Rhinebeck 2011 – the booth

On October 21, 2011, in Chandoba, festival, Shaping Shawls, by Anna

Last weekend, I and gazillions of other knitters were at Rhinebeck – the New York Sheep & Wool festival.  This year, I was part of the Cooperative Press booth, exhibiting my book, and a number of other new and upcoming Cooperative Press releases.

Most of us Cooperative Press people stayed at a cabin in a nearby state park, so we could get away from the hustle and bustle of the show in the evenings.  It was a cozy little cabin, set in the woods, and absolutely amazing.  This year, the weather was reasonably warm (considering it’s fall in upstate NY), and the fall colours were spectacular.  While it doesn’t show in this picture, the trees ranged from green pines to colourful maples, and the path towards the cabin was glorious with its yellow-orange-red leaves surrounding it.

We set up the booth on Friday and were quite pleased with the end result.

My shawls are all across the top there, and Shaping Shawls on the table.  There are also samples from Big Foot Knits, What Would Madame Defarge Knit, and an upcoming book on men’s socks.   (….and some of Kate’s homemade cookies on the chair to sustain the hungry booth crew)

Once the show started, we really had a steady stream of visitors all weekend.  Here is Kate Atherly talking to some visitors, probably about her upcoming book Beyond Knit & Purl, or perhaps about one of the other titles in the booth.

And here is Heather Ordover from CraftLit and What Would Madame Defarge Knit.

And Stephanie Tallent ready to ring up orders. She was also promoting her upcoming book California Revival Knits, which looked amazing. The sweater is from the book, and I can’t say how many people asked for the pattern.

Alasdair Post-Quinn was signing his new book – Extreme Double Knitting.

And here’s Helene Magnusson of the Icelandic Knitter visiting us, and Shannon Okey (aka the knitgrrl and the owner of Cooperative Press).

At the end of the show, we were all wiped.  Wearing the red sweater is Andi Smith, who was busily promoting her upcoming book Big Foot Knits, and then Heather Ordover is on the chair, and Stefanie Tallent resting on the concrete floor.

At the very end of the show, we disassembled the booth, and I just have to show you this, so you know what we had to work with.

Eeek.  The behind-the-scenes you never want to see.  Ugly breaker boxes and of course cardboard everywhere.  Thanks to some creative decorating and juggling, we actually managed to make this space look fabulous.

Thanks to everyone who came out to see us.  Tomorrow I will post about some of the fabulous people I met at Rhinebeck.