Sock Summit 2009

What more is there to say? Hard to know where to begin. This show has been monumental to my business. Since the beginning of March, when I learned that I would participate as a vendor, I have been working my ass off. Doing this show required that I focus, that I bring extra help, Adrienne and Nam, that I expand my product line, and that I bring my best colorways forward - which happen to be some of the most beautiful yet challenging colors to create yet. I put myself out there like I never have before - and as painful as it was at times, it was worth it.

I have to admit that I am horrible taking photos at these events. To me, there's something romantic about the mind's eye but then I come home and want to tell you all about it - so, I hijacked Adrienne's camera. To her, I owe her gratitude for the following photos.

Michael, Marlowe, Kathleen, Adrienne, and myself drove up to Portland with all of the goodies. We arrived a day early and started to set up the booth. Loved that we had the booth set up early! Also, there to meet us was my Mom, Aunt Mary, and Cousin Katherine. They took the train all the way from Minnesota to help us work the show. Love!

The shoppers! This was the view from our booth!

My favorite part of the event was the opening night ceremony. For an hour, Tina, of Blue Moon Fiber Arts, and Stephanie Pearl Mc-Phee, the Yarn Harlot, regaled us with tales of putting on this show. They were funny, sincere, and focused of their pursuit. Three qualities I find admirable. They started their speech with quotes that led them through the process. One Stephanie shared was "Tread lightly, you are walking on my dreams." I could not find a better quote to sum up my relationship to the world and to my company. Mostly their speech was about conceiving a dream, and the process of bringing that to dream into existence, inviting other to join, and watching it grow into something unimaginable. I love knitting, the action, the mechanics - but it's the philosophical approach that the fiber community brings forth that melts my heart. That time and time again, the fiber community supports fully new ideas, dreams, and creativity, really blows my mind.

Beyond the booth, I took 2 classes from Judith MacKenzie McCuin, Sock Exotica and Using Handspun for your socks. This is the 1st time that I have left my booth to take classes - it was pure luxury. As I sat in class, it dawned on me how grateful I was (and still am) for the ability to spend time taking classes - that my folks who help me, and who were busy working the booth, are so awesome. Of course sitting for 9 hours and spinning with Judith was amazing - but even more amazing and meaningful to my life at this time - was having to focus on only 1 thing. My brain took a serious break. Through this experience, I have decided to completely re-structure my spinning classes at the studio. More to come about that very soon.

One of the most amazing things about the marketplace were the notable figures strolling the halls and marketplace. We get a but of this at Stitches - but the marketplace is so large and there are so many shoppers that they are not as easy to stalk, I mean spot ;) Here's Anne Hansen, a contemporary lace master, looking at yarn. Yikes! I hope that we are making materials that inspire these great designers and teachers as much as their patterns inspire us.

The Sock Summit gave me the opportunity to see some old friends, like the Rav crew, that I haven't seen for a couple years which was great. Saturday night, we took the Portland's FREE subway to the Ravelry party. I wish I could remember what we were laughing about - probably a state of delirium, we were all getting a bit punchy by this point.

What better to lighten up a sleepy Sunday morning: Voodoo Donuts! I so wish I could have one right now! And, in the case that you are getting married, and looking for a place to exchange your vows, you may be happy to know, that Voodoo Doughnuts may be just the place for you!

Get Stitchy With it! Stitches West 2009

There is a part of my brain that is exhausted - and all it can say is "Thank God it's over" and then there's the other part of my brain. The part that gets me into all sorts of trouble - and that part can't wait to do it again. Who will win?

Beyond all of the arguments, Stitches West was once again an amazing experience. Don't get me wrong, love all of the yarn. But love the people I meet more. In my world, Suze Orman says "People first, then yarn, then things."

Here are a few photos of the days leading up to the event.

A moment of labeling mania.This is our new 100% BFL yarn, DK weight. It's funny how my brain understands making yarn. We get very excited when the yarn comes out of the dyepot and figure that it is now finished. Wrong! So very wrong! Only halfway to being done. There is washing, drying, re-skeining, labeling, pricing, and then inventory. I am learning, the hard way, that yarn coming out of the dyepot 3 days before a show needs more than 3 days to accomplish the above list of tasks.

Designing the booth layout with my architect friend Tiffany. So, then the yarn and the fiber are labeled but it doesn't end here in show land. Now, it's time to design display units, choose materials, build them, and decide how they will live in a 10x10 space. Seriously, Adrienne and I almost got divorced over these units. Truly. Verb almost went up for sale. First $10 takes all. In the end, the units were built, stained, and held yarn, all in a few day's work. Tiffany's way of seeing space is amazing. She worked it. The weather co-operated and we had sunny skies long enough to set things up and take them down.

Adrienne and I met Michael at the studio Thursday morning, loaded our van and his car, and embarked on our adventure to Stitches. Honestly, I was so exhausted that I was finding it difficult to be nervous. It's about a 30 minute drive down to Santa Clara from Berkeley. As we were getting on 237 from 880, we heard a sound, a thumpy bumpy sound, the car slowing, Adrienne pulled it over to the side of the road. Our tire was flat. I burst out laughing! What else to do? Michael came to the rescue. He has AAA. Thank god! They came within 3 minutes, changed our tire, and we were on our way.

This is what we created when we arrived to Stitches.

Open for business! Through the doors of Stitches, all sorts of insanely awesome, creative, sweet people grace the halls of Stitches. Some highlights - but not limited to - include:

CAT Bordhi! So fun, and super sweet. Loves Thai Iced Tea. Photo courtesy of Michael Wade.

I also had the chance to chat a bit with Rosemary of Designs by Romi. She is my friend on Twitter so it was great to see her in real life. Love her, love her work, almost finished with Waves of Grain. Met the peeps at Blue Moon, they are PUMPED about Sock Summit. Very cute.

Towards the end of Saturday, I got this sudden urge to purchase yarn. Crazy, right? My criteria: yarn that I had absolutely nothing to do with creating, worsted to bulky, instant gratification, it could even be a bit trashy if necessary. I cruised the market, poking my head into many a booth looking for my new love. And there it was: Toots Le Blanc bulky Jacob/Alpaca in this beautiful creamy color with just a hint of warm pink. I had been to the Asciano booth earlier looking at spindles and headed back that way - although, not to purchase a spindle - with the intent to buy a gorgeous pair of hand turned, rosewood needles. Both purchases so simple yet so luscious. It was exactly the treat I was looking for. Satisfied, I returned to the Hilton, sat on an overstuffed couch in the lobby, knit, and drank a vodka with soda.

Later that night, we made our way to a cocktail party atBobbin's Nest in Santa Clara. It was my first time to the store. It's adorable. I highly recommend a visit and everyone there was so nice. Bobbin's Nest was the first store I've been to in the South Bay. I feel a shop hop coming...

Well, if you were at Stitches, I hope that you had a great time. Everyone else, I hope you are well. Spring is coming and I am so excited. Walks with my dog very high on the list of wonderful things to do.

Happenings: Fiber Club, Y-Knit, & Stitches

Goodness! whoooosh - another second gone.

real quick - a list of announcements -

announcement #1
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I am very excited to announce that I am opening up 10 more spots for the Spring installment of our fiber club shipment. This is 10 spots total for both Woolly and Ultra (not 10 spots each).

Sign-ups for this installment will begin Friday, February 20th at 9am PST - and will run until February 29th – unless they fill up before then. (Tip* last time we offered sign-ups, they sold out within 20 minutes. I am not sure that they will fill up quite as fast this time, but would like to advise, if you are thinking of signing up, jump on it.) On February 20th, I will add a paypal button to our website which will allow you to sign up for either club.

If you are planning to cancel your subscription to our fiber club (I hope you won’t), please do so between now and the 20th of the February. That way, I will know if I can add more new members.

Wow! Its been 6 months since we started the fiber club. I want to extend great gratitude to everyone who has been in our club. I am truly gracious for your support, creativity, and inspiration.

To anyone new to our club, here’s the low-down:

We have 2 fiber clubs: Woolly Wonders and Ultra.

Woolly Wonders consists of 3-4oz of various wools per month. The cost is $24 per month.

Ultra offers 2-3 oz of exotics and luxury fibers per month. The cost is $30 per month.

Both clubs require a 3 month commitment.
Fall – September - November
Winter – December - February
Spring – March - May
Summer – June - August

We offer 2 types of payment: pay up front for your 3 month increment and receive 5% off. Or, pay per month. If you sign-up for a continuous year of subscriptions – you will receive 1 month free.

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Announcement #2

Also, I was given the fantastic opportunity to sit with the Y-Knit guys, HizKNITS and WonderMike to record the most recent episode of Y-Knit. We have a great contest going. Click here to listen and play.

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Announcement #3

Next week is Stitches West. We will be in booth #837. Please top by and say hello. Also, we have tons of brand new fiber and yarn as well as a great new tote. This tote, which has a spinning wheel and the verb logo on it, will be given complimentary to those who spend $80. AND, there will be a 10% off coupon for your next purchase inside of the bag :)

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ok, knitties! that's it for now. I am sorry for all of the business speak. Soon, stories, vignettes of insanity, and FO's coming your way.

Maker's Faire & CNCH

What? I don't know. What? This is what it sounds like in my brain. This is a snippet of a conversation I have with myself when I try to multi-task. Multi-tasking does not work. I want to believe it does. I once read an article in the NY Times that talked about how multi-tasking lowers your IQ. That all of these gadgets we try to use to save time, like the iphone, actually distracts us, dis-allowing (if this is a word) to never really fully focus on anything. Kind of like instilling ADD. Life has been a little crazy.

Maybe it is the weather, the shifts from cool to very warm, the wind whipping through today, lifting all sorts of debris. Yet, the roses are in bloom. They are so unbelievably beautiful their red, pinks, and yellows. Spring makes my senses swoon.

Part of the problem is that I have so much to tell you. And, I keep waiting for the best time to tell you instead of just letting you know. So, here it is!

First, I have to tell you about Y Knit. This is a new-ish podcast. They have 6 episodes. I love this podcast. I highly recommend listening. Witty and intelligent. Leather and Lace. Art and Craft. Listen and Laugh.


Then, there’s the studio. Adrienne and I have been working our buns off on this one! Yes, I am a perfectionist. I want everything done yesterday. I want the place to shine as if I have a million dollar budget. I want this space to look like I have lived in it for 10 years and it to look like a mixture of Wes Anderson's design sense (think Royal Tannenbaum's or the Darjeeling Limited - completely off the subject: not a great movie, but boy did I love the set design!) and some kind of obscure London textile gallery. OK, well this vision clearly takes time. It's something that I have to grow into, a vision that must be developed along time. At then end of the day, I only have myself to fight with, and really -- not so much fun.

So! I have decided that we must have a party! April is a little hectic. I will get to that momentarily. I am hoping to have the party in May or June. I hope, if you are in the area (read California) you will stop by. Details to follow in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned.

The 3 following events all take place on the weekend of May 3 & 4:

Maker's Faire: Bazaar Bizarre
San Mateo County Fairgrounds
I have never been, and am excited to be part of it. I hear that it is the Bay Area's wacky version of a science fair. I can't wait to see all of the zany inventions. Bring your drop spindle and join us!

CNCH Sacramento
Brooke and Maia will be representing A Verb for Keeping Warm and Tactile. This event hosts thousands of amazing weavers, weaving workshops, and a great array of fiber and yarn vendors.

Maryland Sheep & Wool
A Verb for Keeping Warm is making its East Coast premier! Our fiber and yarn will be available at the Cloverhill Yarn Shop booth. This booth is going to be amazing. Jolene has chosen to spotlight 18 independent dyers and designers. Hopefully, next year I will be able to make it out to Maryland. I hear the event is a ton of fun!


In other news, Color Fiber Festival, held last Saturday at PSR, was a great success. People brought their wheels, spindles, and needles and spent the day together doing what we all love and live to do -- create beautiful objects out of wool, silk, alpaca -- fiber! It was wonderful spending the day with the talented women of Tactile, Pigeonroof Studios, and Girl on the Rocks. Thank you to everyone who participated.

I hope to see you this weekend at Maker's Faire!

Stitches West 2008: Big Ol' Thank You!

Thank you so much for all of those who came to Stitches West, visited us, supported us, etc! I loved meeting everyone and the excitement of it all. This post is going to be pretty short. I am working my buns off to get things organized post-stitches. More to come soon!