Spring reflection

This Spring has been such an exciting and dizzying blend of personal and business activity that I can't help but feel reflective now that I'm in the midst of my last week of Festival preparations *and* am preparing to leave this rocky first trimester behind. I turned 29 this month, and there's nothing like birthdays to make you think about what you have and haven't accomplished, and overall, I'm surprised that I'll be leaving this decade with several life goals under my belt including a completed family and a rare opportunity to make a living off of doing something I love.

After several unsuccessful months of infertility treatments, I had convinced myself that it was time to give up on the thought of a 2nd child and pursue graduate school instead - I think I've been hoping for an opportunity to go back to school ever since I graduated - but when we found out the exciting news this Spring that I was expecting, I quickly recalculated those plans so that I could be at home as much as possible for my two kids while still having a chance to work - something that's very very important to me. I love working, and I don't feel like a bad mother for saying that I need to work, full-time even. With a mixture of late night shifts with my carders and part-time daycare, I've got a good flexible schedule for batt-blasting and dyeing and mothering. I hope to continue this routine and schedule until both children enter school - and at that time I guess I'll have a brand new stack of options to explore - maybe I'll have a chance to try out the more artistic side of the fiber arts, or maybe I'll expand and take on a partner.

For now, I'm just feeling very fortunate to be able to play with color and texture all day long - and to have such a encouraging and enthusiastic group of customers and fiber co-workers. I'm also lucky that I've got no one to call off to when the morning sickness hits hard. (I've totally spent the equivalent of 2 work weeks hugging the toilet or trying desperate natural remedies for nausea). I had two nauseous evenings while pregnant with Ingrid and that was it - this is so unexpected!

As for the festival - I'm just a few days away from being 100% ready! I'm throwing a small shop update tonight, mainly to raise money for gas and travel, and then I'm certain I'll return with dozens of beautiful batts to share in my shop. Here's one that I'll be listing tonight, "Geode."

A final note - updates should resume as normal, about every 1-2 weeks, following the festival. We'll be moving across town out of the HobbledeBarn that I love in May or June, but a 3rd floor apartment isn't necessarily ideal for juggling a newborn, a clumsy toddler, and groceries. Also, winter is just too expensive in this place - you don't want to know what it costs to heat a three floor loosely-insulated / mostly-empty barn. Exact moving plans haven't been cemented yet, but I'll have a new basement studio, and while I'll miss the great views from my current studio overlooking corn fields, I'll still have a place for all of this fluff!

oh baby!

Ok, I can finally comfortably announce that I've been out of sorts and not updating my shop as frequently because I'm pregnant with our second child! I'm very excited, but this pregnancy has knocked me out with morning sickness, and I've been a bit of an emotional wreck over the combination of MDSW plans and trying to get organized for a potential move within the next two months.

I've been sitting on a  small update for a week now, and I'm hoping to have a chance to list some of it mid-day tomorrow. I've been anxious to have a European-time-friendly shop update, but I cannot organize it mid-day no matter how hard I try! It looks like I'll just have to pre-draft listings the night before in the future for those updates, which I hope to do once a month or every other month.

Our second baby is due in November, the busiest month of my woolyworkin' year, so I'm hoping to get plenty carded ahead of time so that I can stock up my shop for the months I'll be on maternity leave. That means full-time fiber-blasting this summer, if I can refrain from turning green over the scent of wool. :)  We're really feeling excited over this - the age gap between Ingrid and Baby Next will be about 3 years on the dot, and I hope that they can grow up with a comfortable companionship with one another.. eventually.

Ok, I've hit that point! I feel a little behind on everything. We've had quite the juggle this month with one car in the shop and one specific-very-positive-but-exhausting life-changing news. I'm ashamed to admit, I've had trouble over the past two weeks contacting every customer after each order, and after Paypal multi-order shipping has been non-operational on the only computer in the house hooked up properly with a printer - oy! Expect hand-written addresses until our rocky Paypal situation improves, or until I give in and switch back to Endicia.

Resolution: No update this weekend.
Further resolution: Early bedtime!

Being overwhelmed with good business is a blessing, but I need to make sure that I can keep up with it properly before slipping into bad business.

As for MDSW prep - you have no idea how excited I am to meet up with new and returning customers, play with fiber in public, and hang "Please pet the Batts!" signs all through my booth. I'll be in the Lower Corral, space 21 again. That's way out past the Main Exhibition hall, so if it's raining, wear galoshes and bring a raincoat! I'll still be there! And now, I'm signing off for tea, feedback catch-up, and more carding! Tomorrow, instead of the usual Sunday night update I'll be finally creating my new portal/portfolio website and whipping out dozens of ClassicBatts and Garden Compost batts for Maryland Sheep and Wool.

yarn parade

My original goal of 100 skeins of handspun was probably lofty. I've got a third of that goal, but progress ground to a halt after I ran dry on inspiration. I'm taking a week or two off from spinning to card, dye, and label what I've got.

This week's update was a huge success! I can't believe that I don't have a single oz. of wool left in the shop. Fortunately, I've got a bump and a half of Merino, just waiting to be dyed - so there's more to come in a couple of weeks. I'll add a few things this weekend, but after that, the next larger update will be on 3/11.

MDSW progress

I spent most of last week tinkering with dyes and planning colorways for Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in May. Here's one of the products I've been working on : Ply Packs!

 

 A Ply Pack is a selection of 4-6 pieces of dyed top on semi-luxury bases like Merino/tencel, BFL/silk, Merino/silk, and Merino/bamboo. These cute packages nearly sold out last year at the festival, so I made sure to create quadruple the supply. I like to chain-ply these in random stripe lengths, but I found that most customers made self-striping or two-ply yarns.

My to-do list is daunting and I find myself getting distracted with fresh fleeces - baby BFL, baby Finn, Cormo X Merino, Moorit Merino, Huacaya alpaca.. I'm drowning in a delicious buffet of fine raw woolies! The wash process for me is finally streamlined - divide the fleece into 1.5 - 2 lb. chunks, soak, hot wash w/Dawn, rinse, rinse, hot wash w/Dawn, rinse, rinse - DYE! Most of my fleeces need the two hot washes since they're extra greasy fine wools, though some like the baby BFL can be polished off in just a couple of hours. Here's that baby BFL all dyed up in one of my favorite colors:

At least I'll have some happy farm-fresh fibers in my Maryland batts! It's been a goal of mine to make a slow switch to using about 30% (or more) fibers from small and/or local farmers, and this year I'm finally making progress on that goal. Of course, it's crazy-expensive to use wool from scratch - with a Merino fleece, up to half of the fleece can be lanolin, so if I'm paying $15/lb, that quickly turns into $30, not to mention all of the time it takes to skirt, wash, and pick out VM. Still, there's something really satisfying about starting with raw earthy wool and transforming it into something that's just as soft as the commercial top, but has a crimpy kinky texture and is filled with life.

I'm just going to put this out there - I'm always willing to trade finished product for high quality fleeces with low VM. My faves include anything with a lower 20's micron count, kid or yearling mohair, huacaya alpaca, and staple lengths that aren't shorter than 3".

Aaand, I better log off and finish sorting through pictures for the 2nd half of this week's update. I've got a tiny discount available (Code: HOBTEN) celebrating 6 years of selling on Etsy.

Back in the saddle

Well, we're finally swinging back into our normal routines with frequent trips to the park during this unusually warm weather. I've had the opportunity to  process fleeces outdoors and hang my wool in the sun to dry - something usually impossible in January. Ing is happy to have a chance to run amok in the backyard, though I wish she'd wear boots instead of ruby slippers. She is also finally tolerating a little bit of studio time, helping me package and sort fiber along with weighing every little ball of fiber that she can reach.

I'm in full-swing production mode for Maryland Sheep & Wool with a lofty goal of bringing along 100 yarns. So far, I'm 1/5 of the way there, and have already claimed two yarns for keepsies. This week, I'll start painting tops, beginning with BFL/silk and Merino/tencel. Tops were a quick-seller last year, perhaps because they're hanging outside of the packaging, begging to be squeezed and petted. I'm planning on hanging rovings this year too, though I fear they'll be mangled since they're more delicate. If so, I'll be coming home with a huge personal stash! I'll also be bringing along 150-200 ArtBatts, and am eager to start tinkering with display ideas. A 10x15 tent is huge, and I'll probably go through about 150 lbs. of wool to flesh, er, fluff it out!

Over the weekend, I unleashed a huge update which has mostly vanished, the bulk of it shipping yesterday with a few remaining pieces going out today. My next update will probably be this weekend, and will be smaller - perhaps a dozen ArtBatts and a dozen Classic sets? I'm working on my HobbledeCLUB and ArtBatt subscriptions, so we'll see!

a little update

To say "things have been chaotic" may be an understatement, though all is ultimately going well over here. This month, we've collectively made nearly a dozen trips to the doctors for a secession of illnesses and accidents. I alone have had the flu, then a stomach virus, then a sinus infection, and accidentally splashed bleach in my eye. Poor Ing has suffered the flu, the virus, and now a double-ear infection. I'm guessing it's the season-for-sharing, since half of Ing's classmates were out with various illnesses this month. I'm also supposing I shouldn't have co-slept with Ing when she felt terrible, but sometimes the only thing that will comfort a sad tot is a night of snuggles, and I wouldn't have changed a thing, except perhaps with the bleach incident- but that's a whole 'nother embarrassing story.

It goes without saying, not a lot of work has been happening! Ing's daycare attendance has been dismal since she's felt so poorly, and I haven't felt like spending time in the studio while feeling rotten. I had planned a Sunday update, but with only a handful of rovings, I decided to postpone instead and do absolutely nothing for several days. Resting over the weekend has helped Ing heal, and I should be on the mend by mid-week, which means a possible mid-week tiny update and a very large weekend one. I did manage to dye up an entire bump of Merino wool during the eye of the storm, and I have several fresh new colorways planned for Classic Batts, but to be perfectly honest, I'm waiting until I don't feel like such a Typhoid Mary.