:: exhausted heaving sigh ::
A huge THANK YOU to everyone on the Knitting in the Heartland Planning Committee, (Joanna, Teri, Holly, Sandra B., Christine, Johanna), Stefanie Japel, Stefanie's Mom and the little sweet peapod Mazie, our vendors and most importantly our customers!
We had a great turnout and yes, I had many sales and nearly sold out of project bags.
:: cheese :: The orange sock box with the snaps is featured on Stefanie blog. :: squeak ::Saturday Recap
One Word: BLUR! Thankfully. I was so busy Saturday that I don't remember too much.
That's Deb Waggoner's daughter of Two Windows Dye Company whizzing by in the cute shrug as Catherine of The Studio Knitting and Needlepoint shop helped a customer right after the market opened Saturday morning.Let's see I remember see glimpses of Christine whirring about the market loaded down with yarn. I wonder what she managed to snap up? :: hmmm :: While I was swamped at my vendor table, I remember begging Jo Minor to pick out some yarn for me at the Textiles a Mano table and she did, in fact, pick out some kick@ss Bella fingering weight. It was somewhat painful to watch everyone descend upon them and pick their proverbial carcass clean first thing Saturday morning before I even had a chance to peek at the pretty, pretty yarns.
Can I just say that I love love love Laura (pictured above helping Jo Minor) and Paul Shang from Textiles a Mano. They are such a fun, cute, sweet couple. Laura is from Argentina and Paul is Chinese, so I got a chance to practice my Spanish and Mandarin. I'm definately going to find time to see them again soon. I feel a road trip with my knitter homies coming on soon. :: ehem ::
After her morning class, Gwen came by and helped me manage my vendor table. THANK YOU, GWEN! I LOVE YOU! YOU SAVED ME! See, this was my very first real vendor table and I was overwhelmed to say the least. I was like a space cadet most of the weekend and I'm not really an airhead, but for some reason. SPACE CADET CITY!It's good Gwen can do math in her head like a calculator 'cause my brain hamster went to sleep a few times. :: small squeak :: It was so much fun to meet so many Ravelers and, finally, put a face with a name! My table was right as you entered, so I got to see and greet a whole lot of people. Once again, many thanks to all my customers. I love you all and want each one of you to be happy and in love with your pretties. Later in the day Saturday, Gwenie Gwen had the most excellent idea to bring in fabric samples Sunday, so that I could take custom project bag orders since my inventory was running a bit thin. Thanks to my homies, Joanna, Teri, Gwen, Johanna, Christine, PlazaJen, Laura and everyone else for helping to pimp the wares. Another special thanks to my new friends Laura [Fluffykira](person) and Tanya [craftygrrl](person) for being so sweet. They were always so attentive and always asking if they could help in anyway. THANK YOU! :: squish ::
[ fast forward to market close ]
Saturday night, there would be a group of knitters joining Stefanie for dinner and a group of us (me, Gwen, Tanya, Laura, Sandra B.) headed over to Mimi's restaurant a little early for a little cocktail hour. Dude! I needed me a drank 'cause Mama's nerves were bad. I ended up having some kind of champagne and fruity juice concoction and, Man!, was it good. :: cheese :: After about 20 minutes, our waitress escorted us over to our table a little early and there, in a booth next to our huge long table, sat this cute little couple. So, we sit down and I start whining to Gwenie Gwen that I can't figure out how to fix a little booboo on my Split Neckline Cap Sleeve Tee, so I whips it out and hands it to her and she expertly starts to fix it when I hear "Hey, are you guys knitters?" Immediately, I perk up and say something like, "YEAH! We're here for dinner with Stefanie Japel. She's our Featured Instructor for Knitting in the Heartland." I don't remember exactly what I said because I was feeling no pain at this point. :: cheese :: So, then I think I asked if they could stay a while and join us, so she can meet Stefanie. Turns out they couldn't stay long, but I insisted that she join us for Sunday's vendor market. More here http://www.theoffwhites.com/blog/2008/04/06/hire-me-please/
It was nice to decompress after a long hard day with my friends. After dinner, I managed to wave Stefanie down to our end of the table and we got to talk with her for a while. I don't even remember how we got on this subject, but she, actually, remembered my story (mentioned on her blog) about the one time I went camping (quasi-glamping) on a work team builder and I explained how I methodically planned out my accoutrement and accommodations, including bug bombing my piece of earth before placing my tarp down, then how I skillfully managed to setup my own 6 person tent all by myself, my dome light/fan, the air mattress, down featherbed, down comforter and down pillows, camp chair with matching umbrella, tiki torches and febreeze (that, actually, came in handy because, of course, one of my team mates had a stinky, moldy tent). The only thing I forgot was a dust buster to get the grit out of the bottom of the tent. Anywho...I was the most prepared AND the most comfortable. :: poofs out chest :: :: ehem :: ANYWHO!Later that night, at home, Gwenie Gwen and I set about cutting, assembling and naming the fabric samples for the next day. Thanks Gwen. Excellent Idea!
[ fast forward to Sunday ]
Sunday Market Recap
FINALLY! I have time to peruse the other vendor tables. First, on my agenda, Textiles a Mano!
OH MY GAWD! I LOVE THIS YARN! I, first, noticed them last year at Stitches Midwest and made a mental note to mention them to my homies when I got back home, so maybe we can add them to our fall Missouri yarn crawl. I was gushing and gushing to any and everyone that would listen, but no dice. Nobody wanted to drive up to St. Joseph, MO (about a 45-60 minute drive) to see the pretties. So, this year, once again, I gushed and gushed and begged and knudged and down right insisted that Teri make it a PRIORITY to make sure that Textiles a Mano was a vendor at the market. YES! SCORE! They accepted. So, that's the story of how we got 'em. Now, all day Saturday their table had been SWAMPED and I was getting a little crazy 'cause I didn't have time to even glance at their table too hard and they were right next to me. :: grimace :: Yes, good because I was making sales, but, then I'm thinking MY PRECIOUS! THEY TAKES MY PRECIOUS! :: grumble :: Stay tuned for intimate yarn pr0n of each precious hank of yarn, but for now. VOICI! Le Booty!
LIES! I did so pick out yarn for you from Textiles a Mano. The big green/orange/yellow/burgundy one. That was all me.
ReplyDeleteDAGNABIT! You're right. I stands corrected. :: sigh ::
ReplyDeleteI had a great time!!! Thanks for having me. I missed you so much.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see you again.
Gwen
OK, I cracked up at the "brain hamster." I am so stealing that.
ReplyDeleteI loved you in your sweater, and I'm psyched that your bags did so well! I had my green birthday bag on my person at all times, and, you will note, the original hugemungous Carmen Project Bag from my birthday LAST year ended up in some KITH photos already, too. :)
WHEW. Had a great time, so glad it's over, thank you so much for busting your arse with the Web site. Could not have done it without you.
That sweater looks great on you! Dang. . . you got Stephanie Japel there! It sounds like lots of fun.
ReplyDeleteI think we got the same happy feet!
ReplyDeleteOH man you may have gotten more yarn than I did. I've not assembled it all for pictures yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm still totally flashing people with the inside lining of my Carmen ROCKIN knitting bag. How did I get by without this? You rock! I'm so glad you sold a ton. They are gorgeous and very durable and well made bags!
Oh and I'm totally still reeling from that damn Manos yarn. I am going to have to make somebody take my credit cards away when we go there on the yarn crawl. seriously.