Back Home Part 3 - Columbus Trunk Show

I was truly thrilled that my first trunk show was in my hometown of Columbus! Come Sunday morning, I had already been to the shop once and could GPS myself there and back since Rob was still asleep from the night before. I got there around 10:30, plenty of time to set up...

 I was nervous and excited all at the same time! I knew I would be having a captive audience, so to speak, as there was a Knit In schedule for that same morning. Soon after I arrived I met another helper in the shop, Claire. She was so fun and cheerful! She was working on a pair of fingerless mitts. I pointed out that I had a free pattern online. She looked at the mitts on the table and said "I'm making these!" She quickly went to the computer which was set up on my Ravelry page and said "yup, that's them!" I was tickled....

Like so many others who have made this pattern, She put her own twist on it and put a little pattern in it. I loved it! That's exactly what my base pattern was intended to be! So let  me show you the set up for the show. There was a rack that was all mine to hang my shawls from. There was one dress form available for me and the computer could be set up to my Ravelry Design Page.....

As the Knit In group began to file in one by one, they all looked at my work and said wonderfully nice things about them. They all sat in the front of the shop in the sitting area and began asking questions. I truly did have a captive audience. One of the ladies there was making a really cool Buckeye Scarf!

I was so thankful for the time there and that the owner, Esther, was just as interested in having me as I was in starting my trunk show life in Columbus! A very special friend stopped by and I was so excited to see him! Jerry used to be my mothers boss when they all worked at the library in Reynoldsburg together a very long time ago. Mom has stayed in touch with him via Facebook and he was test knitting one of my patterns, Cats Paw, for my latest eBook Sexy Spines Volume 2. It was so good to see him! He stayed the whole time with me and shopped around, sat and knitted and chatted. It was wonderful...

Jerry used to work at the Columbus based knitted shop Knitters Mercantile as a knitting teacher until Knitters Mercantile closed. It was nice to hear Esther talking about her need for a larger store as she is already outgrowing the space she is in now. That is good news. Certainly when knitting shops all over are closing. My own knit shop which had been in business for 44 yrs had to close. The shop in Old Towne Albuquerque, Fiber Chicks, has closed. In this day and age of internet shopping and online everything, some knitting shops are falling to the waist side. Every time I hear that another has closed I am sad for them and their community. But then you have shops like Knit It and Haberdashery that are looking for a bigger space. Such wonderful news! That means more knitters and more knitting space in the Columbus area! 

Check back with me tomorrow for a post about meeting with friends I haven't seen in a very long time. Until then...Knit On!