Sets For Sale!

A month ago I posted about my indecision regarding my Etsy shop here. I've decided that it's important to have some sort of online presence even if it's not as active as I have kept it in the past. That way the customers who take my card at my shows have a way to shop in the future, etc. I also think that my empty shop may have hurt my chances of getting into the Rock n Roll Show as well.

I went ahead and renewed the items that I had listings for that didn't sell at the Strange Folk Festival and listed a few of my scarf/hat sets this week. I must say that the listing process has definitely been improved since the last time I did it awhile ago. I also like that you can use pictures that aren't perfectly square now.
The top shot is of my Fabulously Pink Set. I have it priced at $40 for both the scarf and the hat. I also have a teal set in the same pattern and size that I don't have photographed yet.

The Rainbow Bright Set is made with a machine washable acrylic and is priced at $35 for the hat and scarf together.

And finally my favorite set is the All Natural Pink Set. It was made with an organic cotton yarn with natural dyes. The scarf and hat are priced at $45 together. They are more for fashion than warmth but I think that they are a very cool ensemble.If anyone has any custom requests for scarf/hat combos I would be happy to oblige. I can probably find something in my stash to meet your color/fiber requests. If not that is just another reason to shop for yarn!

Two Scarf Day

I know this is no news flash but it's too damn cold this week. There are record cold temps expected later this week and snow on its way (keep your fingers crossed that I get a snow day tomorrow). Yesterday I had a student come into my office and start removing a few of her many layers. She started unwrapping one scarf and then another. I laughed and said that it was a two scarf day if there ever was one. (The colorful scarf above is keeping my wise man statue warm in this shot and was knit in a soft wool/silk blend.)

That got me thinking. I've been selling my scarves for 3 years now not to mention all the ones I've gifted through the years. On a day like today, when even people who don't normally wear scarves are wearing them, I wonder how many people out there are wearing one of my creations today. It could be close to 100. I've sold at least 400 scarves or scarflettes in my time, although not all of them were cold weather scarves. At least 50 of them were purely fashion accessories. But if you are like me you wear one of them and stack it with a scarflette to keep the chill away, which is what I have on today.

It gives me a thrill to think about all the people wrapping my scarves around their necks today. Hopefully my colorful creations give them at least a tiny lift in spirit as they go out into the Arctic air.

Shop Updates!

My Etsy shop is now down to just 25 items listed. The poor thing is barely at 2 pages which is just plain sad in my book. I was going through my remaining inventory and seeing if I had pictures for anything already taken last night. I found at least 10 scarves that I have photographed in the past but not listed for one reason or another.

Some of them were previously listed in my 1000 Markets shop which has been unceremoniously disconnected due to lack of activity. I don't think I'm the type of person that can divide my attention like that I'm afraid. So I started listing some of them to try to get my shop back to its normal capacity of at least 50 items. If I don't have 3 pages it bothers me for some reason.

I've already listed the top scarf, the Regal Rose- Handmade Pink Lace Scarf in a hand dyed ribbon yarn. I can't believe that it didn't sell at one of my shows. It is absolutely gorgeous in person with just the right amount of sparkle and WOW factor. The red scarf I'm calling Holiday Cherry Red. It's a wool blend that is super soft and cozy. I think it would be great for the holidays and beyond. This last one is a close up for a scarf that I'm calling Tie Dye Delight. It is a Noro brand yarn that has a cool tie dye effect, and I added some speckled beads for extra fun. I'm now done pimping and tomorrow I'll get back to normal blogging!

What Does $263 worth of yarn look like?

Let me start off by saying I didn't in fact spend $263 on this yarn but that is what it is worth at full price. I've talked before about how I have to find ways to keep my yarn costs down to make my scarves affordable. If I bought the nice yarns I like to work with at full price I would never be able to sell them with any kind of a profit. I buy much of my yarn on-line at the sites I talked about in this long ago post. I do try to shop at the Local Yarn Shops (LYS) as much as possible but really only buy yarn for the business when they are having a sale.

About 4 times a year The Weaving Dept. in Florissant has a huge sale. They fill what they call The Barn with all of the discontinued, returned, and single ball yarns and mark everything 75% off. Most of it is novelty yarn or scarf yarn from name brands like Crystal Palace and Trendsetter which is just fine by me. If you get there early though you can find some single or double balls of wool and cotton. Every time I come away with some special surprise. A few visits ago I found a stash of Noro yarn and last time I found several single balls of cashmere which made lovely scarflettes. This visit there was tons of ribbon yarn as many yarn makers are moving away from man made yarns and focusing on more natural yarns. This makes me happy as I love natural fibers. But who can pass up all the amazing colors of discontinued ribbon yarn which knits up quickly into lovely scarves that I can sell for $15 at my craft shows and still make a profit.

I also really liked this thick and soft Tango yarn from Universal. It is a merino wool blend and I got as many balls as there was left. It was originally marked $9 a ball so I got them for $2.25. I'll have to knit the single ball with another yarn but the others that I have at least 2 of will make some really soft and colorful scarves by themselves.