My Trip to Berne, IN

Last month, I had the pleasure of traveling to Berne, IN for a secret project. I can’t tell you what the project was yet, but stay tuned for the big news to be announced in 3 – 4 weeks! Unfortunately, I can’t confirm or deny any ideas of what I was doing in Berne, so please don’t ask!!! Just be patient and wait for the big news when it comes! Like I said, it’s a “secret”!!!

If you’ve never heard of Berne, IN, you can learn more about this quaint little town on their Chamber of Commerce website. Apparently, the population is only about 4,400! That’s a lot smaller than my town of 39,000 and a far cry from the big metropolitan cities across the US. Since I’d never seen any Amish people in real life (besides on TV), I was fascinated when they drove by in their horse and buggies! I got a decent photo of one of them for you to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a photo of Main Street with the famous clock tower in Berne in the background:

I stayed at the Black Bear Inn & Suites in Berne on U.S. 27. It was a nice place to stay with comfortable rooms. I had a Jacuzzi suite, but I didn’t know how to work the Jacuzzi, so I just had a warm bath one night instead of a Jacuzzi bath! If you know me, you understand my “challenges” with anything electronic or with buttons that I can’t read without my reading glasses!!! I still have a “stupid” phone and I’m quite happy with it, thank you very much! Here are a few photos of the Black Bear Inn, along with the buggy they have outside by their sign:

 

I had some time to do a little sightseeing one afternoon, so I browsed in some of the shops on Main Street. I went into the Engine House Quilt Shop and talked with Carol, the employee there that day. She showed me some really nice rayon embroidery thread by EdMar Co. I bought 5 skeins of Frost, which is a 3 ply thread with 16 yards per skein. I’m going to use this gorgeous thread, which has a beautiful sheen, for crocheting a new design or two. If you’d like to learn more about EdMar rayon thread, which is used for Brazilian embroidery, please visit their website. These are the embroidery threads I bought for designing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aren’t they pretty?

I had a great time in Berne and met some fantastic people there. I also had the pleasure of touring the Annie’s offices while I was in Berne. If you’re somehow not familiar with Annie’s, please take a look at the Annie’s website. They produce/publish patterns and kits for many different crafts, including crochet, knitting, paper crafts and more! I saw and talked to Carol Alexander, the editor of Crochet World and Crochet magazines, who I’ve met at many CGOA Conferences over the years and took a picture of her cubicle in the office. Here is her cubicle:

I met Brenda Gallmeyer, who I had contacted in 2011 about some tech editing I did for Annie’s (then called DRG). I also met some other people, but I don’t remember all of their names (that happens as we get older, doesn’t it!). Here are a few photos outside of the Annie’s office:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I met 2 photographers at the Annie’s office and one of them gave me a tour of the photography studio with all their props, lights and cameras! That was really nice! Since my husband and I are learning to photograph my crochet designs for self-publication, it was really interesting to see. I even learned how they store and use some of their props. I was told that they use 2 sheets of painted wood behind the props for a colored wall. To hide the line where the boards meet, they just remove it from the photo with Photoshop! It’s too bad we don’t have room in our house for lots of wonderful photo props. I would love to have a photo studio like theirs!!! Here are some pictures of their photo studio:

All in all, it was a very nice trip and the weather wasn’t bad, either. It got up to the 50’s one day while I was there, which is warmer than it was back home in Prescott, AZ (I really expected the weather to be worse than it was in Berne, so I was pleasantly surprised)! There was light rain one day, but the rest of the time it was dry. I was in Berne for 3 full days, with 2 additional days for traveling. I got a few crochet projects made on the airline flights on the way there and back, too. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would love to return there again someday!

Happy crocheting,

Susan