While 2023 offered a tentative return to in-person festivals - fiber or otherwise, 2024 has unapologetically gone full in - festivals, concerts, retreats, family reunions, travel abroad, you name it.
We included four fiber festivals in our summer/fall plan this year: Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster, OH; Handweavers Guild of America: Convergence in Wichita, KS; Flock Fiber Festival in Seattle, WA; and SAFF outside of Asheville, NC (happening in October). The schedule has led us to various parts of the country to tell the story of why we exist, show the incredible garments and accessories to be made from our cashmere, and offer our exquisite yarn for sale.
All summer long, we have been met with genuine interest and generous support and we are THANKFUL!
For me, in guiding June Cashmere, it's felt like the Phoenix rising out of the ashes of the Covid years. Being able to interact with makers in person again has energized me and filled my soul. Here is some of what I experienced. Hopefully my experiences will encourage you to add a local (or faraway) fiber festival to your itinerary soon.
Why attend a fiber festival
Festival Vibe
Attend for the uplifting energy. Positive energy truly has filled each of the festivals we've attended so far. At Great Lakes, crocheters stood in line to purchase their favorite hand milled hooks for the first time since pre-Covid. They were excited to hold hooks in their hands to find the one that was 'just right' and to meet the makers and their fellow enthusiasts. They and other attendees carried that enthusiasm to all the vendors.
At Convergence, the learning energy struck me most. There were continuous demonstrations, classes, and exhibitions. The weavers, spinners and knitters who came to our booth were genuinely interested in who we were and what we had to offer. I love that learning energy.
I'd sum up Flock's energy with two words: sunlight and kindness. The event was in the Seattle Convention Center in a hall with incredible sunlight. And even though the line was out the building 45 minutes before the opening bell on Saturday, I didn't feel a mad rush to buy this thing or that. I felt an energy of excitement and kindness throughout the whole show. Vendors supported and encouraged other vendors and attendees supported all of us. I loved the energy at Flock. It was supportive, engaged, full of energy, and just incredibly kind.
Meet people
Meet your friends in person. I have worked with designer Shellie Anderson and designer/teacher Kim Mcbrien Evans for a few years now and FINALLY was able to meet each of them in person at Flock. Our online familiarity translated beautifully to real life. The hugs were phenomenal! But I didn't just meet them, I made new connections for future collaborations and friendships, too, which leads me to the importance of building your community.
Community
Community is fulfilling. The support and energy that come from gathering with folks interested in similar things is uplifting. I'm thankful for the ways in which we can now engage online to build community, but it still pales to what we experience when we are in the company of others. Enjoy the coffees and meals together, share your purchase excitement, trade a technique or two. While we are similar in our interests, we all are different, too, and those differences expand our compassion and acceptance of others; they widen our world view for good. And we're reminded that we likely have more in common than not.
Advance your skills
Keep learning! Learning can come from the obvious opportunities of class offerings and demonstrations, but another source is from vendors who all have fascinating information to share. I appreciated the demonstration stage at Convergence and the panel discussions offered at Flock. I didn't get to attend most of them - I was busy in the booth - but these are great ways to gain knowledge in your craft without taking full-fledge classes. Ask questions of vendors! They are individual authorities in their crafts!
Be inspired by creativity
There is so much to take in visually. At Flock especially, I noticed the beauty of each vendor's booth and the inspiration one could get from various yarns, colors, displays, and the garment and accessory samples showing patterns to be made. I also noticed utterly amazing handmade (knit, crocheted, sewn, woven) garments that many attendees wore. I paid special attention to fit and was blown away by how well many of the hand knit sweaters fit people. I regret not asking to take photos to show you but it felt intrusive and I really want to stay in the moment and not have the phone near me.
What fiber festivals mean to me
Sand Waves Poncho by Norah Gaughan
Someone asked me why I was attending events this summer and what I hoped to achieve from them. It's true that for a vendor (and often an attendee), they are expensive and require extra energy. Personally, these events aren't about encouraging a shopping frenzy for attendees to amass a ridiculous yarn stash. And this blog post isn't intended to instill FOMO - fear of missing out if you don't attend.
For me, attending these events is about all the aspects I highlighted. It's also about building the June Cashmere community. I learn from meeting makers in person. I want to tell of Sy and team's important and good work in Kyrgyzstan and introduce this amazingly beautiful and substantial cashmere yarn to others. There's no comparison between seeing in person our array of beautiful garments to viewing them online. The same holds true of seeing our yarn colors in person. I also love being able to show how beautifully this cashmere yarn is made and how it lasts. We've had enough time behind us now that when I point out the Norah Gaughan Sand Waves Poncho, I can demonstrate that the poncho arrived to us from the designer in 2017 and even though I wear it and wear it, it still looks like it did the day it first arrived - no pilling, no sagging, just exquisite long lasting beauty. I want makers to experience working with our yarn to create garments they will love that will last them a lifetime.
I also attend these events for my own growth, to be inspired, to see colleagues, and to make connections for future collaborations so that we can continue to produce timeless patterns that makers will want to make in our yarn.
We have one more in-person festival this year just outside of Asheville, NC: SAFF - the Southeastern Animal and Fiber Festival. We can't wait to meet our largest audience of the year. And come on - the North Carolina mountains in October?! I can imagine the crisp air and fiber excitement already! Join us, won't you?
-Until next time, may you find joy in making with our yarn!
Warmly, Amy
p.s. We have wonderful online events for those times we can't travel. We'll be at Vogue Knitting Live's Virtual events in Sept, Oct, and Dec. 2024.
We meet up on Zoom every other Sunday to knit and chat at Knitting Together. All are welcome!
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