Derby Craft Fayre Day

Furthest From the Sea had a wonderful craft fair yesterday, and there I was, nervous as can be, with my stall and my little eight year old assistant. :)

My biggest anxiety about the day was child care. Martin had to work in the morning, and most of the people who Talia is comfortable and settled with were away, so we asked my brother if we could drop her at his house. (The middle ones went to play with friends.) All morning, any time I heard a baby cry, I automatically thought it was her even though I knew she was across town playing with her little cousin. My brother is an awesome uncle (case in point, he asked me to pack her a wrap so that they could all go out for a walk together), and I needn't have worried, Tali was perfectly happy - and even took a nap at the same time her little cousin did. :)



Yarn is, well, a bit of a niche market - and it's hard if it isn't very widely known that you're there. I wasn't sure what to expect for a really new event that's just getting off the ground, but I guessed that I'd need more ready-made stock than crafting materials.

It was a very long day too, and I was so glad of the company and help of the small sales assistant. :)  She got to roam quite a bit, because I could see along the top walk of the Guild Hall Market to The Cake Hole (where Jenna bought the most amazing vegan rocky road). She helped out at a couple of other stalls - and spent some of our profits too of course.

So it was like an entire day of mummy-daughter date, with added cake and yarn and craft stalls!



Sitting there, I made another baby hat (rainbow crochet with a choice of flowers). And my surprise biggest seller was actually mini skeins (well, they are cute). :) I made some friends, handed out a lot of shiny new business cards, and had a few invitations to maybe go and do workshops and classes for different groups and individuals. I met some amazing people, too.



Martin brought Talia to me in the late afternoon, because when he took her home she walked around the whole house checking all the rooms and looking worried that she couldn't find the rest of us! It must be very strange for this smallest one, when she suddenly *isn't* surrounded by people, as she has been for almost her entire life so far.

The short stretches of quiet and calm, for Jenna and I, seemed long. As we sat there I told her, "Sometimes during the day I *crave* moments like this, where I can just sit, and it's quiet. Tomorrow, I am going to appreciate the noise and chaos a bit more."