Spill Over

The big juried craft show is over and I am on the way to recovery--sort of. I find that these things really exhaust me. I try hard but am probably not cut out to be a retailer! Right now, I have these little piles of stuff in the living room, loom room, etc. that are all migrating slowly to be put"away" in slow motion. I find that everything is very tidy before I go off to teach, etc., but when I come home, there is this spill over exhaustion that keeps me from putting everything away as neatly as I got it out in the first place.

The craft show itself was interesting. The crowd was a lot younger and more hip than I expected. As a result, they spent smaller amounts of money. I did sell a bunch of stuff, but it was almost entirely handspun yarn and signed copies of my books. A lot of knitters and crocheters (again, majority of them under 45) snapped up my handspun. They fondled and talked about it with me, lovingly discussing gauge, texture, fiber, and yardage. In one case, a twenty something guy who knits came up, proudly showed me his handknit alpaca toque (hat) and then saw Fiber Gathering on the table. "Hey," he says, grinning, "I have that book!! NO WAY! You wrote that book?!" That was fun.

By contrast, occasionally, it was difficult not to be snappy or sarcastic...like when people doubted that I'd made the things for sale at my table. (NO, this is all an elaborate farce where I import things from developing countries and pretend I made them at juried craft shows!)

Here's another one. These same people started picking up copies of Knit Green and Fiber Gathering and I said I'd be happy to sign copies of my books. "You wrote these books?" those folks said, in an entirely shocked and surprised tone. (NO! I thought, I'm volunteering to sign other people's books.) Luckily, I didn't let that thought out even once, although this scenario happened more times than I'd care to admit. I'm telling you, my dear blog readers, because it was hard to hold this one in, believe me.

What didn't sell? Most of my handwoven stuff...you know, the stuff I've been working so hard on this past year. I sold 1 rug to a friend (and I would have just given her a rug, honest), 2 scarves, and 2 pillows. The rest came home with me. I even had people tell me that the rugs were "too nice to put on the floor" and I told them they could put them on sofas, chairs, or even on the wall if they liked. They fondled, touched, let their babies drool and roll on, and even put their purses and belongings on the rugs as they sorted through their other purchases...but they were apparently too good to put on the floor! (that one confused me...) I haven't quite figured out what to do with those, because although I wouldn't hesitate to put my rugs on the floor, I'm not going to put 14 of them on the floor. There is such a thing as, umm, over decorating...

The second case of spillover happened right in the middle of the craft show. Saturday morning, I wandered downstairs to have breakfast and noticed a weird grassy smell on our first floor. I raced back upstairs and accused the professor of having watered all our houseplants at once. (apparently a crime?!) He apparently hadn't watered them that morning, and the sceptical look he gave me was amazing. I mean, I know I've been weird while on this wacko medicine..and maybe I've accused him of some strange things, but obviously, even his patience has limits...

I decided to check out the basement while the kettle was heating water for tea. Uh Oh. Water on the floor in the distinctly grassy smelling basement. Not a good sign. I raced back up to the 2nd floor--the poor professor. I mean, poor guy was about to step into the shower when I told him the news.

We had to divide and conquer. He stayed home to have a date with the plumber. I rushed off to the craft show by myself.

A couple of hours and $440 later, the professor joined me and told me that the drainage pipe "had been cleared" but that we might have a problem with the sewer pipe that went out to the street. We'd find out on Monday, when the plumber could come back with a special camera that saw such things.

You'll note today is Tuesday. The news is not so good and we have a dvd of the pipe to prove it. At the least, some pipe is mis-aligned, but given that our house is nearly 100 years old, it's probably time to replace all those pipes before they all misalign, disintegrate or fill up with more tree roots...yup, we saw dirt and tree roots in there. Since the plumbing pipes in Winnipeg are roughly 8 feet underground (and under 15" or more of snow)--we'll be having another plumbing appointment with a backhoe soon.

Even if I'd sold all of those rugs, it probably wouldn't pay for this. Maybe it's good I'm on this stoner medicine. I feel very accepting about all this "spillover" in my life. Mess? Complication? Plumbing problems? Par for the course. Whoa. That's very laid back of me.

If you've known me a while, you know this is SO not usual...

The professor and I are having a very low key Hanukah. We're giving each other gifts:
On night #1: We'll get to flush our toilets. Hurray!
night #2? wash our hands!
night #3: take a shower!
night #4: do laundry!
You get the picture...? Little presents and sweets?--we can skip those. Sewer drainage from our house? That's priceless.

Win Something!

I am so sorry, blog readers--it's been a whole week since I've posted. I feel like I'm letting you down!

Here's a sunshiney photo of my loom in action while I explain. I've still been feeling under the weather. I haven't been going out much and I'm a little lonely. I feel a bit teetery, like I'm sitting on a counter stool and my feet are dangling off the edge with no (steadying) floor in sight! I'm also trying hard to keep up with my work--including getting ready for the Handmade Holiday sale, put on by Manitoba Craft Council, which is taking place November 26th and 27th.

Comments on the blog have been few and far between for a while, so I was a slacker and didn't post as much as usual. (I find your comments and those interactions very encouraging. Otherwise, I don't much feel like posting sometimes!) I'm sorry for my silence over here, and I'd like to make that up to you. I figured I'd combine a few topics at once. Here it is:

I notice that a lot of people read my blog each day...but I don't actually know who most of you are. Are you friends and family? Fellow knitters/spinners/weavers? People who like dogs? People who like old house stories? People I met once? I wish I knew more. If only 3 people comment on a post left up for a week but 30 people visit each day...there are a lot of you out there who I don't hear from very often!

At the same time, the lovely folks at CSN Stores contacted me out of the blue and asked me if I'd like to give away a $45 gift certificate to any of their over 200 online stores on my blog. (They sell dog beds, kitchen tools, shoes, bar stools...and more!) Well, gosh--this seems like a really good time for someone to win a $45 gift certificate!

So, if you read my blog, and you'd like to say who you are, and why you visit the blog--I'd love to know. I will read everybody's comments and (assuming you actually say who you are and answer why you visit my blog) will enter you into a completely random drawing. Please leave your comment by next Monday afternoon - 3pm North American Central Time-, November 22nd. (I will hop on to the blog and officially close the drawing at that time.)

A few little notes:
1: Please be sure I will be able to contact you via your email address, blog, smoke signals, etc. Even if I know you in real life, I might not know your secret blog log in nickname, so be sure I can figure out how to find you!

2: CSN only ships to U.S. and Canadian addresses, and if you live in Canada, you may have to pay international shipping charges. (Sorry!) If you live farther afield, please feel free to leave a comment-I'd love to hear from you-but I won't be able to give you the gift certificate, as the shipping won't work out.

So, tell me, dahlink...why do you visit the blog? What interests you? I look forward to hearing from you! I hope you win the $45 gift certificate, too!!