For the past five Saturdays I have been going to the
Peterborough Farmer's Market to sell my weaving. The weather the first few
weeks was pretty miserable. One Saturday it was so windy that vendors were
having to hold down their awnings (in spite of everyone have weights dangling
from the corner poles) so that they were not blown away. I solved the problem
by running ropes from my car to the awnings and my rug racks. The following weekend
it was just barely above freezing (which is tough when you spin in bare feet).
The last two weekends however, have be just grand.
It is also a fair amount of work getting set up. For me it
means loading the car the night before - making 5-6 trips up and down the
wooden staircase to my second floor apartment. Given that I have a rather small
car it has taken a bit of practice to get the racks and product into it. It is
sort of like playing Tetris in a three dimensional environment. Setting up at
6:00 AM at the market feels rushed and what one thought would work in terms of
display, never is quite right. Packing up at 1:00 is just as much work as setting up The carrying of all the stuff back up the
stairs is even harder than the carrying down. None-the-less the whole experience is a
surprising amount of fun.
Shoppers at the market seem to come in waves. There are
those who come just for the food. Some of them are there before 6:00. They seem
quite focused, knowing exactly what they are going to buy and appear to seldom
deviate from their mission. They quite frequently shop alone without partners
or without children. It is not that I don't sell anything before 9:00 or have
people stop and chat but it is definitely a slow time. At some point around
9:00-9:30 it starts to get busier. Families start to appear in greater numbers
and in general people seem to be less in a rush. For the next three hours, on a
nice day, the isle can be crowded with friends stopping to chat, dogs making
new friends and people walking along looking at most of the vendors' displays.
Because I am spinning, I sometimes attract a fair amount of attention. Older people walk
up to me and say "I can remember my mother or grandmother doing that"
or others saying "oh - is that how it works". It is surprising how
many men stop and watch me. I suspect that a many of them would probably not stop and watch a women do arts
and crafts stuff but because I am a guy - they get curious and we talk about
the "machine" that I am using. One gentleman this past Saturday
actually got down on his hands and knees to see how it worked!
The most fun is when kids stop and watch. I make sure that
they get a chance to feel the wool and if their parents have time, I talk about
what I am making etc. Unfortunately some children are clearly interested but never get chance to watch as
their parents are in a rush to find the best price of asparagus. I feel sorry
for these kids.... parents should pay attention to what their kids want to look
at. Perhaps even worse are those parents who drag their kids over to my wheel
and either explain what I am doing (sometimes erroneously) or else make the
kids ask me what I am doing. All the while the parents are totally oblivious to
the fact that the kid is bored stiff and does not want to talk to this bearded
stranger.
Generally speaking between 9:30 and 12:30 is when I sell the
bulk of my weaving. By 12:00ish the crowds are thinning and by 12:20 some of
the vendors start to dismantle their displays. While I am always amongst the
last of the vendors to start the packing up process - I am quite glad it is
over. I am tired. I have given my standard speech "I buy the wool from the
farmer in Indian River, wash it in my bathtub (wait for gasps of shock from
some) and then card, dye, spin and weave it in my two bedroom apartment in
downtown Peterborough" a hundred times. Depending who is looking at my
stuff the speech gets longer or shorter. I have explained again and again how the
wheel works (not that I really understand myself), where wool comes from and
how and why I use the dyes I do. I have shared with people some history of spinning
and weaving. Hopefully there may even be a few people who may take up the craft
themselves. I have had a number of invitations to speak to groups of people and
at least two requests to take on an apprentice. On a good Saturday morning I sell a couple of
hundred dollars worth of weaving, I have had chance to visit with some friends
as they walk by and I hopefully have taught/demonstrated an ancient craft.
I don't like selling - I would be happier if I could just
give it away. But it is immensely validating when people look at the weaving,
perhaps come back a few times to look at it and to touch it and then finally to
buy it. I have started to get a few repeat customers "I love the shawl I
bought last fall and now my mother wants one too", and even when people
don't buy anything they almost always complement me. It is nice. It is well
worth the cold toes, the early mornings and the numerous climbs up and down
that wooden staircase.
