Sunday, March 15th from Noon to 5 p.m. was Yarn Party at Historic Savage Mill. The idea of Yarn Party is a little bit different than many other textile and fiber enthusiast shows. Yarn Party is also a "party," in other words it is also a social event for the shoppers. The set up reflects this...
The vendors were all placed in a promenade like ring in a huge hall; the center of the ring had a large grouping of big round 8-12 seat tables. Folks came in walked the ring of vendors as well as mixed and mingled in the center with other shoppers. The inner "party" tables were all full the entire day with people sitting and knitting, crocheting, spinning and working on an array of different kinds of textile art projects. There was also a series of instructional classes that people could attend through out the day.
The day was a very grey, wintry, drizzling rainy day. At first, I wondered whether it would bring people to an indoor event or keep them at home and out of the weather. We had a little more than an hour to load in and get set up in the cold misty rain. By the time the doors were to open, there was a line around and through the mall building to get in. It was standing room only within 20 minutes after twelve. The whole day was a buzz of people, fiber conversation, door prizes, class announcements and sales. Hurrah! Everyone was carrying some unique bag full of art and textile supplies, new projects and stash material.
I have found that folks sheepishly complain about having too much in their fiber/textiles/yarn/art supply "stash" the same way they complain about having too many books on their bed side table.
So, yes, they came, and they seemed to enjoy the shopping and the party. It was an high energy event!
I, Avalon Springs Farm, shared a booth with Lisa Check of Flying Goat Farm.
Some of the things I brought were:
Lots of dyed locks in an array of colors, raw fleeces, skirted & washed fleeces, my two current yarns, some silk scarves, and rovings (mohair in two colors and a llama/mohair blend in two colors).
Some of the things Lisa brought were:
Mohair rovings in two colors, some hand dyed cotton blend yarns, some alpaca hand dyed yarn, silk scarves, and hand made cards of her photographs.
We both had a great time. We both socialized a lot our selves. I invited a friend of my daughters and she came; it was fun to see her. I also invited Marilyn Rooze, The Flower Lady of the Farm Woman's Market of Bethesda (who I work for on Saturdays). It was great to see her; it was a fun role reversal because suddenly I was in charge of "the booth." Lisa and I, also connected with some other local Angora Goat farmers we know from Pennsylvania. And we did some official networking for other shows and events we hope to be a part of in the future; that felt very productive -- there is nothing that can replace meeting people in person.
So, the day was a great success! Thank you Yarn Party!
We know that we were photographed by some Yarn Party volunteers and were informed that those photos will be available to us at some point after the show. As soon as I get them I'll add them to this post.
Karen
