Week 4 – what I learned
Here’s how this short week went.
another batch felted
I felted 15 bars of soap – citrus spice. I smells really good. I’ve had the batch here for the final week of its curing time and it has filled the house with a yummy smell. (If you counted – the 15th bar is in my shower!)
baby socks
I have 4 new pair of socks completed. Along with the pink pair on the shelf, I have a pair for each blanket set. Another pair of each color only needs to be sewn up.
baby hats
I have 9 (yeah, 9!) baby hats completed. I have another on the needles to work on during the show, should there be time. The brown one in front is for a customer order from my Etsy shop. I’m nearly out of enough yarn of any color to make another hat. I’ll probably try to make a few more with stripes like the lavender / mauve one on the right.
felted mittens
And lastly, I have these 2 pair of felted teen / small adult mittens.
What has this experiment taught me?
1) it really helps to have a schedule set over a long period of time, that kept me from becoming discouraged when one day didn’t go as planned
2) it helped to share my schedule with people (in-person and on-line), that kept me accountable
3) I was glad I scheduled in previous commitments. I looked forward to my fiber meetings as mini vacations
4) Discipline is not always fun – even when I like what I’m doing.
5) I had to adjust and cut myself some slack. I didn’t hit all my goals to completion, but I’m happy with the accomplishments.
6) it helped having the schedule on paper on my desk. I checked it many times each day – can I move this? do that?
Will I try this again? What changes will I make? So far, I’ve started putting some goals on my calendar on my laptop for next week, next month, January. I’m not convinced that is a good idea, as I don’t use my laptop daily. But I really shouldn’t have such a crunch as this again. I think I have enough inventory to get me through Christmas, then I have until farmer’s market / summer before things start moving.
Today was the day for packing for the craft fair in Braham tomorrow. I hope to see you there.
A new shed
Tuesday was the only sunny day this week. Darryl took vacation and with the help of my dad and a backhoe, they build this:
Side view
I tried to get a picture of inside, but I’m too short to unzip the door high enough that it would stay open.
Front view
And the sun hasn’t been out since they finished, so these pictures are rather dreary.
It is empty – so far. They worked until dark getting it put together. The original idea was to store our alpaca trailer in it, but that would require plowing a path to the shed all winter in case we needed the trailer in an emergency. So, the shed will store the summer stuff – lawn mower, canoe (unless I can sell it!), garden stuff, etc. That will make room in the barn for the trailer.
The loader on the backhoe also moved our well-composted poo pile.
Our garden
Some to the garden and some to the alpaca pasture.
The alpaca's pasture
Now to get it spread – a job for the weekend. While I’m at the Braham Craft Fair!
Week 3 – wrap up
Wow! I got so much done last week. I had a lot to finish – since Week 4 is going to be really short. Here’s how it went:
Cat toys - I reduced my goal from 15 to 10 and finished those 10! $5.
Ready for play
Toddler mittens – 5 pair complete – Yay!
Little mittens in a row
Ladies mittens – 4 pair complete, 1 pair to be felted!
Ladies mittens
Baby socks – 10 pair knit! Look at this heap of little socks!
Yikes! That's a mess of socks
So far only 3 have their seam sewn. I’m waiting on back ordered yarn to make 2 more pair of blue!
Socks complete!
Baby hats – I have finished one of each color. I mis-calculated the yarn I would need to make 2 hats and 2 pair socks of each color, so my new goal is to use up all the yarn on hats.
Week Four’s Schedule:
Monday – felt more soap, 15 bars of Citrus Spice. It’s been spreading its fragrance through the house as it finished it final curing. Yum!
Tuesday – my spinning guild meets, so I’ll work on baby hats between shopping, eating and visiting!
Wednesday and Thursday – finish baby hats and baby socks!
Friday – pack up the truck for the trip to Braham and wrap up all loose ends before the show. I have an hour drive, so will have to leave about 6:30 AM. I’ll be at the First Annual Fall Craft Fair in Braham. If you are in the area – stop by the high school.
And I should add, I picked up one more show. It is a fundraiser on November 15 for the Zonta Minneapolis Club.
Week 3 – midweek update
There’s just not enough time in a day! I’m doing pretty good on the tasks so far. I made 10 (I reduced from the goal of 15) cat toys, but still need to stuff and sew them! I have 4 pair of toddler mittens knit, but need to sew up the seams. I have yarn dyed to knit another pair of ladies mittens, plus I have 2 pair of ladies mittens completed, one pair to felt, and one pair to sew the seams. Oh, and baby hats are coming along, too.
As you can see, it is the sewing that drags me down. But Darryl has meetings tonight, I don’t have to make supper, there are good TV shows, and I can sit and sew! Pictures when I complete a task! Hopefully, that will be soon!
Week 2 – wrap up
I think last week was pretty successful. Here’s the breakdown:
Soap – 15 bars felted – success! (7 bars sold!)
Ladies mittens - 4 pair knit, none complete – partial success
Baby hats – 4 complete, 2 partially complete – success!
Wristwarmers – 24 pair on the shelf – success!
Wrist warmers all in a row
That was a good week!
Week Three’s Schedule:
Monday – 15 felted cat toys (these are now available in my Etsy shop!)
Tuesday – dedicated to baby hats
Wednesday – 5 pair of toddler sized mittens
Thursday – work on ladies mittens
Friday & Saturday – 11 pair of baby socks to match hats and blankets
Sunday – Finish the ladies mittens
That means that the cat toys, toddler mittens, baby socks and ladies mittens should all be done by week’s end. The ladies mittens will be a challenge (as I need to dye yarn for them), but the others should be do-able! This is the week of completion!
