marketing tips for their new products and techniques.  Classrooms were filled and responses were totally positive.

The Mini Sessions in the Member Lounge also drew huge crowds.  Attendees took a brief respite while they learned about everything from social marketing to inventory management, trends and more.  This was a chance for everyone to ask questions and get answers in a small, more informal setting.  You just couldn’t help but soak up some knowledge just by being there.

Oh, and then there were all the new products (33 new exhibitors, in fact) and new events.  The Needlepoint Group hosted a Networking evening highlighting finished products (check out WorldofNeedlepoint.com to see a bit of what you missed), and TNNA members sponsored a Happy Hour on Saturday in celebration of TNNA’s 35th anniversary . . . complete with a pianist (Joe Dunlap from Columbus OH).

Thanks to modern technology, Ravelry was able to send out some “in the moment” postings about the Yarn Group’s Fashion Show on Friday evening.  And, although you’ll be able to see the entire Fashion Show on YarnGroup.org in just a few days, it’s simply no substitute for being there, in person.

If you were there, you would have been energized by the keynote speaker Ann Lofgren from Zingermans.   You would have heard Marilyn Murphy accept the TEN Award, and met the newest PiPN interns.

If you had attended the Member Meeting on Monday morning, you would understand what Maker Faire is . . . and why TNNA’s Needlearts Stitch Zone won two awards in the Bay Area.  If you’re from the Detroit area, you could already be planning on how you can participate in the Detroit Maker Faire coming up July 31st and August 1st. If you want to be involved, please email us at TNNAmaker@gmail.com.

At the meeting, you would have been one of the first to hear the latest statistics pertaining to our industry in the latest survey: The State of Specialty NeedleArts 2010 developed by India Wood of Hart Business Research.  The summary is available online to members. The entire survey will be available in the fall (again free for members but available for a fee for non-members).

Besides the excitement, the shopping, the sharing, and the learning, there was a lot of business going on.  Wholesalers, when not busy with customers in their booths, spent time talking about new ideas, new partnerships, and new ways to attract new customers.  Retailers, when not in classes or on the show floor, shared stories of challenges, failures and successes.

If you had been there, you would have felt the energy and the inspiration.  You would have laughed and hugged old friends and new.  You simply can’t get that anywhere else.

A University of Akron professor of Family and Consumer Sciences, and one of the primary academicians involved in developing and teaching TNNA’s acclaimed internship program (PiPN), Dr. Jennings has been involved in fibers since her childhood.

Recently highlighted in the Akron Beacon Journal, she first learned the technique of creating silk from the native women in Madagascar.  Now she’s taken what she’s learned from them, and has developed a process of harvesting silk fiber from the cocoon of America’s largest wild moth, the giant cecropia, indigenous to the Appalachian region of the United States.

Dr. Jennings notes this new silk is created using a technique that doesn’t harm the moth, a process unlike that used in far east silk production.  The result is a fiber with a less lustrous sheen and more variegated color, but just as luxurious.

This new silk is still in the development stage, but Dr. Jennings envisions a future in which this moth and the resulting fibers, will become a cottage industry in the region, providing opportunities for growth and development.

In the meantime,  Dr. Jennings continues to assist the women of Madagascar by acting as the point person for a cooperative that imports and sells their hand-made silk products. For more information, please contact Dr. Jennigns at <tj9 @ uakron.edu>. (please remove spaces when emailing).

Someday, perhaps, she’ll be selling products made from this new, unique fiber as well.

The show takes place from June 12-14 at the Great Columbus Convention Center.  Education begins on the Thursday prior.

Isn’t technology grand?  There was a time you had to call or fax . . . or yes, even mail in your registrations.  The funny thing is, that really wasn’t very long ago.  In fact, TNNA still mails out postcards and various other correspondence to make sure everyone sees everything. The Attendee Registration Brochures are being mailed out as we speak.  You all received an email notice . . . Did you notice?

We know how busy all our TNNA members are, so please excuse us if we seem to inundate you with materials.  But the old marketing adage of “6 hits to make an impression on any viewer” is still true today.  Perhaps “truer” .  . . if that’s even a word.  It seems, because so many of those “hits” get lost somewhere or just aren’t seen at all because of the masses of communication we filter through each hour, today we need to add even more hits to that formula.

So, knowingly being redundant, we urge our Retail Members to go now to register. You don’t have to wait for the brochure.  All the information is available for viewing or download at TNNA.org.

And, if you’re not a retail member, you can register online beginning April 6th. . . which I’m sure we’ll remind you about again . . .

These are amazing opportunities, unlike most internships these students hear about or participate in.  Our members are mostly small businesses and micro-businesses, companies that most often don’t have the chance to have interns.  So the experiences tend to be more hands-on, more comprehensive, and often more exciting.

The entire list can be downloaded at <a href=”http://tnna.org/Outreach/College/tabid/154/Default.aspx”>http://tnna.org/Outreach/College/tabid/154/Default.aspx</a>

We will be posting the list here, as well . . . just as soon as I can figure out the technicalities of all this.

I’ve been busy recruiting students, and have traveled from West Virginia University to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.  I’ve spoken to hundreds of students and watched the “lights go on” in many of them.  I’ve received dozens of emails and phone calls from eager young people who have been anxiously awaiting the posting of the internships. I’ve also received requests for internships in specific locations, so I may be calling on some more of our members to become mentors.

Within the coming weeks, I’ll also be at the Art Institutes of San Francisco and Denver, as well as University of Akron, Kent State, Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh and, hopefully Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia.

We’ve also had many inquiries by email from students who have been watching the program for several years.  I anticipate there may be some real competition for placements this year.

It’s a great example of how learning to knit goes far beyond the actual manual technique . . . This group has done chemo caps and scarves for Gilda’s Place and scarves for the Special Olympics in the past.  The Magic Square project talked about in the article is their latest endeavor, and they’ve got much of their school involved, not just the regulars in their program.

In case you didn’t know, the Needle Arts Mentoring Program is a project of the Helping Hands Foundation, an organization managed by The National NeedleArts Association.  This far reaching and active program teaches stitching to thousands of K – 12 grade students every year by providing start up materials and resources.

You can find more information at http://www.needleartsmentoring.org