SHE'S HEEERRREEEE :-D

I'm too lazy to upload pictures at the moment, but my new spinning wheel is here! She's all put together and adjusted to my liking. She's SO FAST. Maybe it's the fact that she's a double treadle, and I don't know how to go slow yet, but I like it. Boy oh boy, are we gonna have fun together!

Spent a bunch of money on Lurex tonight from a store in England, to add to my yarns. (One cone is GLOW IN THE MUHFUCKIN DARK. Is it can be Halloween tiem yet?!) Still gotta make the Etsy banner, a Pinterest, a Twitter, and a new Rav account, but I'm all tuckered out after putting Jane together (of course my second wheel has a name too, I'm not playing favorites here!) and playing with her. (Plied yarn I had spun on Borghildr on her.) Oh, also, I scored a Canon Powershot in perfect working condition on eBay last night for $25!!!!!!! Includes the SD card and case and free shipping. Fuck yeah eBay!

My dye order should be in on Thursday, and by then I should have my ten sweaters, at least some of which will be skeined and ready to dye immediately. (I have a good amount of yarn waiting already from sweaters I bought last summer. And RIT dye, ugh. I've got tons of RIT.) I decided to start off with buying ten sweaters, as I think that'll give me a good first batch of skeins. I can't wait to see what I find!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH :-D

Dye Dye, Dye My Darling

Dyes have been purchased, after much more thorough research and thought. Realized I wouldn't need most of the light colors, as they wouldn't be useful on the majority of the sweaters I unravel. Also realized I needed two sets of dyes, as the fiber reactive dyes aren't so good on protein fibers. Bought 50 plastic squeeze bottles as well, so each color can have it's own bottle. (there's a nerd deep inside me that's really excited about labeling those fucking bottles, uggghh)

Went shopping at Jack's 99 Cent today to get more dyeing supplies, and came home with a vinyl tablecloth, measuring spoons/cups, plastic salad tongs to hold yarn (really nice clear blue ones, for .99!), and- not for dyeing, but convenient- an adjustable window screen for the back room, so the window can stay open wide without fear of losing a cat. Might go back and get another one for the window on the other end of the apartment. Perhaps this summer will be less nightmareish in regards to heat, with more opportunity for cross breezes!

Also wound up with two new flavors of tea, Moroccan Mint and Mojito Mint. Yeah, I've already sampled both and they're deliiiiicciiiouussss.

Gonna go to bed now, can't possibly do any more work tonight- but I got the logo finalized. Tomorrow I'll take care of the business cards.

#fuckyes

IT'S REALLY REAL!!!!!!!!!

Money has been wired to me, wheel has been purchased (along with lazy kate). Gotta review my dye list, and get that taken care of. Taking a quick break right now from sweater unraveling. I'm timing myself to see how long the entire process from unraveling to plying takes, so I know exactly what I'm paying myself for work done.


AM I FUCKING EXCITED, YES I AM :-D

Straight Up Whirlwind

= strange dreams and tummy troubles, ugh. I dreamed about jumping spiders and dripping lights and old milk, and a painting of Vikings by a forest, and talking about an omelet I was going to make. OK then!

Well, new email is done, base graphic for logo is done, fonts selected, Instagram created, blog created. As far as social media, that still leaves:

Pinterest
Twitter
Facebook
Ravelry (will have to have a "yarnie" account)

I will eventually want to do things in addition to making yarn, so note to self that somewhere down the line you'll be looking at making tutorials, maybe writing a book, maybe teaching classes (if not live, then Craftsy?). There might be YouTube videos.

In the mean time, I'm still fighting good ol' NYS Dept of Taxation because they say I owe them money, and I don't... and I've been struggling with really bad insomnia the last few nights (not to mention still hocking up wads of phlegm!), and I'm racked with wicked anxiety about everything. What if my partner suddenly pulls out, what if it's a total failure, etc etc etc. I generally don't give in to stressing about "what if" situations past the point of mentally preparing an initial solution in case of the what if, but this is a lot riding on the line for me, and it's not just me- it's the fact that someone else is investing in me here and I'm scared that I'm not going to be good enough. I think part of me is scared that I'm gonna get burned out on it too, after a month or something. Plus, it's knowing that it's going to be a full time, constant obligation, no matter how much I love doing it. I'm handling EVERYTHING about it, except for a few business aspects. Things above and beyond the yarn creation- keeping track of receipts and business expenses, all graphic design, shipping and handling, customer service, etc. Just digging in the last few days has totally stressed me out. I'm going to either have to develop better coping skills, or I'm gonna have to start taking some kind of herbal remedy to soothe these tangled nerves. I'm hoping things are going to even out once everything is set and the store has launched officially, but who knows. None of this is even really going to seem real to me until the money is wired to me and I've got my new wheel and I'm cranking out yarn. Still seems like some kind of weird dream. Especially because my partner is in Australia, so we've never met face to face and we haven't even Skyped yet. There's always a lag in email communication time too, because one of us is generally sleeping when the other emails.
Time will tell, I suppose. No sense in getting so goddamn stressed out about everything if I can help it, I've just got to find a way to help it until I can develop better coping mechanisms I guess. Because shutting down is not, and will never be an option. Never helps anything anyway. Productivity always makes me feel better anyway. *sigh* Ok, back to work...

New! new. NEW!!! NEWWWWWWW new! New? new!

New is exciting, but new is also a ton of work!

New name picked for new launch of company. (Company of 1+ Aussie business partner)

This means new:

Email address.
Etsy Shop.
Instagram.
Twitter.
Facebook Page.
Pinterest.
Blog.
Logo.
Graphics.
Business cards.
Labels.

First and foremost, comes the logo- all related graphics are based on that. Text is going to play an important part this time around, as there are a lot of letters in the new name. Not gonna reveal it until the time comes for everything to launch, but some time around mid June this will be happening, as long as everything goes according to plan. Business partner saw the yarn pictures I sent her and fell in love, so that's not an issue!

off to work I go. SO FRIGGIN' STOKED. 

Fear of Success

As stupid as that sounds, it seems I have it. I think it's because I really enjoy being a low profile hermit, and success means more exposure. But, here's the thing:

I have an investor in my business now. She's got a good head for business, unlike me. She's determined to see this succeed, and that means I now have a business plan and contracts to go through and amend and what not. My hopes and dreams could be a reality! All that's left to do is work for them, and I've got no problem doing that. Money was the only thing holding me back, and if things go well, that won't be an issue for long. So, despite the panicked buzzing in my head, I'm pushing forward.

Well, after dinner, anyway. My fella is taking me out for Thai because happy Mother's Day to the mother of his cats! <3

breaking news update!

I don't want to jinx anything so I feel I ought to keep my mouth shut, but... without saying anything, I just may yet not only get a new spinning wheel, but re-vamp my spinning business too! 

FINGERS SO CROSSED

In other news, I've been fighting off suspected pneumonia, but am keeping it in check with a steady barrage of dayquil, nyquil and mucinex DM. Tons of garlic in everything I eat, lots of sleep, and cinnamon tea have been helping too. Frustrated that I haven't been able to work out in a week now- I had made excellent progress, was able to do TWO WHOLE REAL push ups, as opposed to the bent knee push ups I'd been doing. I hope I haven't lost that ability! I feel like a foggy fucking blob and it's driving me batty. Hopefully I'll be rid of it soon, ain't nobody got time for that. 

Seriously excited though about my business prospects. Trying not to count chickens before they hatch, but damn, it's hard :-P