Fall is my busiest season for selling yarn. The first cool day we have, I get orders for wooly yarn. Most folks can't think of knitting wool in the summer, especially this beastly hot one, but with the chillier days and even cooler nights, our fingers get itchin' for knittin'.
I've had a flurry of shows, 4 shows in 3 weekends, 3 of them away. I packed up my awesome new trailer and hit the road.
My first show was Knitter's Day Out in Harrisonburg, Pa. It was Friday night and all day Saturday. Since the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest was Saturday and Sunday, trusty Natalie covered the show for me late Friday and Saturday while I drove back home (2 hours),
to hook up my trailer in the dark which I am so proud of myself for pulling off. Since the trailer was loaded with a gazillion pounds of yarn and stuff, I couldn't budge it an inch so I had to line up the ball PERFECTLY under the hitch. That's not easy by yourself I have to tell you. I had to back up, get out and look, back up, get out and look, go forward and try again, repeat a few times and then one time I walked back to look and high fived the air. Whoohooo! I lowered that sucker down and it sounded so good when it clicked on. I can get excited about the wierdest things.
But I had to be up by 5:30 the next morning to take off to Berryville (only one hour away thankfully) and set up the entire booth by 9:00. It was a great little festival, beautiful weather and we all had fun. A customer/friend, Mary Beth, helped me out both days so that made it much easier.
Then back home where I dyed yarn all week. I kept the trailer loaded and added heaps more then took off on Friday for the Fall Fiber Fest at Montpelier near Orange, Va.
I've been doing this festival for 19 years now and it's my favorite one. The weather was perfect autumn weather, cool and crisp with a slight breeze. We were all wearing our handknit cardigans and scarves.
One of the booths had this adorable goat that folks couldn't resist petting.
A very happy customer going away with skads of Slubby. You'll be busy Lori!
The booth at FFF, full of color and yarny goodness.
The first night Houston and I slept in the trailer on the festival grounds. It was a chilly evening but I had brought 2 thermarests and 2 sleeping bags so I felt like a princess. But out of the blue I got the worst cramp in my leg. It wasn't like most charlie horses I get, but was more like a contraction when having a baby which every woman out there who's given birth knows what kind of pain I'm talking about. It held my entire leg in a death grip for about 3 minutes and nothing I did would stop it. I pounded on the side of the trailer and moaned and groaned then later realized that the neighbors probably thought, "When the trailer is rockin', don't come knockin'!"
The second night we got real beds (and a much needed shower) in a hotel. I threw my bags down and noticed that even my bags have loads of color.
Then back home again for more dying, cleaning, trying to get the damn stink bugs out, and putting my studio back together again. I wasn't sure if I'd make it, but I went into hyperspeed and I got er done.
An autumnal display to inspire the knitters.
I've been making nuno scarves like a crazy girl, rockin' and rollin' to the nuno beat.
I packed the shelves and still I didn't have the right colors or amounts.
My friend, Ann, gave me these crows for Christmas. She had told me she had the weirdest present ever and she wasn't sure I would like it and when I opened it up I said, "So where's the weird present?" I love them! We have a thing about crows, we really like them. We get each other crow art, crow stuff, even crows! We like Sheryl Crow, the Counting Crows, the Black Crows, Russel Crowe, probably anything with crow, we even have crow's feet!
Sunday was World Hoop Day and it was 10/10/10. I had all my hoops out and folks, mostly kids, got into the hooping action.
I have to give a big shout out to my homegirls, Natalie and
Mary Beth for their incredible help they gave me at the shows. It's so nice to have such great people helping out and they are a ton of fun too.
And I have to say a huge thanks to my very own homeboy, Houston. He came along to the Fall Fiber Fest and unloaded and then loaded the trailer, wrote tickets, was great with the customers and even drove while I knitted. What a guy! Thanks to everyone who came to the shows and took away some of Dancing Leaf Farm. It makes it all worthwhile.
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