Monday, March 26, 2018

Stitches United 2018

Well, this year the vendors were promised crowds...and I don't think they showed.....I was there twice, on Friday night from 4-6, it was dead, dead, dead....and again Saturday afternoon, not so dead, but yeah, not so crowded either.  So I'm not sure what the actual number of attendees was.....and I'm sure it didn't help that Franklin Habit was grounded by the weather and wasn't able to make it...

Stitches East/United has struggled in Hartford...I don't know what it was like in the places it was at before Hartford, but I've worked or attended it for 3 or 4 years....The first year was fantastic and it was well attended, but attendance has gone down every year since (with a break 2 years ago).  Last year, they changed it from Stitches East to Stitches United, bringing in quilting and other fiber arts, such as cross stitch, etc.

I've attended most of the fiber festivals in and around the northeast.....from my small Connecticut Sheep and Wool (next month) and which shared the weekend with Stitches last year, upsetting many locals.....to Vogue New York (so massively crowded all three times I've gone) and Rhinebeck...I've also been to shows in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and upstate New York.

So I just counted and it looks like there were about 79 vendors...I don't quilt and I gave away all my cross stitch stuff, so I'm only interested in the yarny vendors...and it looks like about 59 of them were geared toward knitters/crocheters.

I was happy to see a few new vendors...Leading Men Fiber Arts...I'd heard a lot about them from YarnHoarder....Makers Mercantile...they were suppose to be there last year and had to pull out last minute. I got to meet a Facebook friend, we are in a yarn group together, Alexandra of Alexandra's Crafts...got a pretty lilacy colored skein from her....We had a talk about the show.  She is from the Northwest, close to Portland and as she said, "the mecca" of yarn....and they never have attendance issues at any of the many festivals out there.....so I'm not sure what it is......
She had awesome yarn the color of her hair, and I wish I had picked it up...but I like the one I did grab.....

I also talked quite a bit with Lisa Bass of White Birch Fiber Arts.  I have posted before of the amount of her self-stripe I own...sigh...I purchased a gradient, speckled hat kit with a pompom from her....
also talked with her booth neighbor Amy of CanonHand Dyes.....got a self stripe from her along with a t-shirt......we were talking politics, as my friend and I had just come back from the March For Our Lives at the capitol in Hartford.

There was a lot of talking going on, as it was easy to do because the crowds were so small....

I also took my first class, Selbu Mittens with Jeffrey Wall of The Yarn Guys.  It was interesting...I only got to the cuff before I had to leave about 20 minutes early to catch the shuttle to the march.
He really helped me hold the two yarns in my left hand for the colorwork.  I had been struggling with that....it'll be easier, once I practice more with it....

All in all, an enjoyable weekend for me....my friend Maureen went on Friday with our friend Diane and they had a good time too...Then she joined me on Saturday and hung out while I took the class in the morning.....Yes, I spent money and I know others did....but just worried that there wasn't enough attendees for the vendors to make their booth fees and expenses back....(I helped out in a booth the past couple of years, but she chose not to have a booth this year)

My haul? Not great pictures, as the light was bad...
 From bottom left: Leading Men Fiber Arts in Christmas at Green Gables for the body of a cardi, the White Birch Hat Kit, Elizabeth Park from Destination Yarns (last year's show color) minis from Leading Men, a mini kit of Hobbledehoy I bought at Madison Wool, the lilac skein, Winter Berry, from Alexandra, Pansy self stripe from Biscotte (at The Yarn Guys booth), Dragonfly Inn from CanonHandDye, and Mother Earth from Leading Men. The green kit is from North Shore Lights and is raising money for The Southern Poverty Law Center.
 A new bag from Erin Lane...the new Larry bag...Nevertheless She Knitted from CanonHandDye and superhero knitter leggings from Makers' Mercantile
I participated in this, when I remembered....

I'll have better pictures on Saturday for Stash Acquisition.....with some other acquired stash

oh and a funny picture, I noticed this in the toilets of the Convention Center, pretty handy!


1 comment:

Stefanie said...

Wow; just 79 vendors? I'm shocked. Our STITCHES had about 181 vendors. Some vendors is better than none and 79 is still a good number because it can get overwhelming. I usually start in the back and work my way up to the front. I was pooped by aisle 100. I really like the looks of your minis from the convention.