Archive for September, 2009

I’ve been away for a couple of days because I had to spin some new yarns for my Etsy shop.
I wanted to add some 2-ply to my collection (2-ply are getting a lot of hearts on Etsy), but I had forgotten how hard and time consuming is handspinning this kind of yarns.
I’m now plying my first one…

… and have another bag of predrafted handpainted roving waiting for me:

They’re turning out wonderful, but my backache is growing. Silly of me!

I can’t believe it! I did it!
At last my Etsy shop is now fully working.
I’ve spent the whole day uploading photos, descriptions, prices, gauges and tags, feeling both slightly proud and very frightened of what would be coming out.
Now it’s all over and I’m so tired that I can hardly find the energies to write this post.
Two of my yarns have already been bought.
I still can’t believe that. There must have been a mistake.
I know this might be just a happy coincidence and that I will have to work hard for promoting my shop.
Anyway, should it be true, I would like to celebrate … if only I could stop yawning.
See you tomorrow…

I’m still writing descriptions and setting prices for my yarns, so do not have much time to blog.
However, I couldn’t resist to show up how lovely my handmade labels look once wrapped around the hanks:

I love them!

P.S.:No need to say that anyone can make these labels, maybe much better than I did.
I know…
But they are MY handmade labels, and I’m feeling foolishly proud.

I have no time to wait for moo: 2-3 weeks before receiving my mini-cards is too much.

Yet I couldn’t think of sending out my yarns without an identity card.
I decided to make myself their labels and ended up with these tiny ones:

They are not exactly what I had in mind when I started, but I like the way they turned out.

Credits: my laser printer and my eco-friendly paper notebook.

Well, folks, it’s not that easy setting up my Etsy Store.
I’m so impatient! My yarns have already been revised and catalogued, with tags, labels, bells and whistles.
Yet I can’t list them for sale, because shipping costs are still a mystery to me.
I ‘ve been spending hours on Italian Postal Service website, writing down every single well hidden service offered for international shipping.
Now I’m much more confused than I was before.
The second step will be taking better pictures – I have many, but none of them is good for Etsy.
I’ve been reading through all the advices provided by the Etsy Seller’s Handbook, but I wonder how will I be able to explain all this to my husband, aka my Official Photographer. Guess it’s going to be a long struggle.
Setting the price will be another hard adventure. On Etsy, they say to consider a lot of variables and I’m really trying not to understimate and advice. I’ve created an Excel document reporting higher, lower, mean and medium prices. Good start – but just a start, anyway.
I’m also making good use of the Tag Finder app: it’s very practical and offers much more than it promises. On Craftweasel site there are many more utilies for Etsyans, be they newbies or not. Check out their blog too.

As I said, it’s not that easy setting up my store.
Yet I’m decided: this will be the last week I spend end watching Etsy world through the keyhole.

Yesterday I created the page of  Zucchero Filato on Facebook.
As an average geek mom, I thought it would be easy.
Facebook makes you believe that: “Create a page for a celebrity, band or business”. That sounds simple.
And yet it wasn’t.
I spent an hour deciding which category I had the right to belong to, not being a celebrity, nor a band (if you exclude my family). Businnes seemed to be the right choice, but I was doubtful: is my “business” solid enough not to receive a big LOL from Facebook Team? Something like: “Good joke! Now please register – seriously!”
After a long meditation, I opted for optimism and registered as business, ending up with this page:

It still seems an exageration to me, but I love it.
Now I’m motivated to go through the next step: setting up my Etsy shop.
Being an international seller implies some problems, the first one being how to manage shipping costs.
However, Etsy is not Fabecook and the help it provides in its Etsy Seller’s Handbook is very exhaustive.
Stay tuned for my next adventure!

I need a break, so I’m writing just a little note on my work.

I’m deconstructing my purple jacket to check my old instructions before releasing the pattern.
Up to now, everything has gone well… oops, I said it! Cross my fingers…
I’ve also been making a couple of photos of the garment, just to have an idea of how it might result once printed.
Here they are:

As I originally knitted the main part of this garment with a bulky merino I had handspun for the purpose, I’m also working some samples with commercial yarns to provide the right yarn substitutions.

It won’t be easy, but it’s so amusing!

Well, pause is over. Back to work.

A few months ago, I was asked to collaborate on a photoshooting with some of my knitwear.
The theme was Dolls, those old porcelain dolls, which I could break so easily when I was a child and which my grandma used to bring to a mysterious man’s shop: the Dolls’ Doctor (a super exclusive place that some not-so-old Milanese may still remember).

For me it was a perfect theme. I love making baroque knitwear rich in details, yet with a naive twist.
In no time – just three weeks – I tried to make my best, matching my pattern projects with the stylist’s ideas.
[Note to the stylist: your endless changes of mind caused me a principle of arthritis and some doubt about keeping on doing this job - but as you see, have produced good results. ]

I’ve decided to take back those garments in order to write and publish their patterns.
Don’t know if I will be able to find the necessary (mental) peace to re-write all the instructions, as at the moment they’re randomly distributed in some hunderds of post-it notes.
Anyway, I’ll be starting with this pattern:

It’s a short jacket knitted in purple bulky merinoyarn (handspun by me), with details in rust bouclé (for this garment I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Astrakhan). It has only one button made of several crocheted and knitted flowers in according colors.
Matching with this jacked there’s a soft cloche hat, which apparently needs no instruction, but that was the most difficult part of the project.
Misdesigning this hat might have compromised the whole project.

Today, I was staring at this jacket and its golden label and couldn’t help wondering how could I work so quickly.
To be honest, the pattern is very easy to follow – but it was not as much easy to write it down.
I must admit that I’m slightly proud of it.
What’s more, I think that with some little adjustments it would be a wonderful garment for a little girl (mine, for instance).

See you on next post, with an update on this pattern and many more….

Making felted balls is one of my favourite pastimes when I’m in deep need of inspiration.
However, getting inspired can be a long and consuming process – with the obvious consequence of ending with my room full of colored little balls that I don’t really need anymore.

That’s why I’m now getting involved in a new inspirational pastime: decorating them
Here are some I embellished with hot fix crystals:

Now I’m waiting for next step to come: find a reasonable use for all of them.
Any suggestion?

On next September 14th my children will be back to school .

Most of mothers long for this moment as for the right occasion to reappropriate their jobs.
For me, it’s different.
For me, my main job is being a mom and even if I may spend my nights writing and handspinning (sometimes even handpainting), during the daytime I can’t help considering these activities as a luxury that steals time to my children.

There is no doubt that in these days I’m much more anxious than before. I know it will be difficult to maintain the work rythm (and peace of mind) that I established during the last three months.

Will I be able to upgrade my blog when they come home with homework? Will I be able to leave a project on the wheel when I have to take them to their extra-school activities? Will I stay up at night studying WordPress if I have to get up early next morning?
We’ll see…