It's been crazy

I know it's been FOREVER since I've written last, but my life has been a little nuts lately. My mom came for a visit, I sprained my wrist halting my crocheting, my daughter started pre-school, I started a new position at work, I reached my 100th Etsy sale and my 400th Twitter follower, I got a red ribbon (second place) at the CO State Fair, and I got a haircut. Ok, well, the haircut thing wasn't that crazy, but I thought it was worth mentioning. (Sorry, I'm in a weird mood).

The biggest thing that happened is that I sprained my wrist doing yard work. I couldn't move it for about two weeks, which means I had to put all my crocheting & designing on hold. I'd been close to finishing my wholesale strawberry hat order when it happened which was just plain frustrating. I literally tried on every single wrist brace in my little mountain town trying to find the one that was small enough for my tiny wrists. I finally found one and I'm happy to say that my wrist doesn't hurt at all anymore! So now I've reassumed my mission to finish the strawberry hats (only 6 left!!!) and taken on a few custom orders in the process! I plan on finishing a few more designs and finished hats to get ready for the Farmer's Market on October 9th where I hope to have hats & hand-dyed yarn. I hope to have my next "INSPIRATION MONDAY" installment next week where you can see more of what makes this hooker tick. I promise to write more often. Shameless Self-Promotion:

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HAPPY HOOKING!

Yarn...yarn...yarn

It's been a while since I've written anything. I've been pretty busy working on my wholesale order. At first I thought I would try starting a wholesale account with LionBrand so I could get my yarn cheaper. I talked with some other yarnies online and found out that LB requires an initial purchase of $3,000 (that's $6,000 retail) and they require a storefront, which I don't have.

I tried to figure out exactly how much yarn I need and came up with about 60 skeins. I've NEVER ordered that much yarn before and can use any discount I can get. I live in a small town and our Walmart stopped selling yarn (crunchy Red Heart yarn doesn't count). We have an upscale, expensive yarn shop on our main street but they don't sell what I need. Thankfully I found Mountain Craft Supply, a little craft shop tucked away on a side street. Nikki, the owner, sells LB yarn and is fantastic!

When it came down to it, I'm going to save about $1/skein compared to what I could get it for online! So now I'm just waiting for it to come in and I can start working. And working. And working some more!

Wish me luck!

Lots to do

Well, I'm a little perplexed. When I got the e-mail from my wholesale buyer I contacted her right away and I still haven't heard back from her. That was on Dec 19th) I figured that she was busy with the Holidays and expected to get another e-mail yesterday (the 1st business day after Christmas). It's my first big order with her and we're trying to work out the best way to transfer payment so you can see why I'm a little anxious. I can't start on any of the hats until I get the deposit b/c I can't buy the yarn out of pocket right now. So I hope she gets back to me soon!!

I also have three pairs of wrist warmers I need to list in my Etsy Shop but I have to enlist my husband to help me. I like to to have clean, professional looking photography for my shop, but I'm having trouble. It's hard to take a picture of yourself in wrist warmers when you are the one snapping the shutter and being the model. The last time I tried, I had to use the camera timer, tilt the camera up with a matchbox, and find the right spot against the wall - all while trying to show off the wrist warmers in their full glory. This time around, I'm making my husband snap the photos!