Very sad state of affairs.

This past weekend was Fiber Mania in my own home town. Here are a few glimpses of my booth, such as it is, looking at those tall cement walls is really pretty depressing but I'm not sure what could be done about them, the building is what it is. I did just ok in sales, not as much traffic as last year....the parking lot was jam packed Saturday but there were two other events going on at the fairgrounds at the same time. The very sad thing is that I had two scarves and two of my felting landscape kits stolen, I noticed it fairly early Saturday morning. I'm a small business as all the other fiber vendors there, I can't absorb losses like this, $192. I'm even wondering if it happened before we opened, people walked in and out of the building all day Friday and early Saturday morning. There are two folks I'm suspicious of but can't say anything since I don't know for sure.....if I were Patrick Jayne, The Mentalist I could trick them into confessing!  So life goes on, I learn with every experience on the direction I want to go in for the future.......

This picture was taken by my friend Yvonne who spent all day Sunday with me in my booth

These next 3 pictures were taken by friend Karen of Liongate Farm whose booth was next door. Some things were rearranged in the booth once the thefts were noticed to get the scarves away from the front of my booth.

So small are my problems.....

So small are my problems in light of what has been going on over on the east coast. My heart felt concern goes out to all experiencing the devastation left in Sandy's path which will affect them all for a long time to come. I'm originally from the DC metro area and have family and friends there - all are fine, no major issues other than short periods of no power. I grew up spending my summers in Cape May Point on the Jersey shore at my parents beach cottage, which later became their retirement home - there is some damage and flooding there but nothing like in Atlantic City just 45 minutes to the north - they were spared the worst of it.

 
I have nothing to share picture wise, no new weaving going on, no spinning, no knitting, just shipping out lots of orders (yes, that's a good thing) and getting ready for Fiber Mania. So you get to see a picture of Bailey on this rainy but mild morning in one of his favorite spots on the guestroom bed right behind me as I type. That's his quilt on the bed covering the 'real' quilt. He is staring at my back right now wondering when we are going for a walk......should have done that an hour ago when it was just a steady rain, not raining pitchforks and shovels as my friend JoAnn on the coast says.

It's been a challenge writing this post, my desktop computer is failing, a new Dell is en route as I type. I've had to reboot 3 times in the past 30 minutes. Sunday evening was a marathon fix on the ipad which started with upgrading the operating system as required by 'the square' credit card swiper - 6 hours later, hardware failure, restore done, it looks like the ipad is fine again and I'll hopefully be swiping lots of cards using it at Fiber Mania. Now if I could just get faster internet, our only option is dsl that's almost as slow as dial-up these days.

I have been playing with the WeavePoint software for my AVL loom - working on my gingko leaf draft. It's a challenge as I've already forgotten much I learned in the recent 3 day workshop, luckily I have a good workbook that goes with the workshop. I may not be designing my gingkos the easiest way but it's a start, hopefully I'll get more time on the project today......I'm anxious to get a warp on the loom to give them a try.

It's here!

As I start to type this post it's the 5 minute count down to the opening of Trader Joe's here in SW Oregon - whoo hoo. No more stopping in Eugene (2 hours north of my house) when traveling to shop at TJ's. I was watching the early morning local news and saw that there was already a line to get in the door. It's going to be a zoo in the store for quite a while.....I won't be venturing in until it calms down a bit. I sure hope there's a segment on the evening news showing what a madhouse it was this morning. So, I did what any other self-respecting TJ's fan would do I checked out the Fearless Flyer newsletter on the website to see what's new - so much pumpkin. Whoo hoo again. I love anything pumpkin. My first time through the store I may have a cart filled with everything pumpkin including dog treats, Bailey needs his pumpkin fix too. TJ's is not in my town but a 40 minute drive away in Medford so I won't be a weekly shopper but I'll get over there at least once a month, maybe more and here's the big plus - Sam's place of employment is less than a 1/4 mile away, he has to pass TJ's to get to work. He's doesn't like grocery shopping but I think I'll be able to con convince him to stop when I have a short shopping list.

I haven't mentioned Fiber Mania yet this fall on the blog. It's the 3rd year for this event. I'll be there once again just inside the door with my booth filled with a riot of colorful roving and my handwovens. If you're in SW Oregon on November 10th-11th stop by and say hi. Very fun to have this event in my own town.

On the fiber front - nothing much happening, have spent my time since the WeavePoint workshop playing catch-up.....this weekend I will be working on designing my next, hopefully, weaving project in  the WeavePoint software, maybe using one of those recently painted warps.

It's over.......almost.......

Fiber Mania is over for another year - I had so much fun visiting with friends, old and new and I did really well in the sales department on top of it. It was a great success in my eyes and from the looks of all the happy folks hanging out all day/weekend long. But it's not over for me - the center bay of the garage is full of bins, props, weavings & such that need to be put away. Everything needs to be inventoried today so I can get my two etsy shops back open by the end of the day. Thank you everyone who came to this event....and to all those that stopped and visited with me......and shopped!

Fiber Mania.......

Set up for Fiber Mania was Friday - I must be getting old, setting up 8 ft tables for all those booths killed my back, followed by setting up my booth and the raffle booth area.

Here's looking in my booth as folks come in the front door. Cinder block walls are ugly but there's not much I can do about those especially since they're probably 20 ft tall. Handwoven scarves are on the 'tree' on the right, I sold a number of them today which surprised me as this is a fiber festival and many that come in make their own scarves.

Here's the back of my booth, definitely think that table cloth needs a topper on it, it's kind of blah, but then it was so crowded with people all day I don't think anyone noticed. I usually use a cloth backdrop that matches the tablecloth, we built a pvc structure for it that makes it adjustable from 8-12ft. I saw these screens on sale recently and decided to give them a try, probably need both to cover up that cement.

Here's the hand-dyed roving.....those beautiful inlaid wood yarn swifts are made by someone I know, sold one today, hoping to sell more for him tomorrow.I moved things around before opening to set some of those handwoven rag tote bags up on top of the wire cubes to show off better.....and I definitely need more wire cube shelving.....

At the end of the booth is Ashland Bay Fiber as there is on the left side which you can't see. Some handwoven scarves and shawls on the rack.

I have some wonderful friends who helped me out with set up, thank you Kat and Debbie, it was unplanned but very welcome.....and then my dear friend Yvonne sat and spun in my booth today helping me out with sales and when I needed breaks. Tomorrow I'll be on my own, it will probably be a bit slower first thing in the morning so I should be ok. It's so much fun doing a fiber event in my own home town - so many folks come in that I know, many that I don't see very often, and then new fiber friends made.......I'm dead tired but it was a wonderful day of visiting along with the selling.

....and the piles are forming....

.....here are piles of goods for my Fiber Mania booth sitting in the hallway to the garage.....handwoven scarves/shawls still need to be packed up but I'll do that at the last minute to avoid wrinkles......wait a minute, is that Phil the pheasant trying to sneak into the red rolling cart???

.....and here are the stacks of bins in the garage where the roving is stored - that's 2 rows deep worth of bins.....hmm, wonder if all this plus my booth display stuff is going to fit in the truck and van....wonder if the utility trailer is full of yard debris or empty......

My shameless plug....yes, I'll be there in my booth......

SECOND ANNUAL FIBER MANIA
A Celebration of Mother Nature’s Fibers
November 12 & 13 - 9am-5pm
Josephine County Fairgrounds in Grants Pass, Oregon

Sale of fiber, Fiber arts, Equipment, Fiber animals, Classes, Informal Fashion Show, Door Prizes and Demonstrations
Registration is now open for classes/workshops, booth space and animal space

To entice you, here are classes available
Intro to Continuous Strand Weaving (weaving)
Wet Felting a Hat (felting)
Knitting with Beads (knitting)
Coquille Shawl (knitting)
Warm up your Neck (knitting)
Nuno Felting (felting)
Adventures in Color (drum carding)
Whorld Exploration (spinning)
Tame Lace (knitting)
Odds & Ends (knitting)
Beginning Needlefelting (felting)
Intermediate Needlefelting (felting)
Learn to Knit a Beaded Bracelet (knitting)

...a pretty to share.....

I'm sorry I don't know what kind of butterfly this is - I took this picture in the butterfly garden at the history museum at the Seattle park that also houses the Space Needle. I didn't have anything fiber related to share today so thought I would share a pretty.

Today was a meeting of the Fiber Mania committee of which I had been invited to join a few months back. Fiber Mania is a fiber festival that held it's first event last November, I had a booth there selling my rovings and weavings and did very well.....and it's in my own backyard! This year's event is on Nov 12th & 13th at the Josephine County Fairgrounds in Grants Pass, OR. So, if you're anywhere within driving distance, or further, mark your calendar. There will be plenty of fiber vendors (me again), classes, demonstrations, fiber animals, equipment sale, fashion show, door prizes and a silent auction. Registration is now open for vendor booths, animal booths and classes.........there are a number of great classes up on the site already, more to come so be sure and check back. Right now there is mail in registration but hopefully sometime next week the online registration will be up and running, bugs are being worked out now.

Fiber Mania - the aftermath.......

Ok, so no pictures, I guess I could have taken a picture of the aftermath sitting down in the garage - bins, rubbermaid storage boxes, bags and bags of roving - all needing to be put away today. Roving needs to be inventoried so I can update my etsy shops and get them open again. Yikers - what a day I have in store for me - good thing there's a stereo and tv down in the garage.

Final thoughts on Fiber Mania - I did quite well selling my roving and other items for this being the first year of the event, I'm pleased. I would love to see the event grow to include even more vendors from out of the area, it really has to grow for it to be worth it to them to pay for travel & lodging. All in all I had a great time, met lots of new fiber folks that I hope I'll see again, and I'm totally exhausted. I met so many brand new spinners - it's very exciting that spinning is getting a bit more mainstream, I think it's the next step all those new knitters are taking from the boom in knitters in recent years - I love it! And there are quite a few new knitters and spinners moving on to weaving. One downside to running a booth by yourself is no time to go see all the other vendors and animals. When friends would come by I'd have them stay with my booth so I could take a potty break before I had to do the potty dance - that's a new one to me not having kids - family was in yesterday and the father asked where the bathroom was because his toddler was doing the potty dance - very cute, hope he made it.....

Fiber Mania - Day One

Day One is over for Fiber Mania. It was so much fun, I met so many nice fiber folks, saw others I haven't seen in a while, and then saw many that I see all the time. I sold a good amount of roving among others items. I think for a first time event it was well attended. Day Two starts in 13 hours.....wearing warmer clothes tomorrow, it was freezing in the building.........except the bathrooms where the heat hit you in the face when walking in the door. And for me to say it was cold is a lot since my thermostat is screwy and I'm usually warm/hot. Think I'll wear 2 pair of wool sox instead of the 1 pair I wore today. Next time I would also bring the backdrop for behind my table, it matches the tablecloth and is a nice coverup for the cinderblock. Off to put my feet up and veg out....talking all day really takes it out of me! And as my friend Margie (Raspberry Farm Angoras) said if I kept my mouth shut I would have stopped getting all the fly away bunny fur in it while she was shearing next door to me - love ya Margie!

Fiber Mania

If you're within driving distance of SW Oregon stop by and say hi next Saturday & Sunday (Nov 13/14) while I'm sitting in my booth at the first, hopefully, annual Fiber Mania. The goal of the group organizing it is to grow each year and become as big as Black Sheep Gathering. There will be many vendors of the fiber arts, classes, demonstrations and fiber critters to fondle.

I'll be there with as much roving as I can cram in my booth along with many of my handwoven & felted gift items. And the best part of this festival is that it's 15 minutes from the house, if I forget something I can call Sam and plead with him to bring it over.

November 13th & 14th - 9am-5pm
Josephine County Fairgrounds, Grants Pass, Oregon
Flower Building and Patio Building adjacent to the Flower Building