I'm hearing the theme from 2001

Alright, so it's not quite the neverending shot of that spaceship, but I'm pretty sure it's more wool than has ever been on my drying racks all at once. What you see, from back to front: some 2-ply aran weight yarn, which I'm very excited about, a bunch of dyed corriedale, some spun corriedale, and a pile of dyed BFL. All drying a heck of a lot faster outside, now that it isn't raining 24/7 and hovering around zero degrees, than it would inside. I'm out of space, though, so if I manage to get any more yarn made and washed today, some of that fiber will have to be relocated into my "drying closet," aka my guest bathroom which has a lovely powerful heater and a fan.

We're in the soup now. I have a daily quota of at least 10 skeins of yarn to be spun every day for the next 7 days, and that still won't manage to get everything spun and ready. I have had my first experience of sitting down at my wheel and saying to myself, oh no, not more spinning. I promised myself I'd pull back if I ever got to that point, but this is a special time, so I'm just trying to put my head down and meet the goal.

I have a good amount of spinning-entertainment on hand. I've been watching my episodes of Torchwood Season 2 (and we won't talk about how I acquired these eps, which are not being broadcast in Canada yet), I plan to maybe finish of my re-watch of Buffy Season 7 (on re-watching, the season held together a little better than it seemed to at first), and I'm listening to a lot of music. The new Radiohead album is on constant-repeat, and I'm finding that 'vintage' UK punk makes for a rather good spinning rhythm.

My daughter is home today and tomorrow, though, so I expect I'll be watching more Boohbah than I normally would on my own.

The Countdown Begins

As of today, there are three weeks until Fibrefest. And I cannot begin to envision being ready.

The business has had a strange three months. My sales have seemed to be very low. My December and January farmer's market days were slower than the late summer and early fall days. My Etsy sales, which had been becoming steadier, seemed to drop off completely. And yet, when I look at the account books, my monthly net sales for each month have been about the same. The apparent difference is only that -- apparent. The pattern has been changing, though. Rather than a steady stream of small sales, I have had larger sales at greater intervals. So I have nothing actually to complain about, but this new pattern does get to my nerves somewhat.

I seem to panic about two things: 1) that I'm not selling enough, and I should pack up this silly home-based craft business and get a real job, and 2) that I'm selling too much, and I won't have enough stock for my next market date, craft show, or wholesale order.

Clearly, I'm just in a mood to panic.

I am trying to get a grip. But having three weeks to go until my biggest show to-date, and having in the last month sold some 75 skeins to Three Bags Full, and 21 to a couple other people, I have bare, bare cupboards. So I get to find some (barely) legitimate reason to panic about *both* problems -- not enough stock and fear of no sales -- at the same time. For three weeks.

Maybe I got off the prozac too soon.

Feb 10 Coquitlam Market

Just a quick note from me to any local readers: I won't be at the Coquitlam Farmer's Market on Sunday. My family suddenly had a chance to take a short trip to Portland, to visit family, so I cancelled my scheduled market day. It's too bad, I love being at the market. I also love my once-a-month chance to stock up on organic beef, artisan bread (have you *tried* the fennel raisin bread? It's to-die.), and beautiful tasty little potatoes. I'm gonna miss the March market too, because it conflicts with Fibrefest -- I think I'll need to send a personal shopper to buy my stuff for me.

Despite being in Portland, I plan to post new things to my shop, at least once a day, for the next 10 days.

In the queue

I had intended to post a bunch of the soft-spun corriedale that I've been making -- loads of new colourways, all gorgeous, I'm very proud -- but they all got bought before I could post them. Hardly a problem, but a bit of a surprise. It seems that the half-size (as in, 55g instead of 110g) skeins are selling marvellously well at Three Bags Full, much better than the full size, and they wanted to re-stock a mere two weeks after they bought their last batch from me. I'm delighted, but the cupboards are bare. Pictured above is what I managed to spin in four or five days of being at home with a sick child. It's not my usual high rate of production, but the variety is high. I should be able to post one new yarn a day for the next week or so. Which is good, because I'm going to be unable to get any spinning done until Tuesday.

I swear, I haven't gotten a decent stretch of work days since November. Christmas, visitors, illness -- it conspires to take away what little time I have. And getting the two year old to understand that she has to let me spin is a tough sell.

One month until Fibrefest! My goodness, I am *so* not ready. Much work and stockpiling to be done.