Back From the Show

I spent this past weekend at the Cestari Farms Wool Fair in Churchville, VA. At this point in time, it is the only wool show I vend my spindles, yarns and crocheted fiber art at. I haven't branched out, partly because I don't have a lot of time to travel to other shows and partly because I lack the confidence to go and just do it. I get anxious as I pack my items, the tables, the chairs, all the inventory, the table covers, the racks, the spinning wheel, the canopy. And those things that I need to make my booth accessible by spinners and non-spinners. Will it all fit in the truck?? My anxiety level mounts, I recheck everything, I will be too far from home to travel back for anything forgotten. I get fidgety, I jitter, I flutter (not a pretty sight) and then everything is packed and I'm off. This year, I gave my Hubby the wool fair off and took a good friend instead...

And we had a BLAST!!! We set everything up (the only forgotten items were a table cloth and a sweatshirt for me). We rearranged, discussed strategy (Kelly would crochet on her projects and take pictures, I would spin and give lessons and teach people about spinning and maybe card some wool). This may sound unfair, but I really brought Kelly along for moral support and to spend some time chatting with her away from home.

We met an awesome couple, Laura and Pete, I hope they don't mind me mentioning them (if they do, they should contact me immediately). They had a booth next to us and saved our bacon when the wind picked up afternoon Saturday and tried to relocate our canopy in the field that the horse teams were plowing. Laura wrote a book entitled "The Kokopelli Journals" here's the link:
http://www.thekokopellijournals.com

This is one thing that I am learning about folks who travel the shows and wool festivals: They are a creative, caring, compassionate group of people who are very willing to help a anyone who needs it so that all can enjoy the time together. I want to be more like that and maybe I need the practice of traveling to more shows in order to learn that fine art.

I'll try to post some of the pictures Kelly took (ones without me in them) of the spindles and yarn and all that stuff from this weekend. Her website is at:
http://www.kdeeonephotos.com

It is late tonight and after a full day of work and some unpacking, as well as a chat with my sister, who is still in Bolivia (the link to the Home where she is working: http://www.talitacumi.org ) it is time I shuffle off to bed and prepare for another day. Look for updates to both the Etsy site and the dot com site as I list the new spindles for the public (those attendees at the wool fair this weekend had the advantage of getting first dibs on the new ones and snapped up a few of my favorites already).