A fine time was had by all, to my estimation. It was our second year at OFFF, in Canby, Oregon and once again, the weather could not have been more beautiful. I choose to have a booth on the lawn because it reminds me of all of my years doing craft fairs in Berkeley and Santa Monica and evokes good memories. Just look at that sky.
We set up on Friday, as early as we could. The aroma from the lamb barbeque booth was just too much, right around noon and I succumbed to the call of the lamb sammich. Weird, I know but you just have to get over it. (Rod found the lamb sausage sammich wonderful enough to have two days in a row.)
This year we are trying something new, for us, going for the grid wall and hook thing, which does not necessarily hold as MUCH yarn but displays the yarn in a much better manner for everyone's viewing pleasure. I was hiding my colors in bins and that had to stop. This was the trial run and of course took me a LOT longer to set up than I thought, simply because of all of the fussing. Speaking of fussing, my neighbor to the rear was a spinner who creates vest kits and has about 1 200th of the stock that I carry with me. The woman kept coming around the corner giving me crap about not being set up yet. WTF? I finally told her to (with a smile) Shut UHHHHHHHHHP. Seriously, there must have been 10 to 12 visits and for someone that likes to take her time getting a booth ready in two days, this stuff was enough to make my blood boil. :o) I think that it turned out well, considering that this is HALF of the normal booth space at shows these days. (better to have a booth that will allow for zipping it all up at night, ya know?)
We had lovely visits with Jen and Tammy as well as Sam & Lo, having the pleasure of a prolonged dinner with lots of conversation. These women all know one another and hang out so I just asked lots and lots and lots of questions because *I* didn't know everything that had been happening with them. :o)
A very wonderful surprise happened when I was sitting out on the grass spinning. A little tap on the shoulder and here is the adorable Sivia Harding. Hugs hugs hugs and more hugs. I put those extra hugs into my pocket for later, Sivia! There was also a lot of hugging with Ms BMFA herself, er, I mean Herself...Ms Tina. We found that we have more in common than arty farty yarn, having both been singers in our earlier years. What a hoot, as my Midwestern friends like to say.
Let's just say that we had a wonderful time. Here is picture of Rod in the booth. You are just used to seeing him sans hat...
One more bit of eye candy. This stuff, when spun, went home with Ms Tina. She has good taste and I was more than flattered. This is/was part of a baby alpaca saddle. So delicious and the last thing that I spun up before leaving for Oregon.
One last thing and the reason that I actually have a brain cell that is allowing me to do this short of a blog...I have hired my first El Dorado County assistant. Yup, Lorie has come to work with me and the funny thing is that she has been cutting my hair for a year and a half...she can dye hair and she can dye yarn. It is a good match and I finally have the second pair of hands that I have been wishing for. Happy happy happy.
Cool! You got to meet Tina, and now you get a pair of helping hands! I'll try not to be jealous on the Tina part; she and I grew up two miles and a year apart, and I can't wait to finally meet her in person.
Posted by: AlisonH | October 01, 2009 at 11:25 PM
Geesh, what was the hurry, anyway? As long as you're ready before the gate opens, who cares if it took you THREE days to set up?!
Yay, helping hands!!
...wait...does this mean MORE temptation is coming at us, sooner...?
Posted by: MotherChaos | October 03, 2009 at 11:54 PM
Sweet hat dad! The new display looks really nice, can't wait to see it in person, all set up :)
Posted by: Erik Souza | October 07, 2009 at 12:13 PM
I'm glad you had a good time at OFFF. It's one of my favorite local festivals, which is why I'm bummed that I haven't been able to make it down there in several years. Great looking booth!
Hooray on getting a new assistant! Flying solo is a lot of responsibility; at least now you have back up when things get hectic, and a helping hand in normal times.
Posted by: Denise in Kent, WA | October 08, 2009 at 07:55 AM
Your booth looks great!
I'm using those grids, too, and keep two of them hooked together permanently, and then zip tie the sets of two to each other however they'll fit (depends on the booth). I really like them, and have switched over almost completely ~ I have a a 3x4 grid square thing that I put fatter skeins in, since they like to pop off the hangers.
Looks like it was a beautiful weekend! And congrats on the helper, too :-D
Posted by: Jennifer | October 12, 2009 at 05:48 AM
Your ears burning? Blogged your gorgeous yarn today.
Posted by: AlisonH | October 17, 2009 at 10:52 PM
And blogged it again today. Welcome home!
Posted by: AlisonH | October 29, 2009 at 10:58 PM
so many beautiful colours!
Posted by: Rachel | November 08, 2009 at 07:20 PM
Just found your blog. I was lucky enough to attend the OFFF. I purchased some yarn from you and have enjoyed knitting ot up. See you next year.
Posted by: Jacq | December 13, 2009 at 08:31 AM