Craft Fairs

Recently, I have been searching for craft fairs. Obviously, I must be looking in the wrong place - I have yet to find a local craft fair. Although many from across the country are advertised as upcoming - there seems to be a fascination in the western part of the country with craft fairs.

So you ask... what's so special about craft fairs? Why do you want to know? I am interested in what's new as well as the opportunity to sell my own merchandise from TabiHats (my Etsy shop). Locally, many may be looking forward to summer; however, Fall is right around the corner and once again moms will begin the search for hats and scarves for their precious little one. Knit products to protect infants and babies from the cold, inclement weather of Fall and Winter.

So, each week I conduct Google searches to no avail. Well let me clarify, to no avail locally - I have found numerous craft fairs in every state but Ohio. Are we Ohioans not participating in craft fairs or do we not advertise them? If you live in the tri-state area - Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, please provide any information you have available on upcoming craft fairs. Also, how did you find out about them? Perhaps you can give me some search tips.

Confessions of a Craft Show Organizer

I just had an opportunity to read the greatest article published in the Minnesota Post.com entitled "Confessions of a Craft Show Organizer" by Patricia Hoskins. This wonderful article discusses the different types of craft shows, the pros and cons of each, what you should expect from a craft show and how you can get involved. I'm definitely filing this one away for future use!

The author, Patricia Hoskins, owns Crafty Planet in Minneapolis and is one of the founders of the hugely successful annual craft show, No-Coast-Craft-O-Rama. Crafty Planet is an independent craft store dedicated to fiber crafts - knitting, sewing, fabrics, patterns, etc. Their brick and mortar location holds classes for beginners and advanced crafters alike. Not to mention the online store offers a wide variety of items to satisfy all of your shopping needs.

After reading the article, I found the list of resources contained at the end to be extremely helpful. For your reading pleasure, I have inserted that section below. To read the article in its entirety, follow this link: http://www.minnpost.com/from_our_partners/2008/03/18/1189/mnartistsorg_confessions_of_a_craft_show_organizer

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A SHORT INDEX OF CRAFT RESOURCES

Craft show directories

ACE Guide: Predominantly "traditional" craft fairs; good commentary on the included shows (fees, what price ranges sell best, etc).
FestivalNet: A bit more comprehensive, but full access requires a subscription.
Midwest Art Fairs: Focused exclusively on the Midwest region; quite comprehensive. Full access requires a subscription, but your local library may carry the print version.
Indie Craft Shows: Specifically limited to listings of "indie"/alternative craft fairs.
Sunshine Artist Magazine Directory: In addition to the listings, there's a nice archive of articles on topics of interest to craft vendors.

Local indie craft shows (the Minnesota area)

These are my favorites, but of course there are lots of other opportunities locally and regionally:

No Coast Craft-o-rama (typically in December)
Craftstravaganza (typically in April)
Handmaiden Minneapolis (quarterly)
Crafted Together (first annual in May 2008)

Craft business information & networking

The Switchboards: forum for "creative women" to discuss all kinds of business and creative topics.
American Crafts Council: An association promoting fine and contemporary craft.
Crafts Report: a trade journal targeted to the fine craft artisan, but chockfull of business tips and information

To discover additional resources, read the article in its entirety, by following this link: http://www.minnpost.com/from_our_partners/2008/03/18/1189/mnartistsorg_confessions_of_a_craft_show_organizer

Retail Outlets for Artists

Many artists (I include artists of all kinds - painters, sculpters, knitters, jewelry makers, etc.) at some point in their lives look for an outlet to sell their creations.

I was knitting and crocheting for almost 2 years before I began seriously investing the time to aggressively sell my hats and other knit products. Initially, I had a basket full of hats that I routinely gave away to the kids, friends, relatives, or simply wore myself. One day I participated in a craft fair at work and the interest was overwhelming to me. I had 20 custom orders from a 2 hour craft fair - when previously the only custom orders I received were from the kids.

For other artists/crafters like myself there are various options where we can peddle our wares. Some I've recently heard about and others yet to be discovered. In the interest of sharing business tips and ideas, I have included below the link to a great US News & World Report article from the Money and Business Section. This article talks briefly about selling on eBay as well as eBay alternatives. Enjoy...

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Boycotting eBay? Here Are Three Alternatives
Users protesting fee changes need not stop selling altogether
By Kimberly Palmer
Posted February 11, 2008

After eBay announced pricing changes that translate into higher fees for items that sell but lower fees for those that don't, heavy users of the site quickly expressed their frustration.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Recycled Materials

I have been busy at work creating new things. I continue to remain enamored with felting and look for new opportunities to sharpen my craft.

My newest project is working with with recycled materials to make felted items. I cannot wait to display my latest works of art. So far, I have created a hat and about 5 change purses. My husband, keeps looking at me quite oddly, but has yet to comment. Whenever he sees the finished product, I think he likes it, yet he questions the concept of "recycled" materials.

If you use recycled materials let me know and send pictures. I would love to post them.

AHA I Felt

As I sat down to write this post I recognize that I am a "tad bit" biased considering I sell TABI Hats creations there. Nevertheless, one of my new favorite sites...Etsy allows fellow members to create lists of 12 of their favorite finds created by fellow Etsians. This list is called a "treasury". While browsing the treasuries this morning, I came across "AHA I Felt". A treasury chock full of absolutely amazing handmade felted products.

My favorite is pictured above.

Patiently Waiting

I was a first time PayPal user as of Tuesday, November 20, 2007. Okay, in my defense...I have never used PayPal before, so it took me about two days to actually finish my yarn transaction. I thought that once I selected PayPal and entered my PayPal email address that I was finished. It wasn't until I received a "convo" (it's an Etsy thing) from Crafty Yarn that made me realize I had missed a few steps! Oooppss! As I am sure you can assume, payment delay equals shipping delay... and then there was Thanksgiving...


Hopefully, my new yarn will arrive soon. I can't wait!

In the meantime, I am creating new hats to upload onto my Etsy, TABI Hats. I am one lean, mean, hat knittin' machine!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Accepting The Challenge - Yarn Purchase

I'm calm...I'm decisive...I've decided to proceed with the felting project. I purchased recycled, lambswool, sport weight yarn from Crafty Yarn.

Here is a little information taken directly from the Crafty Yarn site about recycled yarn:

"My yarns are recycled (unraveled) from gently-used, high-quality sweaters. Color and texture are very important to me and I only work with sweaters made from lovely yarn.

About knotted ends: the short version is that your skein of yarn probably won't have noticeably more knots in it than any new skein might. The long version: if the yarn is made primarily from a fiber that will felt (wool, cashmere, angora, or any other animal fiber), then I felt any ends within the skein together so you don't get extra knots. If it's a plant or synthetic fiber, skeins may have up to two knotted ends, but many will have one or none. In any given skein, there may also be a knot or two that were in the yarn from the original manufacturer.I determine the length of my skeins by creating measured hanks, not just by weight, so you can be confident that the lengths I give are accurate.

All yarn has been gently unraveled, wound into skeins and hand-washed with a mild eco-friendly soap. After washing, the yarn is hung outside to dry in the warm California sun, leaving it soft and fresh. During this process it will have relaxed somewhat, but will probably still be a little kinky from having been knit up (but never so much that it won't be easy to knit with).
Each of my skeins is individually labeled with fiber content, wraps per inch, yarn weight, precise yardage and weight."

Now, I am off to find a felt pattern/project to use my yarn. Wish me luck!

Information Overload

Perhaps I was a little ambitious about this felting project. I conducted an Internet search thinking..."this will be great! I'll just find a project I like, pick up some wool yarn, follow the step-by-step instructions, and viola! I will have created a beautiful purse or hat. Just like that!"

Instead I have a discovered a new world of options that I never realized were available to me. There are books for beginners, intermediate, and expert felters, websites and blogs with added commentary, yarn specifications, patterns galore, SHEEP and WOOL TYPES? What am I supposed to do with all of the information? Presently I am feeling overwhelmed...

Can I find everything I need to know all in one place wrapped up in a cute little bow?

Last night I was excited to find yarn that I like, but now I am afraid to purchase it. The massive amounts of information have paralyzed me. I am in unfamiliar territory...once I purchase the yarn I have no idea what to do next. During my Internet search, I happened upon The CraftGossip Blog Network which contains an entire section devoted to felting. The site is an excellent resource, however fortunately or unfortunately I have yet to decide, it contains links to many additional resources. (I am trying to prevent a meltdown, therefore less is more.)

First things first, I will look for information for beginners only...

Making Felt

My research about felting led me to a website call All Fiber Arts, where I found the following step-by-step instructions for making felt.

You can make your own felt easily, in your bath tub. To make a 20" square piece of felt, you will need :

1. A flat surface to work on that you don't mind getting wet.
2. Access to hot water. An electric kettle will work fine or a hose attached to your hot water tap.
3. Approx. 5 - 6 oz. of pure wool roving (For this project I used dyed merino wool top.)
4. Laundry detergent (dry or liquid)
5. Several towels
6. Straw beach mat

Felting Instructions:

1. Place some towels onto the flat surface or floor and place the straw beach mat over the towels.
2. Pull the clean wool roving into small sections, about 4 - 6 inches in length, depending on the wool staple.

3. Place these wool pieces onto the beach mat, spreading the wool evenly across the mat.

4. Lay the wool pieces all in the same direction - vertically, and overlap each piece slightly, until the beach mat is covered, creating a 24" square.

5. Sprinkle on a thin layer of laundry detergent.



6. Lay another layer of wool roving over the first layer, but in the opposite direction (horizontally).

7. Sprinkle the layer lightly with a bit more laundry soap.

8. Repeat the above steps, until the wool batt measures about 1.5 - 2 inches in height.You should have about 4 - 6 layers of wool, each alternating in direction.


9. The top layer can be decorative. Use different coloured wool roving and even bits of yarn for your design.

10. Add a bit more laundry soap.

11. Fold the remaining length of beach mat over the fleece batt and roll up the beach mat.

12. Fill the bathtub with 1 - 2 inches of hot water.

13. Immerse the rolled up beach mat in the hot water, and turn it, to wet the wool thoroughly.

14. Roll the beach mat back and forth, working your hands evenly across the mat.

15. Keep the mat rolling in the hot water, turning it over, for about 3 - 4 minutes.It is heat and friction that causes wool to felt, not pressure, so you don't need to press really hard.

16. Remove the mat from the bathtub, and unroll it gently onto the towel.The felt is quite fragile at this point, so gently lift it from the beach mat, and turn it 1/4 turn.

17. Re-roll the beach mat and place it back into the hot bathtub water. If the water has cooled, drain the tub, and refill with hot water. Roll and turn the beach mat for another 3 -4 minutes.

18. Repeat steps 13 - 17 approximately 3 or 4 times. Test the felt by rubbing it with your finger. The fibres shouldn't move and the felt should be quite thick. If it is still soft, Repeat steps 13 - 17 again.

19. Remove the felt from the beach mat and rinse in cool water.

20. Roll the felt in a bath towel, place it on the floor and stomp on it (barefoot) to remove the excess water. Lay flat to dry.

For more information about felting visit All Fiber Arts. Remember, this is the process of making felt for use in other projects. There are actual felting project that begin with already created knit products like the purse and pin in my previous post To Felt or Not To Felt. Stay tuned for actual felt projects...

To Felt or Not To Felt

About a year ago, I learned about a process called felting. At that time, I was not interested in trying this myself - it seemed too complicated. However, one year and a few months later, I have decided that now is the time. Therefore, this weekend's project...FELTING!

My next few posts will be dedicated to felting...What is felting? How do you felt? Why I want to felt? What yarns are the best to use when felting?

The attached pictures are felting products from Whirlwend. They are absolutely adorable! This at least is the answer to "Why?" I want to felt. Felting gives you another creative outlet.

What is Felting? Very simply, felt is matted wool. Wool becomes felt when it is subjected to moisture, heat, and pressure. Hot soapy water makes the wool slippery, and causes tiny scales on the fiber to "open up". The scales prevent the fibers from backing up again after they slide across each other; with agitation, the fibers get hopelessly tangled together. When cooled and dried, the scales close and lock the wool into the tough, durable material we call felt.

Useless, but fun fact: If domestic sheep were not shorn, over time their wool would felt or "cot".

Divine by Patons

When making both the "Love Pink Cotton Candy" and "Blue Cotton Candy" hats, I used a Patons yarn called "Divine". Previously, when creating hats with that "fuzzy" look, I used homespun. While I like the look and feel of the homespun, I always had to be very careful not to break the yarn. If I pulled "a stitch" too tightly, the homespun would break, however, Divine is a much sturdier yarn.

I also found that I could achieve two somewhat different looks based upon technique. If I blended the Divine with a strand of plain yarn, the fuzziness was decreased. See "Love Pink Cotton Candy". But, if I used two strands of the Divine, the end result was very fuzzy...just like cotton candy. See "Blue Cotton Candy".

This weekend I made infant mittens to match "Love Pink Cotton Candy". The pictures will be uploaded sometime this week.

Just Thought I Should Say...

I probably seem a little excessive - six posts in one day! Perhaps...but actually, I simply love to blog. I started TABI Hats on Etsy just last week. Etsy is a place where people like me, people who like to make practically any and everything, can set up a website and post their wares for sale. I figured, if I would be at home being Crafty Cathy anyway, I might as well post what I love on Etsy.

You can check out Etsy at www.etsy.com or visit my Etsy at www.tabihats.etsy.com

Anyway, stay tuned for more posts from me. This is just the beginning!