Thursday, October 13, 2011

Candy Skein- The Vista Fiber Fiesta


As promised, I will tell you all about the Vista Fiber Fiesta that happened October 8-9 today! Well, it actually started for me on Friday (or if you want to get technical, a month ago when I found out about it and decided to have a booth) when my lovely friend, Robin, and her husband helped me set up the booth. This was my first show, so it was great to get there and see how the booth would work, as well as the location and I could plan just how things would be laid out.

Saturday morning came and I was up bright and early to drive the 40 minutes to the show. Luckily my husband came with me to help with the initial setup. The Fiesta was on a grassy area and as I took the front panel away from the booth, we noticed that everything inside was SOAKED. Fortunately, just the set up and table cloths were there, but it was practically raining dew inside due to the cool morning. Of course, I didn't anticipate that, so my poor husband had to run back and forth to the bathroom grabbing handfuls of paper towels to dry everything off as best we could. Wet yarn isn't exactly appealing!

After we got that squared away, we finished setting up. Not to toot my own horn, but the booth looked even better than I expected. I also have to say, 124 skeins of yarn seems like a lot when it's inside my house, but spread out in cubbies and hanging, 124 skeins isn't that much! LOL

Here's a picture of the booth from that morning!



The front of the booth with Sharon and I setting up!



Delicious fingering and Delicious lace




Yummy lace, fingering and worsted



The show started off with a bang, as in the first two hours I was slammed. I'm so lucky to have such great friends, as my booth partner, Sharon, helped handle the rush. My knitting group also made an appearance, talking to the customers and also watching me run around like a monkey trying to get everything done. I was able to accept credit cards using one of those iPhone swipe things. That was the great part! The bad part of it was since my phone is an old model iPhone, even though I was upgraded to OS4, it still didn't like it much. I ended up having to borrow Sharon's phone for the transactions. I couldn't have done it without her!

As Saturday went on, there was a constant steady stream of people. It was amazing! Everyone was so positive, it made me just glow. I couldn't have been happier! At one point, I was getting a little nervous as my sock yarn I brought dwindled in numbers.

Oh yes, and I have to mention the heat. Man was it hot!!! Our booth got direct sun pretty much the whole show, and I was sweating like a pig, which is funny because I hardly ever sweat normally. The booth felt like it was a sauna! The event was very prepared and had food and drinks, so I made sure to drink enough water (or at least the second day I did!)

Sunday morning brought more dew, but not as bad which was nice since I was there setting up by myself. I was able to strategically place the yarn so it didn't look like my numbers were dwindling. The sales were a little slower on Sunday, as expected in most events like this, but still, there was an amazing group of people and great feedback. I was lucky enough to meet two of our WIPW/FO Friday participants, Contessa and Christina. I had such a great time talking to the in person. It really made my day, as they were the first two I've met in person from the blog.

All in all, it was an amazing show. All feedback I received regarding my yarn was super awesome and I even heard people talking about it as I walked around the show or ran to the bathroom or to get food. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

I sold well over half of my stock that I brought to the show, but the great news for all of my online shoppers is that I have some left, including colorways in Delicious lace, Delicious fingering, Yummy lace, and Yummy worsted that are new! Be sure to check them out.

As you will see if you go to the Yummy fingering page, there is only 3 skeins left. I have an order placed with my yarn supplier for 50 more skeins of sock yarn, this time it will be Falkland merino wool, from the Falkland Islands. I love this yarn, so I'm really excited to get the stock sometime next week.

I'm still taking orders for the October '11 Sock of the Month Club colorway, Halloween Treats, and will continue until October 31st. I'm already planning November's colorway, and can't wait to reveal it soon!

15 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had some great help and success with your first show. Congrats!

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  2. Woo hoo! That is SUCH fantastic news. Great job, girl! And I can say I knew you before you were super famous. Wish I could've been there to cheer you on in person. :)

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  3. I'm glad you had such a good showing and sold a lot! The pictures of your booth looked great!

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  4. I felt like a proud mama!! We couldn't be happier for you!

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  5. Yay! What a great feeling knowing that people like your stuff.

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  6. I was so excited to come home and read this today! How awesome, I love how your booth looked especially how you had some yarn hanging! I love that it went so well for you YAY!

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  7. I'm glad it was a success for you.

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  8. You did a terrific job. I loved the booth and you looked fantastic. The yarn was to dye for!

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  9. Your booth looked great! Congrats on the success!

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  10. It was an honor to be one of the first two you've met from the blog! I've met plenty of online buddies, but none before through blogging, so this was a treat for me too. :)
    Any plans for upcoming shows? It's sad how little I know about what's going on in the area.

    So I was looking at the Yummy worsted -- how do the Blackberry and Blueberry Sorbet colors look together? I fell in love with the Blackberry colorway and would love a complementing color.

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  11. I'm so happy you had a great fiesta!!!! Congrats and best to you for continued success with Candy Skein yarn!!!!

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  12. I had a fun time. Thanks for sharing your booth with me. So glad it went fabulous for you. I'm sure you will definitely get return customers as your yarns are so delicious!

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  13. wow, congrats on what sounds like a really awesome show! I'm so proud of you! (does that sound really geeky & weird coming from someone who has never met you? LOL)

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