A Craft Show Trailer

A few years ago (2011) we decided we needed more room for hauling everything to craft shows. Here is a picture story of what we came up with. After three years of use we are now considering how to up-grade it a little more, although it has worked fairly well as is.

This is the trailer we purchased.

Then we stripped it to the floor.

The walls were painted, then added, leaving an opening for the side door.

On the other side you can see how we staggered the side walls, trying to make the most efficient use of our 4x8 sheets.

From the back it looks like lots of room!

And doesn't look like it should overwhelm my hauler (it hasn't)

With side door, flat fenders (handy for setting things on) and new tires it was finally road ready.

We secured the back doors with a slat that slid through the handles, later replaced by a piece of rebar for added strength and easier sliding.

Loaded for a show, you can see we also placed a 4x2' table to make sure nothing could slide backwards during a hilly drive.

This last picture gives a better view of our roof supports, and the amount of light that the light colored roof does let in.

Craft Shows June

Just a quick post to share a couple of my booth set-ups at the last craft shows;    this first picture is my tent at the lighthouse show, husband and son shared the one to the left that I didn't get in the picture.

This last picture was a small SCA show, my son had the front left corner and my yarn and roving filled the whole right side.

Yarn to list

Just  showing a few of the yarns I need to take individual pictures of and write descriptions for my etsy shop.

These are all wool and mohair with the exception of the last three(on the right) in the first and third pictures which are alpaca.

Happy Memorial Day

Thanks to all who have served to keep our country safe!
A time to remember those we have lost.
A time to cherish family and friends!

Year's End

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

I fell way short on my goals for last year in blogging, but accomplished a lot in everyday life.
So my resolution for this year is not to make any resolutions and just do what I can get done!
Are you making resolutions?

To update;
1. in the spring we purchased a 4x9 slat walled utility trailer to use for craft shows. We took the slats off and built solid walls with back and side doors. With a hinged light-weight top it was useful for hauling and also camping for one at the shows (my son had the van or a tent to sleep in)
2. Having booked a fairly full schedule of craft shows, I also found my part-time winter job continuing into year-around!
3. This fall I purchased the supplies for making soy candles to add a new product to my shows. I also came into possesion on a smaller 4-harness floor loom which is waiting patiently for me to finish the warp that was on it so I can start a project of maybe place mats or dish towels which are still in the planning stage as I research books to find "the perfect" pattern and suitable warp and weft.
4. A custom order of dog hair to spin into yarn and then knit into scarves took more time than I had first thought, but it was an interesting project and I received the best thankyou note with the payment.
5. I'm still spinning and dyeing as well as preparing equipment to teach a nuno felting class next month.

What special projects have taken over your lives? Busy is good, right?

Welcome 2011

It's time to greet the New Year and apologize for my lack of consistency in blogging.
Happy New Year to all!

I didn't drop off the face of the earth, just got extremely busy with craft shows and gardening throughout the summer. This fall I started a "part-time" job which has developed into my working an average of 5 days a week:) I'm still keeping busy with spinning, my Etsy shop, and some inventory placed in a local craft store.

But it is time to make some goals to accomplish this year. How many have made resolutions for 2011? Mine aren't spectacular but I'm trying to keep them possible to do.

1. Blog at least once a month, hopefully more.
2. Spend at least an hour a day spinning (or other fiber related project) even after work.
3. Plan my craft show schedule for the year by the end of January.
4. Increase the number of listings in my Etsy store (to maintain at least 100 items)
5. Enjoy the year, keeping in better touch with friends and family.

Please add any of your goals that you'd like to share in the comments.

Dyeing Challenge

This week I tried matching some roving that I had dyed using the rainbow technique of painting the colors on and then heat setting. The main challenge was adding enough dye to cover the white without adding so much that the colors would over-mix and become muddy, the most that I could heat-set at a time was 8oz and I needed 1 lb of the same which meant repeating myself:)

The roving with the label was my goal to match. In the top picture the one on the right was my first attempt and the one on the left was closer with just a few evenly spaced light spots. What do you think? Is the one on the left a close enough match? I did manage two batches of each colorway that match each other, so have a pound of each, (and yes it's merino wool).