Nov 17, 2010

Kid n Ewe

I spent last week in Boerne, TX attending Kid 'n Ewe and Llamas, Too. It a fiber festival held yearly in Boerne, TX. WOW, what an awesome, eye-opening experience. I worked just about every spare moment for several weeks getting 30 of my new turkish spindles with cutouts made. Susan, the owner of Yarnorama, graciously let me use a portion of her booth to sell my spindles.

Boy, did I worry about that festival. My sister was my sounding board, and I provided her with daily amusement for the things I worried about. First, it was that my spindles wouldn't sell and I would be a huge disappointment to Susan and would return home with all 30 spindles. Then, it was that they sold so well that I ran out the first day. Then, it was that I arrived at the festival only to find that I had left the spindles at home. The final worry was that I would stumble on my way to the booth and break every last spindle.

Suffice it to say that none of that happened. My spindles were a HUGE hit. I worked an early shift for my day job, which I'm lucky enough to be able to work from my RV when needed, so that I could be in the booth on Friday afternoon. I sold eight spindles on Friday, and by the end of Saturday, I had bartered one spindle for some fiber and sold 28, leaving one left. That one sold first thing Sunday morning to a very nice lady just learning how to spin. I also took orders from those who either didn't manage to grab a spindle before they were all gone or wanted a pattern/wood combination different than what I had with me. I'm going to be quite busy for the next few weeks. Too bad I forgot to get my camera out of the truck and take pictures...

I need to throw out a few thank yous.

  • Susan at Yarnorama for letting me share her booth and for her very valuable feedback with each new run of spindles.
  • My friend Kennedy for being my spindle guinea pig with the very first spindles I made, and each spindle thereafter. Kennedy taught me how to tune a spindle hook, how to actually use a spindle to turn fiber into yarn, and introduced me to the wonders of turkish spindles. She also digitizes my hand-drawn patterns and takes each new spindle model for a test spin. It's the perfect arrangement. I get her insight and expertise, and she gets free spindles!
  • DebbiRYarn on Ravelry. Since purchasing one of my turkish spindles during the Hill Country Yarn Crawl, she's been a walking, talking billboard and spent much of her time at Kid n Ewe sending those who asked where she got her spindle in my direction.
  • Barb from Rosewood Yarns. She purchased one of my spindles at Kid n Ewe, and managed to run her own booth while turning a very impressive amount of fiber. She sent no less than a dozen people over to see me so they could get their own spindle. I kept hearing all weekend that "the lady from Rosewood in the next building said she got her spindle from you. Have you got any more?".

Thank you all!

3 comments:

  1. So glad the fest went well! I was sure the second I saw your first one that they'd be a hit - nice to see the rest of the spinning community agrees ;)

    Congrats!

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  2. I had so much fun sending folks your way. But seriously, your spindles make it so easy to walk, talk and generally live while spinning. They sell themselves.

    Spin on!

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  3. Are you going to make any more spindles? I'd love one of these turkish spindles. Maybe you have an Etsy shop that isn't linked, or some for sale somewhere else? Please let me know.

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