Monday, May 15, 2006

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival Report :o)


Well I'm finally able to sit down and take stock of how the weekend went :o) The short version : Dad and I had over 200 sales from Friday to Sunday, the booth looked good and we were well received!

Thursday night I went down to my parents house and dad and I finished packing the car and trailer. He was still finishing some bowls and toys and was up really late.

Friday: Dad and I got on the road early and arrived on site just before noon. It was hot and dry, so set up was slow going. Neither of us knew that the floor of the booth was packed earth so we had to improvise with a pair of drop cloths...not the best solution but next year we will have a rug or some astro-turf. We finished setting up late in the afternoon and the festival staff provided a light supper of cold cuts and salads, soda and cold beer. Just what we needed at the end of a long hot day :o) We were so tired that we were in bed by 8pm!

Saturday: Up by 6:30, breakfast at the hotel and onsite by 8:00. There were already people walking around and we had our first sale before the gates opened. Saturday was kind of a blur...I left the booth twice. Once to go get food and once to find a bathroom that did not have a 40 person line! Lucky for me I found the bathroom that had a "vendor only" stall. Dad did some sharpening and sold lots of bowls, cutting boards and toys. By the end of the day almost all of my dyed wool was gone and I had to move things about to fill holes. The festival people come around on Saturday and Sunday to check out your booth and make sure you have enough stock for the whole weekend. They are a nice group of women and I think they liked what we had :o) My biggest seller, by far, were the stitch markers (thank you Gail, Mercedes, Straya, and Emeline for helping me crank them out) By Sunday mid-day I had six left out of the 200 I brought! And the stitch marker jewelry sets were a big hit too. I would have liked to sell more yarn but I think my prices for handspun were a bit too high. It's hard....I don't want to charge too much but at the same time I can't put the prices too low and loose money.

Sunday: We were up early again and had breakfast onsite. A baked egg and cheese dish, potatoes, fruit, fresh corn muffins....lots of good stuff :o) Sunday was much slower and more relaxed. By noon the place was hopping and sales were up again. By 5:30pm the place had just about cleared out and we began to pack up. We were on the road by 7:00pm and home (to my parents) by 10:30pm. I stayed over because I was exhausted and it was too late to unpack the trailer.

Monday: Dad and I unpacked the trailer, counted up the money and receipts, and payed the taxes we collected. I hit the road around noon and that was the end of my very long weekend :o)I made very few purchases, I really had no time! I bought two fleeces, one white and one black Border Leciester. They are super clean and I may just spin them in the grease. Dad got Adam a huge bag of kettle corn and I brought home a new bunny. I was finally able to pick one up without crying and this one is such a snuggler. Adam came up with the name Gossamer which is perfect in so many ways!















A few Booth photos can be found here: They were taken on Sunday because I forgot to take any on Saturday :o) The booth doesn't look quite as good as it did the first day.

On May 23rd I begin teaching a series of spinning classes at Modern Yarn in Montclair NJ. I'm really excited about being invited to teach at their store and hope to see some of you there :o)

I have also been updating my website. Post Maryland it is a bit empty, but I have new fibers coming soon and just cranked out new sock yarn bundles. Please check back later this week for new items!

1 Comments:

At Monday, May 15, 2006 10:46:00 AM, Blogger Gina said...

Glad to hear that you had a good show. Do you plan to exhibit at Rhinebeck?

 

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