Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Fiber Twist Wrap Up

Julia and I spent Saturday at FiberTwist, Franklin County, Massachusetts' answer to Rhinebeck. It was held in the Greenfield High School for the first time. This is the 4th Annual FiberTwist and it has a growing following.

I had real reservations about how many people would show up and spend money. With the economy the way it is and the election coming up, I was apprehensive about the day. And to top it all off, FiberTwist comes on the heels of the NY State Sheep and Wool Festival at Rhinebeck. But none of this really mattered much to me because I only had to drive 15 minutes to get there!

I was so pleasantly surprised. We were busy all day. For me, this event is mostly a "meet and greet" opportunity to talk with knitters who like my designs and tell me what they think about my books. I relish the opportunity to come out of the little closet I have built around myself in my farmhouse on the hill and actually speak knitting and color to local knitters. I brought all my projects from Kristin Knits to display and people loved pawing through the piles of color. I sold quite a few books which helped cover the cost of the booth.

Best of all, Julia learned how hard it is to make money and what going to a trade show is all about. She helped write up sales slips and schmoozed anyone who would talk to her. By 2 p.m. she was pretty wiped out. I didn't know how we were going to make it through til 4. But in stepped Leslie Winds - a lovely woman who makes beautiful shawl and sweater pins. She entertained Julia by teaching her how to hammer metal. Leslie helped Julia make two matching hammered necklaces - one for each of us. Thank you Leslie!

I debuted a new postcard design which I have added to the Knitting Photographs Postcard Collection. It is called "Swatches" and you can find it for sale in my shop. Someone told me the design should be called "Swatch Specimens" since I attached all the swatches to my bulletin board with glass headed pins - similar to the way butterflies are attached to display boards. I had never thought of that!


It was great to meet so many readers of my blog - thanks for stopping by to say "Hi!" Thanks so much to the organizers of FiberTwist - especially Diane HK! You guys do a wonderful job.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful postcard. I'd also like that top photo in your post of Oct 24, or the third one down there, or your neighbor's truck (Oct 23 post), or. . . well, you get the idea. Thanks for the lovely views,
Gretchen

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you had a good day at the Fiber Twist. I enjoyed spending time with Julia. She even sat through part of my demo!

Suzanne said...

I was there but you were busy and I didn't get a chance to get back to your booth. It looked great.

Willow said...

I wish you'd come to Southern California sometime. My Kristin Knits book has migrated farther south, to San Diego, and visitng my daughter who is loving the tutorials in embroidery. I hope it migrates back home soon.

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