Wide Open Spaces

Kim has been wanting to move the fabric around for years so that we could put the quilting tables in the middle of the room. She initially wanted to put the tall bolt-holders against the window. But I nixed that idea, on account of losing all the light.

In fact, I have nixed that idea about 5 times over the 5 years we have been open. (I give both of us a lot of credit for our once-a-year stick-to-it-ness.)

Then the other week we were preparing for our Yarn Tasting. We were trying to figure out how to get more than 20 people into one space without putting them into two corners. Kim tried her idea on me for the 6th time, but this time made it more palatable: "What if we put the short bolt-holders at the window?" she asked.

Done.

We were in the middle of a quiet morning that day, so we plunged in and started moving stuff around:


It took us the better part of the day--which of course was the day before Yarn Tasting, a day we had lots of prep left to finish. But we needed the space. So we worked hard and fast.

And after a while, we had a new space:


I cannot describe how thrilled we both were.

For Yarn Tasting, we were able to take the tables down and comfortably fit all those people into the room. (I would show a picture, but all of the pictures I took were of knitters frowning as they concentrated on their knitting.)

Pictures aside, the Yarn Tasting went great. We started by giving away a goodie-bag to each person:

.....Okay. This particular person, while indeed ending up with only one bag (under duress, I might add), thought that maybe if she sorted all the nearby bags, she could find the best goodies for herself. I did not put her face or any identifying characteristics in the picture--but Bag Sorter Person, you know who you are!

We ate snacks:

See those cupcakes in the upper-left corner? Hannah made them just for this event. Let's take a closer look at her little yarn balls and little scarves:


They looked so real at first glance that one person actually asked if she knitted the icing. Hannah, I think you'll soon be ready for a job at Charm City Cakes.

Of course, the best part of Yarn Tasting was tasting the yarn. Kim served it up to everyone:


And we all played with a bunch of great yarns that night. I even let her keep all the descriptions in those handouts you see in her left hand. I had my editing pen at the ready but decided that when she wrote that "Dreams Really Do Come True," I felt as if I was at Disney. I love going to Disney. So I didn't change a word in any description.

Everyone had a blast. In fact, it may have been the most fun we've ever had at an event.

Which means we need to do it again.

Look for another Yarn Tasting, coming up sometime in the spring!