Back to Fiber

Reality has struck in the form of work which has started back up. But I cannot complain (yet). Classes will not actually start until Friday, and lab (which is what I teach) starts next week. So for these few days, I have been plugged into my work computer which has Photoshop. I am trying to learn how to use it, so that I could actually post GOOD photos onto my web site. Maybe I will even try putting one on this blog.

But back to FIBER NEWS. What have I accomplished towards my goal? [and I will make a little aside here to show how my angst-filled psyche works: while walking the dog this morning, I got to thinking about my goal of selling skeins of yarns at craft festivals etc. I got real discouraged thinking about the reality of it all. Let’s say I pay $50 – or sometimes it is $100 – for a booth. Let’s say I actually make some sales and get that $50, or $100, back. All fine and good, but that does not really account for the time put into making the yarn. I will probably price my yarn to give myself a tight $10 an hour for the time spent making it. But that would not really add in the cost of the wool, or the “dead” time. After all, if I spend an hour actually spinning a skein, there’s also all the time spent tidying up my spinning area, measuring and weighing things…. I do add in the time spent on carding and blending, but not really the washing time, since I usually do that in between other things. But the really discouraging thought was that there I will be at this fair all day long. Will I make enough to cover the entire day? After all, I could be doing many things on an entire Saturday: hiking, housework, reading. On the other hand, given a free Saturday, what would I usually do? Spend it spinning or knitting or carding. And I’m hoping that part of what I could do at a fair would be spin while people look at my stuff. So ok. Too bad if reaching my goal does not also make me filthy rich….]

Really back to really fiber. What have I accomplished? On the physical side of things, I managed to finish making a rack to hold skeins of yarn. I made a table, though it still needs a little work. And I set everything up under my EX-UP tent and took photos of it all. This was needed for that application form I mentioned. And….I finished and sent in the application!!!! Big step for me. Now I wait for the powers that be to judge my application and make a decision on whether or not I am “in.” Meanwhile, I have also been rewinding all my skeins so they have a consistent form, and I have been cataloguing them. A bit obsessive of me, but it makes me happy. Once they are all wound and catalogued I will start photographing them. And maybe THEN I can put the photos on a web site that does not yet exist. So there’s where I’m at. Whew.