I gave myself a day away from my to-do list yesterday and spent a good chunk of it living vicariously. This is yet another year I didn’t get to go to Mecca — aka Rhinebeck, aka the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival — but I spent contented chunks of time looking at the streams of photos posted to Instagram, especially the hundreds of pics of that one tree. On Friday, I was putting together a quick Instagram post alerting attendees, via the #rhinebeck hashtag, that Fringe totes were available at the fair and it occurred to me to have another contest. Last year, I wanted to see all the sweaters I was missing, and I remember saying in the future I’d do a better job of promoting the contest in advance. And yet here I was at the very last second announcing another, tinier contest.

I go to a fair number of knitting events these days, and nothing makes me happier than seeing people carrying their clearly well-loved Fringe totes around. I started snapping pics of them at Squam and wished I could do the same at Rhinebeck, where there were sure to be many such sightings. So I asked for pics, and I promised a prize. Unfortunately, the announcement was hastily tossed into that rushing stream of images, and only three pics showed up on the designated hashtag, #fringeinthewild, plus one more that had the right intentions but lacked the tag. Starting at the top, they are from @studionorthknits, @abbygoodknits, @theknitterlyhooker and @knityorkcity. According to Sarah’s caption, she was “one of a billion” with the high-fiber tote at the event. Aww!

I love these pics and feel deprived of the chance to see more, and have only myself to blame. So let’s try this again! This weekend is Vogue Knitting Live in Chicago. Fringe totes will be available in The Yarnery’s booth, #221/223. For those of you attending, whether you’ve brought your trusty tote from home or purchase it from my lovely Yarnery friends at the event, show me your tote. You might have it with you in class, on the market floor, knitting in the lounge with other attendees, whatever the case may be. Get creative with it. But the essential part is this: Take a pic of you and your tote at the show, tag it #fringeinthewild #vklive and mention me, @fringesupplyco @karentempler. I’ll pick one or more favorites and those entrants will win a prize from Fringe Supply Co.

Meanwhile, I’m sending word of a little something to all four of these entries. Thanks, ladies! And thanks to everyone who documented the fair — next year will be my year, I’m sure!

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