Hershey CATS

Well, got back from CATS on Saturday. I was enjoying the rest of my long weekend off and wasn't online much. I also had Monday off because we get Jewish holidays off -- love that!

For the most part, I really enjoyed CATS and Karri and I are planning to make it an annual event. That being said, I hope that the vendor situation is different next year. The first year I went (2004) there were so many vendors that I couldn't take it all in the first day and had to look at the rest the next day. Last year there were fewer vendors but still many. This year it was very noticeable that there were fewer vendors -- about a whole row was gone. They tried to mask it by giving us more table space, but I could tell. After I went through I kept circling around, thinking I'd missed a row somewhere. I hadn't. Apparently, there is a new rule that if a vendor signs a contract to go to one CATS they have to sign up for all of them. So, some simply didn't attend, like that great thread shop (I think it's actually called "The Thread Shoppe" but not sure) that is always there. I was soooo looking forward to spending some money there. Thank goodness Picture This Plus was there so I at least got some fabric that I wanted.

The other side of this is that the place was very crowded. There was about the same amount of people (I'm guessing) as usual but we were concentrated in a smaller area than before, so it was difficult to get around and people were waiting in line for an hour or longer. I got in Thursday night and bought most of my stuff that night. I went back on Friday but it was so crowded that I could barely move, let alone actually get to where I could see anything. I expected The Silver Needle and Picture This Plus to be mobbed, but everything was. So, after about 10 minutes of that I had decided that I wasn't going to buy anything more and spent the rest of the day stitching on a big comfy sofa and chairs outside the main hall. Karri and I spent the afternoon stitching with three sisters we met there. I cannot recall their names and I don't think they visit the boards, but we had a lot of fun talking about movies and Harry Potter.

So, although the market was disappointing, I still had a very good time and Karri and I are already planning to go next year. I think we're going to try to stay in the lodge next year. It's more expensive but so much easier and more comfy.

I did buy some nice things, though. I bought hand-dyed fabric for Passione Ricamo's Moon Fairy Spirit and the three Mirabilia LE fairy kits. I also bought some Caron Waterlillies at Sunflower Samplings, as they were selling them for $2.75 each, and I bought Gloucester Grapes - Colors from Simply Old-Fashioned. I could have bought everything in her booth that I don't already have. I really like her designs and some of them are very unique.

I was going to post more, but I started this at lunch and had to come back later and have forgotten what else I was going to say, lol. I'm sure I'll remember eventually.