2011 Our First Show Ever

Heartland Fiberpalooza 2011 was the very first show we ever participated in. Here I am spinning, hidden behind my fiber braids.

2011 Rockin' the Mohawk

Posing with the first Mohawk Hat we ever made. Actually I made it on a dare and Mr. Yarn Geek was the one who finally sold it...3 shows later.

2011 Behold the Womanikin!

Our Womanikin is far aloft above the cloud of 'Fiber Candy' puffs. She's wearing a crochetted shawl out of hand dyed, hand spun yarn.

2011 Fiber U

Our second show was at Fiber U in Lebanon, MO. We moved things around some and brought out some new products.

2011 The Pegboard

We played around with pegboard painted with blackboard paint. The original plan was to write on it, but we never seemed to have enough room.

Hide the Bins

We had to figure out how to hide all the empty bins, so we stacked them and threw a table cloth over the whole lot. It worked, but was a little wobbly.

Be Kind to Mr. Yarn Geek

I tried to keep the signage interesting and fun.

Hide the Tags

We learned that people will not pick up and squeeze, touch, feel, fall in love with, or want to marry any yarn if they can already see the price tag.

2011 World Sheep and Fiber Festival

In Bethel, MO we had our first outside show. The weather ranged from pleasant to raging hot to blustering and stormy back to blazing all in 48 hours. There was a lot of rolling up and putting down of the tent sides. We set up so we could hide behind the pegboard to eat. Next year we are going to put a table across the back so people won't enter the tent though our booth and ignore us while their eyes adjust.

2011 Strange Folk Festival

This is the first time we ever used our tent. It went up pretty quickly, which was nice. We ate behind the pegboard again and stored quite a few things behind the back table. By this time, we had started bringing things to drink and snacks. This did not keep us from imbibing (read gorging ourselves with) in the delectable Gyros cranked out by the lovely ladies of the Greek Orthodox Church.

2012 Fiberpalooza

Back where we started out in Winterset, IA for the second annual Heartland Fiberpalooza. I sat out in front this time and spun while people walked around me. The hanging racks have been partially replaced by wire grid bought third hand from Dyeabolical. Mr. Yarn Geek has also started making a few things and can demonstrate spinning on his spindles.

2012 Table O' Handspun

I would still like to do something better with this area to get it all up off the table and on to racks.

2012 We Created a Cubby

You can't see it, but there is a small table tucked behind the yellow shelf where there is now a pay station and place to hide out. There are also new fibers and colorways at this show.

2012 Don't Waste Floor Space

The puffs are back, but this time they are along the floor line in vintage wire locker baskets.

Knitting in the Heartland 2012

We had a very gracious neighbor who let us hang items on the back of her grids. We moved our yarn table out to the middle, and it helped people actually notice the yarn more. We really need to get a few more grids. We also need to get a bigger, or perhaps better, or more colorful sign. We also want to go more vertical with our wearables.

Knitting in the Heartland 2012

Another picture of our booth in Lenexa Kansas for Knitting in the Heartland. Check out the garrish carpeting.

Lake Area Fiber Arts Festival 2012

Lake Area Fiber Festival 2012

We had only an 8 by 10 space to work with, the smallest so far, but we made it work. Thankfully my friend Rachel was right behind us, so we used the space farthest back as a kind of commons area. The chair in front is where I sat and spun. What is up with all the garish carpeting in these places lately?

Lake Area Fiber Festival 2012

Notice the new rack to the right of my chair. It worked very well for displaying the sock top and merino tencel, but I need to figure out a better way to display the signs.

Lake Area Fiber Festival 2012

This is the other side of the booth. We played around with how the baskets should be arranged and settled on this way. I'm not sure many people even looked at them. We need some better lighting for sure.

Kentucky Sheep and Wool Festival 2012

Here we are at our first outdoor show of 2012. We borrowed some racks from my friend Rachel to see how we liked them, and they worked out pretty well.

Kentucky Sheep and Wool Festival 2012

Kentucky Sheep and Wool 2012. We decided to use wrap bands around our fiber, and I have to say, it looks so much better.

Kentucky Sheep and Wool Festival 2012

I think we may have actually finally figured out how to set up the booth. That's the good news. The bad news is we need more racks.

Chaplin Creek 2012

This is the last time we used this tent. We learned the importance of good tent pegs and weights after we were almost blown away on Saturday afternoon.

Strange Folk Festival 2012

Strange Folk Festival 2012. What a difference one year makes! We look positively professional. How did that happen?

Strange Folk Festival 2012

I'm digging the new sign and our new, ultra-sturdy, white tent. No more blowing away for us, thank you very much.

Strange Folk Festival 2012 Gridwall and Spindles

Mr. Yarn Geek's spindles are all happy in new homes now. We need to find more CDs with cool artwork to make more. Everything from my teenage angst years has already been used, we are getting into more recent history now. If you look closely, you will see that we started adding QR codes to the lables that lead right back here.

Strange Folk Festival 2012 Hanging stuff

Why didn't we think of hanging things from the top supports sooner? Dunno, but it is a great idea. The only thing I might have done differently here would be to use clothes pins instead of safety pins.

Shepherds Market 2013

Center court this time. We had a bit of a problem with getting the banner to hang right, but other than that, I think it looks pretty good.

Shepherds Market 2013 (2)

First fiber show of 2013 for us. It was loads of fun and we hope to do it again soon.

Fiber U 2013

I really like how the booth is looking now, especially the corners.

Fiber U 2013

It looks like we have gotten into a groove finally. Our booth went up in a little over an hour and came down and was loaded back in the truck in 30 minutes. Impressive.