The Great Ruffle Scarf Conundrum

If you remember from last Friday, I had decided to cast of (haha) the idea of making ruffle scarfs in an attempt to make money just for the sake of making it. I thought filling my Etsy store wall to wall with ruffle scarves might bring me a profit – but I was missing “real” knitting. So after a very rejuvenating weekend of knitting whatever I wanted – including another ruffle scarf for my grandmother, go figure – I was feeling like myself again.

Till Monday came around….

Monday morning I received a very excited phone call from my grandmother, she loved the scarf. Fantastic! I love giving presents that someone is going to use and love. Good times. She quickly handed the phone to my Mom, who was there visiting, and my Mom asked how much I would charge per scarf if she bought the yarn. I named a fair price and figured I was in for making two or three more scarves.

Holy crap Batman….I was wrong.

28 Skeins of Ruffle Yarn.

There are 28 (TWENTY-EIGHT) skeins of ruffle yarn in the bin that showed up this morning, along with my very enthusiastic mother. I am going to take this as a good thing – if I don’t I will be contemplating how to stab the yarn to death with my knitting needles. So here is a rundown of what I’ve learned about ruffle yarn so far.

• Patons Pirouette – This is my favorite. It is the easiest to work with and knits up the fastest. I also like the different types of layering (sequins, metallic floss, even roving yarn) that creates a great deal of depth.
• Premier Yarns Starbella – This is my second pick for ruffle yarn. It takes a bit longer with a little less effect and the yarn twists a great deal. I think I spend more time untwisting than I do knitting.
• Red Heart Boutique Sashay – Is my new least favorite yarn to work with in the world. It has a weird, super synthetic silky feel – but not in a good way. The yarn wants to splinter so badly that you really have to take your time. It twists far worse than the Starbella and the scarf, following the instructions, is too long. Frankly – it is like knitting with fish net stalkings that had a long night on a very busy hooker. I hope I have made my point.

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With that said I would never turn down the opportunity to bring some money into the house, even a little goes a long way with two people who know how to budget. So I am on a ruffle pilgrimage and so far have made four scarves in two and a half days. Wanna see some photos?

** Patons Pirouette **

28 Skeins of Ruffle Yarn.

** Premier Yarns Starbella **

OSU Ruffle Scarf.

** The Evil Red Heart Boutique Sashay **

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So there you have it, four down and twenty-four more to go. I have a horrible feeling that there will be more ruffle yarn in my future but for now I am going to take it in stride. I am timing myself so that I don’t work with this yarn for more than 75 minutes a day, this seems like a good amount of time and I can still work on my other knitting and spinning endeavors.

So, friends and neighbors, what gets you through a project that makes you want to pull your hair out?

 

Can Trying to Sell on Etsy Deminish the Love of Your Craft?

In my ever so humble opinion, the answer is overwhelmingly yes. At least at the moment.

I don’t think I am alone when I say that I check daily (okay, multiple time a day) the stats on my Etsy store, my Facebook Page and even the stats on my blog. Every day though, I am left wanting. Still no sales, still not enough followers – thus not enough people seeing my work – and as for the blog, that’s a whole other thing.

My blog, my happy place, is doing very well. I wouldn’t dream of changing my community here on WordPress – I don’t long (that much ;)) for numbers in the thousands. However, I received an email from a fellow blogger that suggested, in lieu of my 100th post (which will be here soon) to try to use it to get more people to follow me.

Your 100th post is a great time for a giveaway, and giveaways mean exposure! Make them work for it – make them follow you on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Etsy, whatever. Make them be exposed to your stuff day in and day out- maybe then you’ll make some money! Good luck with that – just make sure what you are giving away doesn’t suck!

Wow. I know that the email was well intended but….wow. I have been happy just letting it smooth it’s way all by itself, the whole “build it and they will come” theory. Apparently, that is not how this works. More apparent is the fact that I don’t really like it.

I also don’t like knitting the things I have been knitting. In the hopes of making some money or getting more attention for my pages I have been working on things that are not on my priority list. I want to finish my shawl, I want my sock to find it’s sole mate ;). I want to try double knitting, learn to crochet, play with new knitting books and practice my spinning. Is there a way to do both? I see that there are some knitting stores that do very well and some that are just like mine, something akin to a frozen tundra. What is bothering me at the moment is the overwhelming feeling of failure – something my Panic Monster thrives on.

So what is a gal to do? Do I put aside the projects that I think will sell to focus on things that bring me happiness? Do I shut up and do what I need to do because it has been over two months that Trevor has been employed? Do I crawl into the fetal position and start eating my own hair? What? Seriously…what?

There has to be some happy medium, some place where I can remember how much I love knitting and still make things that people may want to purchase. I guess I am just still really new to this, usually when I knit it’s because a) the pattern demands it b) it would be perfect for…(fill in the blank) or c) this would be teaching me something new.

So maybe I will take the weekend and try to remember why I love knitting so much – do an internet blackout, or at least stay away from anything that is going to make me feel like such a damn failure.

So, friends and neighbors, what is a girl to do? ANY HELP WOULD BE MONUMENTALLY APPRECIATED!!

A Knitter’s Dream Garage Sale!! GOODIES!!

Okay, it may be yet another day and the lace shawl is still on my needles but I have a good reason – well, three good reasons. The first being that I am over-thinking this so simple a beginner could do it pattern so much that I keep making mistakes. The second is that I was slaving over my Etsy Store, worrying about selling anything. Ever. The third is that I hit the mother-load of all garage sales today!

We were just driving back from my parent’s house when we saw the garage sale sign. Now normally I am not a garage sale kinda gal, more because I am always afraid to leave my car on the side of the road than anything but something caught my eye. “TREVOR! SPINNING WHEEL!” I screamed and he found a safe place to stow the care and on we went.

Arriving at this sale was like arriving at a divorce court. A married couple, clearly quite angry with one another, were bickering like small children. What I gathered from my eavesdropping (I have now shame) is that she decided to take up knitting about two years ago. When she did she must have spent a fortune on everything she bought – and she bought everything! Drop spindles, fiber, yarn, spinning wheels (yes, wheels), needles and memorabilia for her “craft room”. Then, well, she never touched one bit of it. The husband had simply had enough and just wanted the room back. Thus, friends and neighbors, my goodies!

** My First Ball Winder **

My pretty new ball winder.

It’s an actual Standwood!

My first ball winder cost $2.00 (retail on Amazon is $59.87). I could have cried I was so excited to see this. The two spinning wheels (each costing a mere $15.00) had both sold, but the winder was mine! I learned the hard way that I am going to have to buy a swift, as you can see below, but who cares!

How I am going to spend my night.

Knots happen without a swift.

** My First Purchase of Fiber **

I have actually only spun one hank? skein? load? (what the heck to I call a pile of wool?) before so I was hesitant. They were selling drop spindles for $1.00 (I bought another one) and the two sections of wool cost $0.50 cents. FIFTY CENTS!

Fifty Cents! Now…what to do with it?

** Knitting Antiques Anyone? **

These two of these three pieces came out of an old factory in Ohio. The two spindles were from a plant the made wool in Southern Ohio during the first World War. The cradle is an antique she found in a store. You open it up and put your center pull ball in and close the sucker tight, then proceed to hang it for easy access. Total price, $1.00. AWESOME!

Cradle Open.

World War I Spindles.

Can kinda see the lettering.

Closed to keep yarn in place.

What an incredible day, so many good finds! Now I just need to figure out how to spin the fiber into pretty yarn (advice is appreciated) and untangle my newly purchased Cascade yarn. Oh – and price a good swift (also, advice is appreciated!). I am feeling so good, how about some flamingos?

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Just in case the slideshow doesn’t work – I’ve never tried it before and the pictures are just so fun!

Last Night I Dreamt of Ruffled Scarves Again…

So with – nope not gonna tell you how many of these things I have made – ruffle scarves under my belt I can finally say that all the ruffle yarn has been stash busted! Of course, I think there is actually more hiding in the bowels of my stash somewhere, a gift from someone who didn’t know what a pain it is to work with. The scarves are fun, frilly, ruffley goodness though.

Friends and neighbors, let’s go look at some pictures courtesy of Flickr, Instagram, Phototoaster , Photoshop and of course my trusty Canon!!

** Monotone Ruffles **

This is, of course, the ruffle that started it all. A gift from a friend that turned into something that reminds me of The Great Gatsby a bit. I do love how this stupid  scarf looks.

It is so airy and flow-y, feminine and girly, delicate and gentle. Basically, it is a bad ass scarf.

If it sells, I will gladly make as many of these as needed – but I just doesn’t feel the same way I do when I am knitting. Time will tell!

** OSU Buckeye Ruffle Scarf – Shades of Gray, Red, Black and White **

After the first ruffle scarf in monotone colors were made, I received a lot of questions from fellow Buckeyes about whether or not this could be done in our football teams colors. We bleed scarlet and gray here in the Buckeye State and everyone want to wear the colors with pride – at home, tailgating or at the game. It’s like a state law.

So after visiting a few more yarn shops I found this beauty waiting to come home with me. I can’t say I was super excited about working with this yarn again (it doesn’t really feel like knitting – more like unraveling a ball an errant yarn) but the idea is to bring people into the shop right?

After a few curse words mumbled under my breath I gathered some momentum and pumped out a few of these bad boys. Football season is not all that far away – gnarled fingers crossed!

OSU Ruffle Scarf.