Wash Hands Before Knitting

One thing I have realized is I need to manage my time a little better. I planned to do my blog posts on Monday mornings because it is my most productive morning. This last Monday it was so productive I had no time for a blog post. So I planned this very simple and quick post instead of a yarn spotlight requiring pictures, but still did not get it done. It is a learning process, and a process in general. So today I am typing my post on Sunday.

I did some blocking last weekend, and it inspired this post. While my two garments were soaking in Soak brand wool wash, I went outside to wash my blocking mats. I always block on the deck, but since we live on a dirt road, it is always dusty. I m not good about hosing it down before I set up. Do you see a theme here? Once I was done setting up, I went back to the sink where my garments were soaking. I am generally pretty good about always washing my hands before I knit, and yet, the soak water was very dirty. Why does this happen? The answer is…lots of reasons.

I am the first to admit, I am not a good housekeeper. I get the important stuff done…dishes, laundry, bathrooms. Beyond that, I am hopeless. Remember my comment about time management? Remember also that we live on a dirt road, so my house is typically very dusty. Every time I lay my work on a surface in my house, I am exposing it to dust. I also do a bit of my knitting on my lunch break on days I work at Lowe’s. Ever since they did away with the staff facilities position, our breakroom has been absolutely filthy. I need to stop doing my knitting in there because I am sure it adds to the dirt that gets on my knitting. But lets get back to the topic of dirty hands.

As a woman over 60 who handles a lot of cardboard at work, I am battling two different battles with my hands. The dirt and dust from the freight boxes, paired with frequent hand washing, leading to the drying impact of both activities on the condition of my hands. So I use lotion several times a day. This activity is actually counter productive in terms of keeping knitting clean. If you use lotion just before knitting, you end up getting lotion on your garments. This problem is very difficult to prevent. Using grease free lotions, and allowing the lotion to dry for at least 15 minutes are about your only options. The lotion that gets transferred to your knitting becomes a dirt magnet. I think that is the greatest contributor to the dirt in my knitting, but it isn’t the only source. So I need to step up my vigilance, or just live with the knowledge I am getting my garment dirty, and always soak my garments when I am done.

Knit on! Coming next week, a spotlight of the plethora of new summer yarns and some pattern suggestions.

Resurfacing From the Pandemic

It has been an especially challenging two years, both as a person and as a retailer. Two years ago I found myself suddenly working full time at Lowe’s at the beginning of this pandemic. One thing about working at Lowe’s is that it is a physically demanding job. This job has created extra challenges to being a yarn retailer, and I had to rethink how I was going to proceed.

Originally I had planned to create an e-commerce site and sell yarn that way along with selling at home yarn parties. The yarn party idea flew out the window once the pandemic hit, and working full time made it extremely difficult to have the time to develop the website. So I switched gears.

I had been selling leftover yarn from the old shop on eBay, and slowly started to add some of the new inventory as lines became discontinued. Sadly, the pandemic resulted in several mills throughout Europe and Asia closing, and caused a good number of yarns to be discontinued. As sales through this platform grew, and my shop developed a following, I decided that I would become exclusively an eBay seller. There are numerous advantages to going this direction as a yarn retailer.

One of the biggest benefits to selling through eBay is how much time you save. Using this retail model freed from having to spend the time developing the website. I also no longer have to do sales tax collection and reporting. Since I sell across the US, sales taxes have to be submitted to every state I have a sale. As an eBay seller, all that hassle is managed by them. I know one online seller who actually spent $10,000 on a program to manage her sales tax reporting for her. So my idea of how this business was going to look went through quite a bit of evolution over the last two year.

With the inventory listed on eBay, I now have alternative marketing methods to explore. This blog is the first alternative to get implemented. As time permits, I also plan to start adding quick instructive and inspirational videos. I intend to revive email marketing as well. I currently do a bimonthly email through my eBay store. Other email campaigns outside of eBay will include links to the blog, videos once they are started, and spotlights of seasonally appropriate yarns.

So to get started promoting my eBay store, here is the link to the store:

https://www.ebay.com/str/goodsourceoffiber

Please visit my store and favorite it so you can get the current updates to the shop. If you are uncomfortable with the eBay platform, I hope I can assure that it is completely safe, and eBay goes the distance to keep sellers honest, and customers safe. If you do not have an eBay account, you can create one in order to follow the shop. If you do not want to go that route, I will slowly add other venues to make purchases. I also do local delivery in Amador County to local customers.

Over the next couple weeks I will add links to each of the listings with a description of the product, and a search function. Please join me on this venture and hopefully I will inspire you along the way.

Annette Shirley; owner of A Good Source of Fiber Yarn Store