exciting things are happening

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity for me personally, as well as professionally!  I can’t even begin to express my gratitude and containing my excitement is almost impossible.

Last year, at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair, (SAFF) I was lucky enough to meet Richard and Elizabeth Ashford of Ashford Wheels and Looms (celebrities in my world of all thing fiber).  Elizabeth and I struck up a conversation in the Ashford booth.  I was completely star-struck and she was so down-to-earth.  I felt like we made a bit of a connection.  I’m not sure if it was all my enthusiasm about the show, spinning, or if she saw something in me that I didn’t know existed, but, before I left that booth for the last time, she pulled me aside and asked if I would be interested in writing an article on lace spinning for Ashford’s “The Whee;” magazine.  Of course, I agreed. Truth be told, I left that booth with shaky knees and an overwhelming sense of needing to cry – many tears of joy!

I write for our local newspaper, the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch, with a weekly column called “From my Perspective,” as well as community interest articles, and have had my poetry published in my younger days, but never had I written for a large publication like this.  Nervous is an understatement!  Elizabeth and the Ashford team were incredible to work with, every step of the way.  And now, the magazine is finally here – and my article inside! I received it this week, along ih my samples I sent them of my completed work. 

There is something pretty spectacular about seeing your writing, sinning, and knitting (three of my biggest passions) in such a beautifully designed publication!  For the first 24-hours after receiving it, I’m not sure my feet actually touched the ground, and giddy is probably the best word I can use to describe how it felt to have it in my hands!

In addition to that extraordinary news, I also applied and was accepted to be a vendor in the November Wool & Fiber Arts Virtual Fiber Festival (https://www.facebook.com/groups/wafalive)

and their Christmas Wishbook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/wafawishbook/).

The Wool & Fiber Arts group on Facebook that was started by Ellen Zawada of Zephyr Creek Farm and has more than 10K members worldwide. The purpose of Wool and Fiber Arts group is to provide an online platform for fiber festival participants to build community. They spotlight teachers, designers, breed organizations, tool makers, mills, farms, and amazing fiber artists. Once a month, they host a large online LIVE sale. The heartfelt goal of this group is to build a positive, supportive, motivating, inclusive group where fiber artists feel safe to share their art. The support and interest in this group has been astounding.

I’m so honored and excited to be part of this incredibly talented and wonderful group!  Again, I’m nervous though.  I’ve never participated in anything like this before and technology scares the you-know-what out of me.  But, just like the Ashford article, it’s helping me expand – as a person, as a business, and so much more!

Mark the date for my live vendor sale (Monday, 11/30/2020 at 6:30 p.m. MST).  I’ll have lots of great items, perfect for holiday gift-giving!  I hope you can watch and please feel free to share the event with your friends!  For up-to-date information, please visit, like and share my facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/goldiekmotsmt.

Lastly, and also very exciting – my new web shop is now OPEN!  I’m still adding items, but a lot is already there and I invite you to check it out.  You can click on the “Shop Now” tab or follow the link here: https://goldieknotsmt.com/shop/.  A HUGE thank you to my friend, Kate, for fine-tuning and fixing a few bugs!  As I said, technology is not always my best friend, although we’re getting a little closer each day 🙂

Until next week, let’s keep all of the exciting things coming!

~Tammy

If you would like to subscribe to receive your own copy of The Wheel, please visit Ashford’s website at: https://www.ashford.co.nz/ashford-club/join-our-club