Almonte Fibre Festival 2018

Hey guys, first of all I want to note that this blog post is being written on Tuesday night and NOT the crack of dawn on Wednesday morning.  I would like to take some credit for being proactive and getting things done in a responsible, grown up, manner but mostly I'm just an overexcited kid WITH SO MUCH TO TELL YOU!

As you are all aware, Ashley and I were at the Almonte Fibre Festival last weekend and this is normally the place where I say "and we had a blast," (which of course we totally did) but I think we should try something new.  From now on I'm just gonna say, "Ash and I were at (Insert Name Here) Festival," and you guys will just go, "oh ok, they had a blast."  This way all of my blog posts won't sound the exact same and, let's be real, you guys know us!  We're in our element when we're around you guys! And only with you guys.  Trust me, when we're on our own, Ash and I are diehard introverts.  We socialize with, maybe, five people - and that includes each other.  So much so, that after extroverting for two whole days my trip home from Ottawa felt like I was crashing after weekend long bender.  All I wanted to do is curl up in a foetal position in my bedroom and not come out for many, many days.  I sort of did too.  When I woke up at 5am on Monday morning my first thought was, "is that rain?!" and then, "that's gonna be a no for me, dawg" and then I worked from home that day.

The Almonte Fibre Festival is very near and dear to our hearts because that was our very first show, ever.  Back then I was only the behind the scenes, supporting big sister, telling Ash of course she can do this! I'll totally help!  She was nervous it was too soon and I had more of a let's throw ourselves at it and see what happens kind of attitude.  We showed up with Ash's littlest propped on her hip (she was a little over four months old) and a few baskets of yarn and made a tiny profit that had us both on an adrenaline high!  It was the first time we saw you all in person and you were as kind to us then as you are now.  There were so many awesome memories from that first experience -  like me accidentally locking the keys in the truck and having to call my brother who immediately panicked thinking we had locked Paige in the car and meeting the Riverside Studio ladies who were pretty much our guides on what to expect and who have been our friends since then.  Immediately beside us was a couple from Montreal who made these beautiful wood buttons.  At the end of that show he gave us a small button shaped like a cat and told us to make something for Paige.  Ash still has that button.  I see him every year and every once in a while I'll stop and say hi.  This year I didn't.  For some reason I was feeling shy. I walked by and I smiled at him but  in my head I had a full conversation with him. "Hey, do you remember us? You were beside us on our very first show! Can you believe that was five years ago?  You were really nice to us.  I remember that all of the time."  

We've grown a lot since then.  We went from a single table and our tower to a double booth.  We answer questions with confidence.  Back then we loved our product with the hope that you guys would too.  On Saturday I heard someone say to their friend as they were coming around the corner to our booth, "I heard these guys are really good." You have no idea the surge of pride I had just at that moment.  Or the pleasure I get from from you when you stop to say, "hey, I read your blog!" I'm always a little surprised to hear that you guys enjoy my sometimes winding rambles but if I make you smile once that's more than enough for me.  Ash and I are still learning loads though.  Even this weekend we had a small lesson on being too trusting.  Everything worked out in the end but it was a lesson in running a small business nonetheless.

In the middle of all of our high spirits, Ash and I decided to host a giveaway for one of our gradient kits on Instagram.  I love giveaways and Ash and I usually have a small group of followers who will participate.  This time around we had an unprecedented amount of participants.  Normally I manually count these and use a random number generator.  Around the 500 mark I quickly started scouting apps for Instagram giveaways.  Luckily, there's an app for everything. @Catsandyarns was the lucky winner but Ash and I thank everyone who participated and everyone who came out to see us this weekend.  We made some new friends this weekend, like Nikki (thanks for letting me use your picture! I still love it!) and Sophie from Dolphina who makes beautiful project bags.  We hope we'll see you all very soon but, in the mean time, keep in touch with us.  Tell us what you're up to!  Show us your WIP's and your FO's.  We always want to see!

I have other stories for you but I just realized I've been rambling for awhile so I'll save it for next week.  Ash chose a new sweater to work on and sent me home with a wicked amount of yarn.  The gears in my brain are already turning on how to use it.  Lisa Mutch has buy one get one free on four of her patterns, Fanged, Veiled, Sandscape and Stormscape for this week and I definitely need to check that out!  

 Until we speak again, as always, PEACE to you and yours and happy knitting!!