xenet's Xanga

I've been busy

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:25:12 GMT

I've been updating on Facebook and Twitter for my shop lately.

The shop opened as planned on July 1, with the Grand Opening on July 3rd. The last two weeks were ok for a beginning, with no advertising. Interest is building as word of mouth spreads the news.

We had a rocking good time at the shop on Friday, with 20+ folks coming in. Several dulcimer players came and played. Todd and I brought along the upright bass, a guitar, and a bodhran (irish drum), so we joined in for an old-fashioned hoe-down. There were 4 spinning wheels and a drop-spindle going, knitting, and lots of visiting going on. We opened the champagne and toasted the shop. Folks brought their fav beer and wine or ice cream. We had banana splits with whipped cream or just plain vanilla in a bowl. Oh, and some people actually bought yarn and needles. It was fun.

Fiber Therapy nights on Fridays is just a good time to relax at the end of the week with friends and their family. The shop had plenty of room for everyone, with the addition of extra chairs.

Monica and Don have been my right hands in this endeavor. Monica is my lead teacher and expert advisor. Don and Todd are the fix-it guys. Lisa and Donnel have both been my supporters, helping when and where they could.

I'm still working on getting more stock into the shop. After school starts, I won't have as much time to order and set up deliveries. I'll only be open Thursday and Friday evenings, Saturdays during the day, then Sunday afternoons. I'm also contemplating closing over Labor Day, just so I have a weekend off. I have been thinking that I will need to schedule one weekend every 3 months or so, just to get away. I won't be able to pay someone else to work for me for a long time, unless I get really busy.

My health has been good. I have had wonderful levels of energy and the only problem this summer was with my stomach. Since I started eating Activia yogurt, that has gone away.

Todd has been home, studying for the bar at the end of this month. That has been wonderful. He's still my best friend. I'm praying that he passes the bar the first time.

Anthony is growing up and working as a waiter and bartender. We had a rough time with him last month, but that is improving. Sam is working and getting ready for college. Life goes on........

KIP your WIP

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:50:32 GMT

KIP day is Saturday, June 13th at the Kimball Museum. I wish I could be there. BTW, for the non-yarnies out there, WIP stands for Work in Progress and KIP is Knit In Public!

Monica is already in her all-day class with Lily Chin, a goddess in the knit and crochet world. Lily has beatuiful patterns published and is an awesome instructor. She is also one of the world's fastest crocheters! I have a class with her on Monday - I'm so excited!

Today, Monica and I will go to the Retailer's Luncheon and speech, then she'll head back to class. I'm taking my knitting with me, too. Then we will meet up and go to Sample IT! That's where we get to purchase samples from the exhibitors. We don't actually get to shop at the exhibits when they open. They aren't cash and carry, but I get to put in purchase orders with the companies. I don't mind that, but I just don't like exorbitant minimum purchases. After all, we're starting on a shoestring. A little, bitty shoestring.....

In case you were wondering, Monica is not my partner. She's my consultant and one of the shop's contract teachers. We will be working up a schedule of classes to be held in the shop after we open, so I'm also looking for other teachers - not just of knitting, either. Crochet, spinning, weaving, and dying classes are on the list, but I'm also looking for specific projects that can be taught and whose supplies I'll be carrying.

It is odd - shifting from the SCA mentality where knowledge can be obtained free of charge from experts in their respective fields, to a for-profit business where the same knowledge is both valued *and* valuable. I'm so glad I decided to attend TNNA.

TNNA

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:53:55 GMT

Vicki here, reporting from lovely downtown Columbus OH. The needlearts convention starts tomorrow, but I'm glad we came in a day early. Monica and I are excited to see all the distributors and yarn merchants tomorrow and through the rest of the week. Will continue to report as the week goes on.

It's official!

Mon, 25 May 2009 14:51:57 GMT

I made the first sale this weekend at Warlord.

We set up a booth at Steppes Warlord (that's an SCA event in Canton, TX) and I was able to make the first sales. Thank you to all who shopped at the booth! I had a good selection of Brown Sheep, Knit One Crochet Too, and O-Wool. I also had some of my personal stash that I put out for test marketing. The Madelinetosh Tosh socks and The Unique Sheep Eros and Tinsel Toes were a definite hit, so I need to make up my shopping list for those two.

Today is a work day at the shop, with the whole family lending their time and energy. I couldn't do this without them and my friends.

Speaking of friends, my childhood friend Becky and her husband are on their way to the shop right now, so I have to go! Remember the fallen and those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom today.

Update on the shop

Thu, 14 May 2009 19:28:00 GMT

So, we have pretty much finished the painting. I just have a little touch-up to do around the outlet covers.

I purchased insurance from Nationwide. Interesting thing - the underwriter checked out this blog. It's okay. I don't have anything to hide and have shared all the pertinent information with the agent before that anyway. I have a very strong belief in personal integrity and honesty and have always believed that it must also apply to your business standards and operations. When it comes to dealing with insurance companies, I believe in total honesty. I worked in insurance for 14 years, my father sold life insurance with Prudential, and my mother was an insurance secretary for several independent agents, so I totally believe in quality insurance coverage.

I was able to buy some ceiling tiles from Craigslist, so the DH and DS put up about half of them before calling it quits. Hopefully, the rest will be up before long. We've had the sinus/coughing/aching crud going through the family. It actually hit the hubby first and he's normally the healthiest. No swine flu, no type A or type B. Then, the son came down with it. No strep. That night, I came down with it. Ickkk.

Anyway, when I haven't been sleeping or coughing, I knitted a toque. It's red. I'm going to felt it up, but first, I have to make a hat form out of cardboard and duct tape. I madea toque last year for my BIL, Kevin / Maelgwyn in dark green. It was for his birthday and I made it in one night of non-stop knitting. Crazy, I know. Then together the next day, we felted it. He said it was really nice to have at Gulf War and that it really makes the whole outfit look Romano/Byzantine.

I might make up some more to sell at my booth. I have a space inside the Civic Center reserved already, so I'm looking forward to setting up and getting going. I wish I could go to Coronation, but I just don't think I should push my health reserves after missing work for 2 days. Have fun to all attending. Hug your friends and be tolerant of others.

Oh, and Maria / Christine - check out www.whirledfibers.com That's the business website and has the address on it. Planned Grand Opening Day - 1st of July.

Paint, paint, paint

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:10:08 GMT

Almost every weekend since we got the shop, we've been priming the walls. So far, we've gone through 5 gallons of primer and we're just shy of finishing the front rooms.

I say "We", not in the royal sense, but because it always ends up being me and at least one family member - my DH, DS, Arabella, or friends of the son. It's been nice that all my helpers volunteer on their own.

Friday was my 52nd birthday. The best presents I got were time and affection from my family. I don't need anything else. I got to spend several hours uninterrupted knitting, tinking (that's undoing what I messed up for the non-knitters out there) and re-knitting on a lace shawl that I'm working on. It's made of ultra-fine alpaca. Imagine knitting with fuzzy sewing thread, and you have a pretty good idea how challenging it is.

Yesterday, the husband and I painted and primed walls until I thought my arms would fall off. Now, just to finish about 10 feet of priming and then we start the real painting.

Today is Easter Sunday and I need to run upstairs and get dressed for church. The son wants to go, too, so I need to awaken him and we will attend as a family.

We are blessed.

I hope all of you are blessed also, this Passover and Easter season.

Yummy yarns

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:00:41 GMT

Yesterday, I spent around 6 hours with my Sales rep, Betty.

I just about went cross-eyed looking at yarns and colorways. But I settled on several brands and we wrote up the first orders. Now, every company has their minimum first orders and every one sells differently: 10 skeins to a bag, one skein at a time, some are in 50 and some are in 100 gm weights. And they all have different yardage per skein.

The basic wool yarn for our shop is Brown Sheep. I'm ordering it in Bulky, worsted, superwash worsted and cotton fleece (50 cotton, 50 wool). The Bulky and the Worsted have 85% wool and 15% Mohair. (That's from angora goats, like my step-grandpa used to raise in Georgetown).

Then, there is O-Wool, a certified organic wool in the Classic and Classic 2ply. Also, the 50/50 wool and cotton blend called Balance. It's nice.

For the baby-friendly fiber artists, there is Baby Ull from Dale of Norway. Sweet colors, and a pattern book, too.

From Alpaca Yarn Co., We're buying sock yarns - Paca Peds and Paca Peds HT (which stands for Heel Toe). The PPHT is a hand-dyed yarn identical to Paca Peds, but it includes a hank of solid yarn that matches to make the Heel and Toe out of.

What about Lace weight? We're buying some of the best - Suri Elegance in multicolors and in solids.

And then, there is Knit One Crochet Too, with their 2nd Time Cotton, a recycled cotton yarn that is soft and lovely. More sock yarns with Soxx Appeal - a nice and stretchy yarn that is 96% superwash merino, 3% nylon, and 1% elastic. It's great for diabetics who need socks that won't cut off circulation!

I also picked out a few patterns from this company. They are generously sized for men and women (like me) so I bought some of the TyDy , a cotton worsted in lovely colors. I need to order some of the TyDy Socks yarn, too. It was really yummy, but I had already gone over my budget.

So, I still need to get some more ordered. Any suggestions? Favs?

Here's a picture!

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:36:45 GMT

This was before the flood. Now, my sign is a little wiggly and has two of my phone numbers on it, just in case.

I want to get rid of the mirrored film on the top half of the windows, but I have to figure out what to replace it with....and how to pay for it. Money is tight, as always. I have to conserve right now so I will have enough to order stock with. Todd keeps reminding me that furniture and fixtures are nice, but the store is beginning to look like a used furniture store instead of a yarn store. I'm glad there wasn't any product in the store when it flooded. And no, I don't have insurance yet, but I will shortly.

We were able to purchase 4 cubbies for the yarn displays at a great price, and were able to find them in Duncanville. I really like the concept of recycling furniture and fixtures, as it keeps large, useable items out of the landfills. Not to mention the fact that it keeps down the costs for the shop and our future customers!

I really want to paint the walls with no- or low-VOC paint, but that stuff is expensive! The floors have black with grey and white flecks on the 12" linoleum tiles. The previous tenants painted the ceiling tiles and dropped ceiling grids black, too. The door moldings are black. The vinyl floor/wall moldings are black. The walls are gray. My friend, D., thinks that it's a pinkish gray. I think there is a tink of rose to the gray, but was hoping it was a reflection off the red roof of the Williams Fried Chicken across the parking lot.

I think the walls need to be a light shade of muslin and repaint the door moldings a color to go with the honey-colored woods of the furniture. We will work on replacing all the ceiling tiles over time, starting with a checkerboard pattern around the outside next to the walls. And I need to get 2-3 large area carpets in addition to the Welcome mats at the front doors.

I'd also like to buy 6 ft tall shoji folding screens with 5 panels each to cover the bottom halves of the windows under the mirrored tops. Then get a 7 panel to separate the yarn shop from the training area for now.

Anyway, I get to meet with my sales rep tomorrow and show her the shop. Right now, it has 3 de-humidifiers and about 14 fans going in it to suck the remaining moisture out of the walls.

Now, time for some personal knitting

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:04:35 GMT

I signed the lease, got the keys, and have started the process of moving in.Yesterday, I got the Certificate of Occupancy from the city and had the wa(er turned on.
I hung around afterwards for a few hours, reading a book and making a sign. I flushed toilets and checked for leaks.
But maybe not well enough.
This morning, we were bringing over some furniture in a rented trailer and noticed condensation on the windows.
That is always a bad sign.
We had a leak and the shop was flooded.As were the two neighboring shops.
So, I'm sitting here watching ServPro clean my shop out.
Sigh...

Getting Ready to sign a lease!

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:39:33 GMT

So, we're not going to Gulf War.

Instead, we're spending that money and investing it in our yarn business, Whirled Fibers Inc.

I hope to be signing the 3 year (gasp!) lease tomorrow and will be subleasing part of the area to a really nice lady who teaches CPR and First Aid. Her name is Regina M. Not Countess Regina, though. She will have her office there and we will be sharing the training room.

I've been hunting on Craigslist for furniture and fixtures for the shop. I figure that not only does it save me money, it recycles stuff that might otherwise end up in the landfill. And, it stimulates the economy. Yeah!

It takes time, though, but it's worth it when you can get nice filing cabinets at 1/10th the cost and furniture at 1/3 to 1/4th the cost of new.

I need to save as much money as I can to buy stock. Next week, I meet with a sales rep and hope to start my purchasing.

The plan is to have the hard opening, ribbon cutting, and party in June, after school is out. In the meantime, I'll keep you all informed as to the progress. Love ya!