I am on the airplane writing this…partly because I have an hour to kill and partly because my brain is swimming with ideas and possibility. I figured a recap of my first solo business trip as fiber artist should start on the plane ride home.

Michelle, my friend and accomplice, picked me up in the Buffalo airport on Friday morning. Our mission, as we chose to accept it, was to:

1. Find Lettuce Knit
2. Eat and sleep as little as possible in a 36 hour period.
3. Sell LOTS of yarny goodness.
4. NOT spend more than I made on yarny goodness.
5. Profess our LOVE for yarn, fiber, and fiber-philes as much as we could possibly stand it

Mission 1: Lettuce Knit Status: Completed

We drove straight to Toronto so the yarn tourist in me could go to Lettuce Knit. That shop is pretty sweet. I bought me some yarn and a Lexie Barnes pouch (for business receipts, of course). It is in an area of Toronto that really reminds me of the ethnic and funky neighborhoods in NYC. Lots and lots of cultures moving in a rhythm that flows together, wraps, unwinds and connects again. I loved it. The difference between this area and the ones that I speak of in the States, is the sheer fact that people live a modestly comfortable existence. There appears to be the feeling of Haight –Ashbury , or Greenwich Village pre-million dollar lofts. I really, really loved it.

That quick jaunt into Toronto was pretty much all I saw of Toronto. The CN Tower on the way in and the way out. The Maple Leafs play hockey in an arena that butts right up against the highway. My god if there is a car accident during a game the player might get injured!

Destination: Sweet Sheep Central.

I was greeted by the lovely and talented Oscar (who is really named Simon), the guard cat, who put me through another customs check when I walked in the door. (He is VERY chatty… the staunch CA customs officer-lady could learn from him…. She really put us through our paces crossing the border).

Michelle casually gave me a tour of her very lovely home and ended it with the magna carta. The big lebowski… the piece de resistance.

She took me to the store.

Mission 2/3:Profess our LOVE for yarn, fiber, and fiber-philes as much as we could possibly stand it and NOT spend more than I made on yarny goodness. Status: In-Progress

(Yarntini goodness…)

OH.MY.GOD.

I fell to my knees (LITERALLY) at what she has. Stuff I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT HER HAVING. (Disclaimer: she probably mentioned having those yarns. Ask Coleen if I actually listen to my friends when they tell me things ;P )

As I was inappropriately fondling her yarns and digging through her inventory, and thinking of all possible ways to justify MAJOR stash enhancement, I could not believe the sheer bounty of talented fiber artists that are out there. sometimes Mama-E operates in the vacuum of sleep deprivation and occasionally comes out from under the rock in which she makes her home. ( I will do a WHOLE seperate post on the Hand dyers that I adore!)

Michelle tore me away from the yarn to load the car and head for our next mission.

Mission 5: Sell Lots of Yarny Goodness : Part I

We made our way through Toronto traffic and crawled to Kitchener. We unloaded the goods… took stock of our display possibilities… freaked out a tad…… and made a list for Walmart. Delirious and starving (eating is very overrated…) we headed to the big box hell. Blaring fluorescents and processed foods galore. We made our way around the SUPER Walmart at least 2x before we could find the items on the list.

On to the hotel…. and our first major obstacle.

Now… when you make a reservation at a hotel you don’t roll up after HOURS and HOURS of driving (Michelle was on the road at 6 am and picked me up in Buffalo NY) the last thing you expect is for them to say your room is occupied.

WHAT???!!! Occupied? Hmmm… her name on the reservation. Someone else in the room. WTF??

Ok.. there was no way in hell we were sleeping anywhere but there. And the newly employed desk clerk-with-no-backup-help found that out when I let my “Irish” flare up. I actually helped the quivering girl go to our room and check for occupants.

Yeah… turns out…. the moron who worked before her did not check the guests out of the room when they actually left over 12 hours before.

We get into the room… crash and are up about 4.5 hours later.

I shower (very good thing… Michelle has VERY specfic rules for her employees regarding hygiene) and wake her up so she can do the same.

I put a little snack in the microwave. I turn on the coffeemaker (for the hotel LIED about the 24 hour coffee thing) and you hear *POP*…

and then darkness.

Michelle says: “Mama-E, you broke the hotel!!!!”

Now how the hell can I break a hotel fuse??? Come on now… aren’t there at least 100+ people staying there (they told us it was full the night before when someone was supposedly occupying our room)? How the hell can I BLOW A FUSE????

We were at least 30 minutes behind schedule ( with a free hotel stay after I chatted with the morning guest services manager).

Mission 5: Sell Lots of Yarny Goodness Part II Status : Completed

We roll up to the Bingemans and greet the FABULOUS folks at the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitters Guild. We find our space and do the fastest setup known to mankind.

We went from nothing to:

Sweet! we sold lots… and I even *may* have been asked to sign an autograph…..

Here are some folks with their C*EYE*BER Fiber essentials;

That is LadyLungDoc and crew!! I was so glad to see her again.

It was great to see so many people you read! Thanks Stephanie, Emma, Rachel H and friends for GREAT conversation!

Mission 2/3:Profess our LOVE for yarn, fiber, and fiber-philes as much as we could possibly stand it and NOT spend more than I made on yarny goodness. Revisited

I made out with these amazing buttons. They are hand-made and exquisite! AB Originals from Rockwood, Ontario.

I have asked John to make me something special… and if all goes well some of my Christmas shopping is underway!

I purchased:

1- fair trade basket

1- 1lb bag of wool/seacell roving

1- 110 g skein of handpainted sock yarn from Lindenhoff Wool Mill.

1- 4oz skein of wool/alpaca laceweight (natural chocolate color) from Lindenhoff

1- thrummed mitten kit ( I was in CANADA People!) from Lindenhoff.

1- 4oz skein of Yarntini varieagated

1 dozen wood buttins

Whew! mission accomplished.

Ongoing Mission: Eat and sleep as little as possible in a 36 hour period

I think …maybe 6 hours of the total 36 we slept. We ate out 1 time… (Subway: my love for you will never die!)

I flew back home ( I miss you already Michelle!) to my family. I missed them terribly!

I was greeted at BWI by my boy and my wonderful husband. It is nice to be home!

The cowboy had to wear his new Team Canada “soccer boy” outfit (changed in the car!).

Oh! and one last thing….

Michelle says that I never post my knitting anymore.

Here is my Fugl in action. I will finish by Rhinebeck. I will finish by Rhinebeck….

I love Kitchener… and thank you to each and every one of you that came out! we had so much fun. See you next year!