Preparations

Posted by on Jan 2, 2013 in Blogging | 4 comments

For some weeks now I've known an exciting piece of news…

I'm exhibiting at Unravel 2013!!

The logo for Unravel 2013!

Unravel is a small festival happening the last weekend of February in Farnham, a town in (I believe) Surrey. I say I believe because both the Sussexes and Surrey merge in twisty windy ways and I'm caught in between. I'm not good at geography of British counties.

Part of the preparations for this event has been evaluating my samples, see which are the favorites of my audiences, what state they're in, which patterns I'd like to boost and all sorts of thinking stuff.

When you stop and realize that I have a catalogue of 48 designs (with 2 more joining in later this month!!) out of which 30 are self-published and several others have had the rights revert back to me…. That's a lot of patterns, and samples.

My booth has already been designed in my head, and I only have a limited amount of space (2m by 2m, or in imperial terms 78″ by 78″). Part of it will have a table, where my trusty assistant will be at, giving you patterns and taking your pennies. He will also gladly accept treats and coffee. (He's my husband, be nice)

The table will hold my sock display as well as some pattern information sheet so you can see yardage and all that before you purchase.

There will be a rack with garments, a shawl display, some surprises…

It's all good until I stop and think – how much stock of each pattern should I bring? Are my guesses of patterns people want to see correct??

In my head, a garment like Caramel should have a huge following…. However it lags behind the super popular Moore (which became an unexpected overnight success).

All in all, I'm torn. I love ALL my patterns but YOU prefer some more than others and this type of shows are all about you! I need your help!

If you were to meet me at a show, which samples would you like to see displayed? Are you more likely to buy garment or accessory patterns? Do you like seeing exclusive releases happening at the show?

 

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  • Emknits

    I’d like to see Moore and Chambourcin in the flesh – and shall try to get to Unravel (Surrey, I’m pretty sure, BTW :-))

  • http://twitter.com/AnnieBeeKnits Annie Bee

    From my experience at fibre/yarn/knitting shows, accessory patterns tend to outsell garment patterns by quite a lot. (My knitters’ guild hosts a large annual show — 80+ vendors and 2000+ attendees — plus I attend a few other shows semi-regularly, so I’ve had a good chance to observe knitterly shopping behaviour.) 

    Given that an accessory can generally be made from a skein or two of special yarn, patterns for hats/mitts/scarves/shawls/socks are a good match for the type of yarn shopping that happens at these events. 

    Most people, me included, tend to get so overwhelmed by the variety that they/we buy a bit of yarn from this booth, a bit from that booth, and a bit more from this other booth — spreading out the purchases and attempting to take some of everything we love home with us. This may not be the best way of shopping, but it’s definitely typical! Of course, there’s no rule that says you HAVE to buy both the pattern and the yarn for a project at the show, but the yarn that’s in front of you is always going to be top of mind.

    A sweater pattern, on the other hand, (a) is more daunting to many knitters because it has to, you know, FIT; and (b) requires one large yarn purchase rather than several smaller ones. Not that I haven’t purchased sweater quantities at shows, but it has taken a much higher level of restraint than I usually possess at these events! 

    • http://www.rockandpurl.com/blog Ruth Garcia-Alcantud

      I’ve come up with a plan. Most of the patterns will be there, some we will have in stock, some I’ll offer print on demand right there – will cut down on my costs upfront and allow the flexibiliy of having all the patterns there!

  • http://twitter.com/iknitalone Jennifer Lindberg

    I think a variety is good – some garments, some accessories. While I agree with Annie Bee that I may buy small amounts of yarn, I love the opportunity to see sweaters and larger projects in person. This may be a good opportunity to expose some less “popular” patterns to people.