As I said yesterday, you wouldn't believe me about the line without pictures. Here are some. I think they were all taken before the show even opened. We were supposed to "open" at 10, but when we got there a little after 9, the line was already forming. I was pulling models out, chunking them down, and moving right along. And while we were trying to fluff, we had people already interested in the new Debbie Macomober knit product. It was exciting. Here's our booth, with people in front of it...
What's the line for? Freebies, what else? Free projects, info on all our web sites, a handy-dandy Leisure Arts pen, and a Debbie Macomber knitting needle gauge thingamajig. All in all, a fairly good goodie bag.
And the line. This shot was taken before the show opened. Imagine a line like this from around 9:30 to 5:00, all moving one person at a time...
Other than working the line (handing out "enter to win" forms and pens) and answering questions ("Yes, that's Lisa Gentry's new knitting technique called Chain Knitting", "Those are made from an old sweater that's been felted", "No, we aren't allowed to sell.", "All of this is so new that the best place to find it is at LeisureArts.com", "Your bag has info on all our web sites.", "We'll be doing a demo at (fill in the time)"), Mary and I had demos to run. And people actually showed up to hear me tell what I know about felting! I was surprised! And afraid. But I just pretended to be an expert and away I went! We also had famous people for demos...Debbie Macomber for the Kitchener Stitch and Lisa Gentry for Chain Knitting (and let me tell you, that girl can do some quick knitting. Her needles F-L-Y.)
Yes, the last one's a photo of my demo. I like that you can actually see the Lion Brand lion lurking in the background better than you can see me behind the table.
Things I did not get a picture of but really should have...
1. The hotel. This one totally lacked the quirky charm of last year's Thunderbird Motel/Ramada. It was all nice and stuff.
2. The Coke machine approximately 18 steps from my door. I heart Coke machines.
3. The chocolate chip cookies available 24 hours in the lobby.
4. The snow. The mounds of snow. Snow piles which are not ever seen here but probably are not enough to remark over there.
5. Pete, the TGI Fridays waiter, who never once told me that my accent is cute. Pete does not make it on my list of favorite wait people.
6. Set up or tear down. Especially tear down. I kind of doubt what we packed up will make it back here in one piece, but Mary and I packed a pallet (for the first time ever) thanks to the kindness of neighbors. We'd still be there handing out free bags otherwise.
