The 2019 Indie Untangled Rhinebeck Trunk Show seems like it was ages ago, and also like it was just yesterday. For the second time, we organized a massive KAL with eight separate categories, which brought in more than 200 entries! I thought it was appropriate to share the randomly-selected winners as part of a Year In Review post. Hopefully some of these FOs will inspire your 2020 projects.
On behalf of the team organizing Indie Untangled, I want to address my actions related to compensation of special guests at my events.
I owe Denise Bayron an apology for not offering to provide monetary compensation for her time at a for-profit event when I first asked her to appear. It was wrong to assume that publicity or exposure was sufficient compensation in this instance, and to make it her responsibility to ask to be paid. I know the historical baggage that is attached to asking women, especially BIPOC women, to do work in exchange for less than they deserve.
Additionally, in my sincere effort to make sure Indie Untangled was an inclusive event, I recognize that specifically asking a person of color to do something that benefits my business can look like tokenism. That was not my intent.
Of course, one of the things I have learned over the past several months is that intent does not cancel out the impact of one’s actions. It is obvious to me now that I have not fully absorbed this idea, and have a lot of work to do to truly understand how this kind of situation can come from good intentions.
I also want to take responsibility for the initial response when the details of the compensation discussion were made public. The response that we thought would “set the record straight” only led to more miscommunication and bad feelings.
On a related note, I need to apologize to Stephen West for making the details of his compensation public, without his consent.
And, finally, I want to apologize publicly to the vendors who entrusted me with their reputations and livelihoods. We all know that running a business isn’t easy in the best of circumstances, but that doesn’t negate the hurt that my actions have caused.
This situation has given me a greater insight into the discussions that have been occurring in our industry, and I will be using this experience to inform the guidelines and standards I will be setting for future events.
I sincerely hope that what happened doesn’t tarnish what has always been an enjoyable weekend.
Thank you to everyone for supporting the Indie Untangled Rhinebeck Trunk Show, a small event I dreamed up as part of one of my favorite weekends, and that has grown in popularity each year. Tickets to the marketplace sold out in minutes today as we had to balance incredible demand with the capacity of the venue.
The ticket sale page was viewed more than 40,000 times. Unfortunately, our venue cannot hold tens of thousands of people. I’m very sad to have to turn people away from the show.
We have searched long and hard for a big enough indoor space to be able to accommodate everyone who wants to attend, but unfortunately haven’t found one. Using an outdoor venue would require much more bandwidth and funds than I can provide. We are incredibly fortunate to have found a home as warm and welcoming as Saugerties, and to also have a wonderful fiber festival that can accommodate huge crowds.
At the moment, we are at full capacity for the event. As we work with our partner businesses, both vendors and sponsors, we are going to recheck capacity and we will inform everyone if we are able to make more tickets available.
Even if you can’t attend the show, you are welcome to come to the Indie Untangled after party/Rhinebeck kickoff at the Dutch Ale House in downtown Saugerties, enjoying food and drinks, as well as live music during the later seating, and, of course, crafting and fun with fiber friends old and new. Tickets are still currently available.
And a huge thank you to the vendors and sponsors for helping me create an event that so many people want to attend.
When I organized the first Indie Untangled Rhinebeck Trunk Show in 2014, I got together the group of a dozen vendors by asking dyers and makers who had posted to the online marketplace if they wanted to bring a suitcase of their products to a meeting room at the Best Western. Since I started organizing this in June of that year, only four months prior to the festival, I even post-stalked them on Ravelry to see if they were already going to be at Rhinebeck.
This year, starting in March, I received more than 100 applications — 105 to be exact — for roughly 36 spaces. I had a jury of 10 people, plus my co-planner, Petrina, helping me make this incredibly tough decision. We wanted to make sure we had varied styles and a selection of non-yarn goodies, and that we brought in some new faces.
Here’s a look at Indie Untangled by the numbers:
36 spaces, including in the lounge at the Saugerties Performing Arts Factory, where Candice of The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers and designer Caitlin Hunter will be debuting an exciting new project
32 yarn companies (plus three others — The Blue Brick, Gauge Dyeworks and Onyx Fiber Arts — who will be providing exclusive colorways for the Indie Untangled booth)
9 bag and accessories makers/designers, bringing project bags, enamel pins, stitch markers, buttons and more
2 fiber-themed jewelry makers — that you can actually wear, not just for your projects!
1 needle vendor — after the past few years of sponsoring, Signature Needle Arts will finally be at the show!
Of these vendors, 25 of them are new (four of them — Julie Asselin, Twill & Print, La Bien Aimée and Nerd Bird Makery — had a presence at last year’s show, but now they will be bringing a full line-up) and they are marked with an asterisk on the event page.
If that all seems a bit overwhelming, ticket holders will receive a PDF guide prior to the show, so you can strategize your shopping.
Time definitely flies when you’re having fun. I was in New Orleans last week celebrating my mom’s birthday, after coming down from the high that was Andrea Untangled, and I completely forgot that Indie Untangled turned FIVE YEARS OLD a week ago!
When I sent out my first newsletter on April 4, 2014, in order to spread the word about indie dyer shop updates, I never could have dreamed what Indie Untangled would become: events like the Rhinebeck Trunk Show, Indie Goes West and Andrea Untangled, a place for exclusive colorways and a way to raise thousands of dollars for the National Park Foundation.
In honor of this milestone, I figured that a few giveaways were in order. Here’s how to enter:
Newsletter giveaway
Subscribe to the newsletter by midnight Eastern time on Thursday, April 18 and you’ll be entered to win an Untangled shawl bundle with the exclusive colors from La Bien Aimee.
Blog giveaway
Comment on this blog post by midnight Eastern time on Thursday, April 18, with your favorite Indie Untangled dyer/designer/maker discovery and you’ll be entered to win a Rainshadow shawl bundle with the exclusive colors from La Bien Aimee.
I get so much inspiration from the knitters who find wonderful things to make with hand-dyed yarn — especially when they get creative and combine yarns from different indie dyers in colorwork projects, or find the perfect pattern for that semisolid or speckled colorway. Here’s a compilation of my favorite projects using yarn from Indie Untangled artisans.
Above is perhaps my favorite project of the year, Vicki’s All Points South with Dark Harbour Yarn Starboard, Duck Duck Wool Silky Singleton and The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers Foxy Lady. I love how the four colorways from three different dyers look meant for each other (and I definitely looked to Vicki’s pullover shawl, as the designer Casapinka calls it, as inspiration when knitting my version with Duck Duck Wool.
Mary’s Heart of Glass with Duck Duck Wool 80/20 Merino Silk Fingering
Carol’s Tulle Shawl with Spun Right Round Superwash Sock 80/20
Lavanya’s Rue St. Antoine with Astral Bath Yarns Astral Sport
Amanda’s Beeline with Marianated Yarns Scrumptious HT
Karen’s Yin & Yang Loop with Middle Brook Fiberworks Vintage No. 3
Jenn’s Stripey Cowl with Canon Hand Dyes Charles Sock
Elizabeth’s Sunset Highway with Hue Loco Single Sock, Skeinny Dipping Merino Single and Voolenvine Yarns Nouveau
Kate’s Guthrie with Spincycle Yarns Dyed in the Wool and The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers Juicy DK — which won the 2018 Indie Untangled KAL
One of the best things about running Indie Untangled is getting to work with talented dyers to come up with exclusive colorways, whether it’s for the Rhinebeck Trunk Show, the Knitting Our National Parks project or the Where We Knit yarn club. And while I love collecting hand-dyed yarn as much as the next knitter, I truly enjoy seeing those colorways put to use in beautiful sweaters, shawls, cowls and more.
For the 2018 Indie Untangled Year In Review, I’ve compiled some of my favorite projects that use Indie Untangled exclusives.
Pictured above is Cecilia’s Sunset Highway with La Bien Aimée Merino Singles in Automne à Rhinebeck, Asylum Fibers Solitary in Rhinebeck’s All The Craze, Dark Harbour Yarn Port in Davy Jones Locker and La Bien Aimée Merino Singles in Yellow Brick Road
Aimee’s Rainshadow in La Bien Aimée Merino Singles Kingston and Hudson
Janet’s Local Yarn Shawl with The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers Foxy Lady in Kiowa
In what has become an Indie Untangled holiday tradition, I am thanking the knitters who invite me into their inboxes each week with a special holiday giveaway.
For the 2018 Newsletters to Santa and Hanukah Harry giveaway, I’ve gathered together some amazing prizes from several artisans, some who were new to the Indie Untangled community this year and others who are favorites, and doing a string of giveaways (eight plus one) starting this Monday and running through Christmas Day.
Here are the rules: Sign up for the Indie Untangled newsletter by 9 p.m. EST and you will be eligible to win that day’s prize (anyone already on the mailing list is entered to win). After 9 p.m., I’ll pick a winner via random number generator and send out an email. The winner will arrange shipment with the dyer/artisan. The grand prize will be a very special package of yarn and knitting stocking stuffers that I will ship out to the winner.
PLEASE NOTE: Winners must respond within 48 hours of when the notification email is sent to claim the prize. If not, another winner will be selected.
One other winner will also receive a set of four OOAK skeins of DK-weight Selene from Spirit Trail Fiberworks and swag from this year’s Indie Untangled Rhinebeck Trunk Show.
I’m sure you agree with me that time flies when you’re knitting. I can be doing the most mundane thing, including inching across the Manhattan Bridge on the Q train and, if I’m working on my latest WIP, I can almost (almost) forget the nonexistent “train traffic.”
Time has also flown for Indie Untangled, which officially launched three years ago, on April 4, 2014. Since then, I’ve sent out 157 weekly newsletters, published 766 Marketplace posts and welcomed hundreds of fellow fiberphiles to three Rhinebeck Trunk Shows. I’ve also given away countless skeins of yarn and, of course, some prizes are in order to mark this special occasion.
Today through Saturday I will be giving away three skeins on Instagram. Check the feed each day to learn about that day’s prize and how you can win.
Thanks so much for coming along on this yarn-filled journey with me!
Considering the year we’ve had, most of the looks back at 2016 are not going to be likely to lift your spirits. My hope is that this roundup of Indie Untangled FOs will be the exception.
For my Year in Review, I’ve culled a list of several FOs using yarn and/or patterns from Indie Untangled dyers and designers — or both, in the case of the photo above of my Drops of Honey shawl. Designed by Janina Kallio for the inaugural Where We Knit yarn club, it used Silk Single Fingering in an exclusive colorway from Lakes Yarn and Fiber (the photo above is from fellow knitter Carolina of Triple C Photography, taken for an upcoming blog post).
I hope these projects serve as an inspiration for your 2017 knitting.
Mindy/knitwithhappiness’s Goldfinch in Magpie Fibers Swanky DK
Kelly/KellyInTexas’s Safer in Cages in Duck Duck Wool DK Limited
Nance/kathynancygirl’s Toketee in Lakes Yarn and Fiber Kelso Sock
Erica/ejsufka’s Palier in Western Sky Knits Willow DK
Danielle/OnEdge28’s Gimmers and Vianne in Astral Bath Yarns Spectra DK
Lori/Momwouldbeproud’s A Hat for Dana in YOTH Yarns Father
