Thursday, November 14, 2013

Texas Waffle, Our Trip to Kid n Ewe in Boerne

We had a great time at the Kid n Ewe show in Boerne, Texas. It started out as a blur of activity and ended on a calmer note. More about that later.

Texas is a special place. Full of friendly people and from my point of view at the Kid n Ewe show, fiber art enthusiasts of every kind. You know your in Texas when you can walk into the grocery store and find a great bottle of wine to share with friends. If you are confused about your location the next morning never fear, the Texas Waffle is here!

I was pretty amused by all the conversations in the Comfort Inn dining room the next morning revolving around the Texas Waffles and wished I could make a You Tube video but I had a booth to get back to.



The first two days of the show were a blur of activity. I didn't have time to get pictures of the booth until Sunday, but I did enjoy connecting with some friends at the show. Here is an overall of the booth. I had many friends helping me in the booth this year which made it fun and easier to keep up with all the activities at the show.



Lynn was there helping with everything as usual...


















and Elona, who demonstrated the leather wrap bracelets and kept everyone entertained and informed.













Here is a picture of Janet who was on the move most of the time...













and here is a shot of the demo table with a big selection of bracelets that she and Elona had made.  We had demonstrations of leather wraps, tapestry bead cuffs, affinity style and traditional beading as well as tapestry weaving going on through the entire show.




Here is a picture of Libby's beautiful Wild Woman jewelry that was part of the booth this year.
















Another display area with cords, threads, tapestry warp and hat bands on display.













The tapestry bead cuff display...











and new for this show we had Kumihimo braiding supplies, models and demonstrations.













The Kumihimo lead me on a new adventure. There was a class scheduled on Kumihimo braiding for the show but the teacher had a family emergency and had to cancel. Since I had brought all the supplies I ended up teaching the class of five.

Here is a picture of some of the class getting ready to try some braiding on the portable Kumi looms.









We set up an eight strand round braid, talked about some variations and finishing techniques and also added some beads to the braid in the two hour class.













One of the students took this photo of me with mouth open and hands blurred. I think she really captured my essence!

After the class the students visited the booth and I have to say I did not come home with any Kumi supplies left. Thanks to all of you for being so gracious. Considering the last minute preparation for the class we all seemed to have a great time and the braids of hand dyed pearl cotton were beautiful.










I also spent some of my time tapestry weaving on the sheep sampler,











creating new Mirrix Loom owners and



visiting with friends. It was fun to see Lydia from our tapestry diary group and to get another visit from the Viking Girls. This year they were adding Ymmyarns silks to their projects. I hope to have a picture from them soon.






After the show was over and the booth was all loaded Lynn needed to stay a few more days for some family business so I was driving back to Oklahoma alone this time. I am always anxious to be traveling alone because my directional skills are impaired and even with GPS any trip is an adventure of unknown outcome for me. I do not exaggerate as those who know me can attest. I am endowed with the ability to walk into a store,shop for a few minutes and not know which direction I came in. Let me just say the trip home was interesting. Without understanding how, I had managed to choose a route home that I had never been on before. I made several detours through Texas towns trying to get back on the interstate but the real fun began on the last leg of the trip through Oklahoma.

It was Monday and I was tired and instead of taking me on Highway 75 South my route took me on a series of two lane back roads. I decided as I was nearing home with 2 to 3 hours of light left and a full tank of gas that I would just relax and enjoy it. It was a beautiful day and I drove through small towns with streets festooned with flags for Veterans Day. There were cows, sheep and horses. Much of the drive was  rolling landscape with streams of light piercing the clouds all the way to the earth in a manner more often seen in photos than in real life. I relaxed once I found myself on old Bixby Road as I assumed I would end up in Bixby at some point. Both hands on the wheel, head resting on that device in the car meant for this purpose and at a leisurely and legal speed limit I rode the curves of the land as if they were waves. I thought about stopping to take some photos but didn't want to disturb the magic of the moment, so I drove on
content with the idea that I would absorb the essence of the place and hope to set it free in a sketch or possibly a tapestry at some point. There is no place like home if you have the mind set to see it.




One of the nice surprises when I returned was a box from John Moss with bobbin bowls which are already on their way to a new home and new "Keepers"( those magnetic tapestry awl tools) I like so much. I have two of these left so contact me if you are needing one. They are beautiful and functional. What more could you want?













6 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting the show. It was nice to see all the fantastic offerings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am glad you enjoyed it Sue. It is so hard to get good pictures at a show, especially one that is so wonderfully busy.

      Delete
  2. Sounds like a lovely trip, Janette!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I really enjoyed it this time and having so much help was a gift.

      Delete
  3. I also have a lousy sense of direction... it may be genetic as my birthmom uses ladyuturn for her email address!

    Last time I was at KnE was in 1999. I need to go back someday, maybe this year...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know what you mean Jessica, my youngest son is also directionally challenged. Hope to meet you at KnE next year!

      Delete