I’m stepping back from my role as an organiser of Fibre Feast SA.
I joined the team after the 2022 event at Ardtornish Primary School. I supported stallholders at that event by hosting a yarn tasting experience, helping visitors sample the wide range of fibres available at this amazing event. I was keen to get more involved and help build our SA yarn craft ecosystem.
Over the course of the past year I enjoyed working alongside Charmaine of Yarnarama and Jasmin of Purl and Friends to relocate SA’s annual Fibre Feast yarn craft market event to Blackfriars Priory School in Prospect, 5kms from the Adelaide CBD. This move allowed us to expand the market from 30 to 50 stalls. First the first time there were 10 stalls from interstate vendors. Relocation also created the opportunity to collaborate with the Blackfriars development and marketing team, as well as Markets in Prospect to create a really engaging community event. The “Prospect Road Autumn Fair” as it was named, attracted 5000 visitors on 27 March 2023. This is a huge increase in engagement from the 1000 visitors Fibre Feast enjoyed in June 2022.
We also streamlined the application and payment processes, moving everything online. This went pretty smoothly- most people made the transition easily, and there were a couple of businesses that made use of our offer to receive phone support while using the google form.
I am really proud of the social media campaign I developed and ran as part of the 2023 Fibre Feast event. I ran a 100 day campaign on Instagram and Facebook increase brand awareness for each of the stallholders, as well as share about the new venue, partners etc. I really enjoyed writing/ editing bios and copy to accompany photos as well as the templates and images I developed using Canva.
The 2024 event, preparations for which are already underway, will be even bigger and better. I’m really looking forward to it! But as much as I value working with Charmaine and Jas to support other Australian yarn craft businesses, I can’t currently afford the time and energy it requires.
I could never have predicted a year ago, or even five months ago, how crazy amazing this year would be for Dear Pru.
Since April, I’ve taught knitting workshops all over Australia including central coast NSW, Ballarat in Victoria, Hobart in Tasmania, Alice Springs in Northern Territory, Perth in Western Australia and a heap in my home town of Adelaide, South Australia. I have also had an article published in Laine Magazine, and received a grant from Charles Sturt Council to expand my branding. I have also come up with a ton of new designs for knitting patterns… I am just finding it tricky to find time to move my designs forward and publish them.
I have had to review my commitments and consider what to keep, and what to shelve in my calendar. Teaching skills, connecting people with creative practices and each other is core for me, and I won’t dial that back. Designing and publishing original patterns is also important to me- to provide designs that help apply that learning, inspire and practically support ‘even slower fashion’. Writing and sharing stories about and for our yarn craft community is the third component of my business, and I intend to keep doing that too. Everything else is currently deemed “extra”.
I really loved being part of Fibre Feast SA and I will continue to champion the SA wool craft industry, and look forward to attending the 2024 event in March next year- I’m sure Jas and Charmaine will lead an amazing event alongside Blackfriars and Markets in Prospect. Make sure you follow them on Insta and Facebook… the date will be announced soon!