Getting On

Here's the first go round with the beret little Miss Vickie wanted. There's actually another one I finished yesterday but didn't photograph as of yet. (It's on Mickey Mouse's head.) I am going to take the pic just not today. There's yet another hat on the hooks but that's a grown up hat.

The leg is better still. I was really determined to workout today and when I woke up the first thing I felt was pain. Not a lot. Not overwhelming but just enough to let me know I am going to have to ease back into the workout routine. Bummer. I didn't want to lose momentum. I would love to go out and take a walk but the truth is I think I would make it to the corner - three houses away - and scream for Mr. Honey to get the car. I've been trying to walk 'regular' and it hasn't quite happened.

I haven't had a sale this year. That's another bummer. I have a lot of finished projects and I still need to have some more photos done so I am not blaming anyone but myself for the lack of sales. I need to put more items that my history shows will sell - my hats and afghans. At the same time, I have to prepare different items for shows that we do. With all the stress at trying to stay relevant and making this work, I would still rather deal with this than go back into corporate life. I'd rather make my own corporation. At least I know this stress is mine.

Those of us living in Chicago (and surrounding area) are watching the snow disappear. I actually see the ground. We are headed for the 40s and 50s in the temp and I am ready for Spring. I am also ready for the Cubs to announce their new radio color guy. My hope is that it will be either Mark Grace or Rick Sutcliff.

I want my leg to heal so I can get back to my normal laziness. This enforced laziness just doesn't work for me.

The Business of Business

I am busy posting items I've made. When I get down to the real business of doing business, there's a lot that goes into it. After the photographs are taken, they have to be downloaded to the computer and then they have to go through whatever retouches need to be done. (I use Picasa because it's quick, easy, organized and free!)

Then it goes to the Etsy shop, the website, my notebook and the inventory sheet and most of the time, it comes here to the blog. And let's not mention how it has to go on Facebook and Twitter! Right now, I am looking at a zippered bag holding two afghans, a pillow and four prayer shawls. They each are involved in one stage or another of the posting process. The business of business takes a lot of time. I could, of course, not do it. I don't have to be a professional knitter. I spend a lot of time being a professional writer. I could spend more time doing that.

No, really, I can't.

There's something about being able to create things with two sticks and a string that I find appealing, challenging even fulfilling. And this part where I share it in service as well as commerce seems a natural extension of the gift. So the business of business has to go on. MY natural laziness wants to pull me from it but the greater good must win out. And it does....most of the time.

I actually enjoy each piece of the process. Each one holds a challenge from framing the photograph to writing the copy for all the sites. It's a great gig combining all the stuff I like to do in a way that earns me just a little more yarn money.

This weekend is the yarn sidewalk sale at Mosaic Yarn Studio. I like hanging out there to begin with and now they are having a yarn sale. It's also Stitches Midwest but I will be sitting that one out. As I've said before, conventions aren't my thing. The yarn crawl also continues through the weekend so fiber is king here in the Chicago area. All that going on and my heart is broken because the Cubs traded Derrick Lee. Now I will actually go to the game for the sport instead of just watching the first baseman. Maybe some knit/crochet will soothe me.

Sigh.

This I Am Told

Still have time to enter the contest! Win a copy of Knit Fix and other goodies!

I tell you, this being in business for yourself thing is a web.

I know from my work in Publicity and PR that a three pronged approach to getting the word out is a key. Not everyone reads the newspaper so there should be something else to go with the press release to the newspaper. So you might do an email mailing, and then you might put flyers up around town. You might utilize the Internet by posting your event on various calendars. I'm used to doing that. But somehow my brain did not make the connection with a three prong approach when it comes to my store.

But I was listening to a webinar (can you believe what we come up with?) and the moderator said we should have a three pronged approach to our shop. We create an item in the shop and we should:

1. Blog about it
2. Facebook it
3. Tweet it

Well, ain't I a clever sausage because I already do those things - I just never put it altogether as a marketing strategy. OK, the truth is, I would blog it and tweet it - the facebook thing is new. I thought it would also be a good idea to do the same thing with the items I sell because it shows movement. It may inspire someone else to go looking around the shop. It keeps the product out there in the spheres (web sphere, blogosphere, here a sphere, there a sphere, everywhere a sphere sphere.)

Don't you think that has some validity?

Good. This sold today. My Prayer Shawl. You know what really freaks me out? I was thinking about prayer shawls over the last few days. I need to make some more for families of soldiers who have fallen, my last remaining aunt (and the last one of her circle) is ill and they've started hospice care, and I want to get the ministry established in my new church.

And the one prayer shawl I have is now sold.

God is trying to tell me something. I do have a fair amount of yarn to make shawls, but it doesn't all match. The thing about Homespun is that as longs as some of the colors are the same, they mix very well - as witnessed by this prayer shawl made of two different color ways. Homespun was on sale at JoAnn and I had a 10% off coupon - so now I have some to make the new prayer shawls that I am hoping will provide comfort and solace to those who need them - just as I hope it does to the person who purchased it and the person they purchased it for.

May God bless us everyone.




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The Resistance

First to clarify: my treasured Susie left me a comment where she noted I've only been knitting for a year...
I've known how to knit for almost 40 years. I picked up the needles again four years ago and I've had the shop for less than a year. Not that I mind being considered something of a phenom, but alas, I'm just your average knitting bear. (But thanks for saying my stuff is gorgeous!!)

The itching has started. As you can see, two more hats have made their way onto the planet. I have already started another one, but there was a moment when I was looking at other patterns and trying to talk myself into making something else. I almost succumbed.

It's not that it would be a bad thing, in fact, I know at some point, I will have something else on the needles other than a hat, but I'm not at that point yet. This is a business decision and I have to see it through. I cannot be a vagabond about this: I must resist the bohemian calling to just do 'what I want.' I must realize the business is also something I want and in order to make it successful, I really do need to have an anchor product. If I look at all the 'knitting stores' on Etsy, the ones that are the most successful have an anchor product: baby legwarmers, scarves, etc. Then they also offer other items as well.

I didn't invent the wheel, but I sure know how to use one. So, it seems to follow that I also should have an anchor product. I thought about it being afghans, but they take weeks to do. I decided that would be my specialty item. But hats - hats are quick to knit, offer a great variety, and if someone has a head and lives in the part of the country that is not Florida, almost everyone can use a hat. Even places in Arizona have snow and skiing. So hats make sense.

But that wild child wants to go exploring. She doesn't want to stay home and work. She's the same wild child that doesn't want to clean the kitchen. I don't want to send her packing, but I must set her in the corner for a time out so she can think about what she's almost done and has gotten away with in the past.

I love her. But she really needs a little more discipline.



032604

In The Early Morning Rain

I am not disciplined about much. My discipline tends to come for exactly as long as it take to accomplish my goal and then leaves. Since my new goal is to not have to dip into the funds controlled by Mr. Honey and to rely on myself - I think I will have to be disciplined for quite some time. Part of that discipline is to spend the first hour of every day promoting Knitter's Restaurant and also designbcb on Etsy.

Now, I have to do this while remembering and staying true to the main purpose: whatever else this might be to someone else, it is a knitting blog to me. So, whatever else is going on in terms of ad space and sales and all that stuff - within these frames it's just you and me and that craft we love so well.

It is with that in mind that I make my confession:
I'm thinking I want to give dyeing yarn another shot.
I'm going to make some more stitch markers.

I know, these confessions will not stop the world except for the teeny-weenie little fact that I have no talent in these areas. My first hand at dyeing everything I dyed turned out to be orange - even if it was supposed to be pink.

And in the world of stitch marker, I can pull together some pretty ones, but I can't handle the little tools to make the wire part look pretty.
But, I have a plan to improve my skills:
I will stick with single colors and just hope for some natural variations - after all, not everything is supposed to be variegated.
Mr. Honey has agreed to do the little detailed stuff on the stitch markers. He loves doing that kind of detailed stuff so he gets to have some fun with me. Since this is part of the goal that will keep my hands out of the combined till, he's happy to help. (it's not that I'm high maintenance - I am so not - but he's much more...frugal...than I am. I'm only frugal about yarn. He's frugal about EVERYTHING!)

But I am going to give them both another shot. Who knows? It could be another bridge to the shop but it definitely is another pathway to fun - and if your business can't be fun, maybe it shouldn't be your business.
012704

Gimme, Gimme Some Loving - This Week's Chicago Ten!

I want to give a shout out to all the hardworking artisans in Chicago but there's only so much room - even in a blog...
So here is the first of what I hope is a weekly thing:

The Chicago Ten

This is a listing of ten items from Chicago artisans (these are all from Etsy) with items that appeal to me. Click on the link below to be taken to the item that has captured my attention!
Even though knitting is my passion, I am in awe of those folks who can draw or bead or do any of those things that create so much beauty.

In no particular order:

Puck55
PetitOlseau's
Ellie'sOO
Crochetgirl
SarahKatherineGreen
CamilleStar
FullenStar
ariyamastudio's
diffractionfiber
deersweetheartstudio

Any major city is going to boast local artisans and if you do a blog, I encourage you to give a shout out to some of the local talent in your area. You show love to both the artist and the folks who might be looking for just the right present for someone or themselves. (Need I say it - Christmas is just around the corner!)

It's So Easy

NOT!

I know, it's been more than a week. And what a week it's been. I started the new writing gig and truth to tell, it was more of a rough start than I'm used to - mainly because Handmade News is big news and I didn't map out the internal resources I needed to in order to do it all justice. So, I spent several restless, sleepless nights causing myself stress before beginning to calm myself down and put it all back into perspective.

Add to that, my online knitting group StitchCraft on meetup.com is growing! The last time I really looked, we had about 40 or so members - we are now over 70! So somewhere between stressing out over the new job and making myself crazy are plans to get that group together for a fun night. It has to be at night and it has to be planned right so I'm thinking somewhere in September when folks are done with summer and will want to pick up the needles to do the holiday knitting that will be just around the corner. This is a good problem to have but sometimes it's hard to balance the bad stress with the good stress. At some point, it's just stress.

But wait...there's more.

I think I told you our bazaar was successful. We had over $400 in sales. That's the good part. The not really bad but has to be dealt with part is that our supply of prayer shawls and afghans were seriously depleted. Baby blankets we have, but afghans and prayer shawls are practically sold out. Which means the group (of which I am a leader) has to have one or the other on their needles for the foreseeable future. And I do have one on my needles, but it's going into the shop. There's an afghan that's an expired listing that's going to the group.

There's good news...

My office is 95% organized. I can step into it and not have to step over a clutter bomb. The only boxes left are my stash boxes (now down to two!!) and the boxes of craft goodies I inherited from my mother in law. Not much left to do but vacuum the carpet, put the new speaker wires into the speakers and let Joe clean the carpet. Alas, it looks like an office instead of a craft room - but I smile every time I walk into it. Yes, when it's all done, I'll take a photo.

I will also take a photo of the beautiful afghan on my needles. It should be done sometime this weekend - I'm hoping for tomorrow. I would take a pic now, but it's 2 in the morning and the light isn't good. Besides, if I finish it tomorrow, I can take the shop photos and blog photo during the same session.

Forgive me for being away so long - I have missed you - but sometimes you have to ride the breakdown so you know when to get off.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

But that's where I've been spending a lot of time. I've taken it upon myself
(because really who else would do it?) To redo some of my photos for my Etsy site. I figured there was a way to better enhance the goods that taking the pics inside where it tends to be a little dark. (Don't blame me, this is the HB - the walls are the same color they were when he lived here alone - bachelor beige - and I couldn't get him to move on changing it.) But he has the made the backyard look gorgeous - even when it's covered with snow. My clever idea was to make the backyard my photo studio.
The snow makes a great background and the Adirondack chair (which his brother made for us by hand) is a nice focal piece - at least that's what I'm hoping.

For the past few days, I've taken one item outside and done the pictures. Honestly, one item a day is about all I can stand because the temperature here in Chicago has not hit freezing in a while. For the past few days it's been somewhere between 'hell has frozen over' and 'is that my finger on the ground?'

But it has piqued my interest in photography again - poor HB. And I like these pictures a whole lot better!

Who Ate My Afghan?

I went over to the Etsy shop this morning to discover that my afghan was gone. Now, I suspect that if I had made a sale, I would have been notified so instead of getting excited, I panicked. Never fear, I found it. I had somehow delisted my afghan - the one thing that had gotten the most views. Thus is my beginning into a new business adventure.

This is what dreams are made of. We are told 'do something that you love and you won't work a day in your life.' I have to admit it: I love knitting. Here's why:

1. I like the creative process.
   
   
2. I like it also requires some thought.
   
   
3. There are patterns and randomness.
   
   
4. It is useful.
   
   
5. It is a multitask function when it is being done and when it is completed.
   
   
6. It is social.
   
   
7. It is solitary.
   
   
8. Though millions of us do it - mile for mile - a knitter/crocheter is still something of a rarity. People will gather around you and there will always be someone who says they know someone who knits or they know how to knit and they just never do it. You never quite know if they are saying it with admiration or if they are saying their time is too valuable to do. Which leads to...
   
   
9. No one know what you're thinking when you're knitting. So when someone says they know how to knit but they don't have time. They don't know you're thinking if they were better organized or knew the true meaning of time well spent they wouldn't have to stand and admire/sneer at you. They could be admired/sneered at by someone else less evolved.
   
   
10. It is relatively inexpensive. Unless you have a stash that could stock a small yarn store and the needles to go with it because you have to have the metal, bamboo, rosewood, dpn's, circular and interchangeable sets. Then there could be some dollars invested. (I'm not confessing - I'm just saying.)
    

I also love writing and now I can combine the two. This is a dream and if I gather my courage and focus (like God told me to) this can be quite the adventure. I am working on other items to add to the shop. I am doing a wild drop stitch wrap and I will be about two balls short of the yarn I need so I will be forced to go out and get some more of it. Yarn shopping. For business. Sweet!