KnitterMan

Next week (after the Superbowl), I will be moving this blog up to the main page).

If you are reading via RSS or some other reader, you’ll need to change that so you don’t miss anything.

Other announcements will be made after that move happens.

I was supposed to ship everything today and tomorrow.   After pulling money out for rent there’s not enough left to ship everything to everyone (and my rent was just adjusted last week to make it easier to pay, but it’s more per week so I have to step up the BRS sales).   I’ve just reduced the prices on the remaining Blog Reader Specials to raise enough to replace the money for shipping.

I have been thoroughly chastised and soundly beaten about the head and shoulders!

Well, okay, that’s a bit melodramatic.   But I have been gently reminded (Hi, Ginni!) that not everyone actually comes to the blog and many people prefer to follow the RSS feed into the mailboxes when a post has been made.

I am still trying to reformat the entire Web site, and put the blog up on the front-front page (which means your RSS feed will no longer keep your current, and you’ll need to change it).

But for now here’s the news…. i just posted some more Blog Reader Specials on the BRS page.  and there are still many to choose from.  Hopefully they can all be claimed by the time Tuesday’s mail carrier comes around.

And I’m using this 3-day weekend for catching up odds-and-ends and trying to make things ready to ship on Tuesday - no mail on Monday going out or coming in.  This includes catching up on dye-orders (have I have NOT been in a state of “catching up?”) and plotting projects for the year.  I have removed the instant order for custom dyes for a while — until every dyed order is done and shipped, I am dividing my time into order catch-ups and selling BRS for quick cash for daily living expenses.

Also, I have changed the numbering sequence — instead of numbering within each batch and then starting over with the next batch, EVERY yarn intended for BRS is being numbered sequentially from the start of the year, regardless whether it is sock or lace (or perhaps something else).  That’ll make it easier for me to track (instead of messing up with “No, no that was #17 from March 12, not #17 from April 3.”)

Anyway, it is Sunday and I am trying to pretend I am havng a “weekend” (whatever that is).  Working some and also working on a personal project:

I am playing with a sock yarn sweater.   In the last batch I dyed a pair of “Tornado Green Fade” and a pair of “Cherries Burgundy”.  There’s no way in heck I could ever duplicate this shade of ominous greens, nor the shade of reds, so I have to keep them and combine them into a sweater vest.  I am swatching now, trying to decide if I was corrugated ribs, corrugated zig-zags, or corrugated diamonds of some sort.  Whichever way it goes, it will certainly be one-of-a-kind.   And if it doesn’t fit me, it will be sold for an exorbitant amount.  hahaha.

So now, back to work.

If you would like to order gift certificates for stocking stuffers, feel free to ask.  They can be processed and emailed to your recipient in plenty of time for the holidays.

Also, I was hoping not to have to put the Tip Jar up until I was sure the Regretsy issue was put away and that PayPal wasn’t pulling funny business with other people using the Donate! button.   I’ve not heard any more about it, and it sounded like it was working out, so I”ve restored the Tip Jar up there in the corner.

I don’t know if you noticed or not, but over on the front page I put up a notice that all shipping is reduced to $1.00 per each $100.00 in your order.    This is particularly useful when you consider the discounts already in place for the January colors!

Also, I posted this video to Facebook yesterday, just as a test. Let me know what you think.

Oh yes, and you may have noticed the Tip Jar/Donate buttons are gone. This was becuase there was a flap over how another blogger used it for a good cause and someone at PayPal made a wrong decision. I will restore the Tip Jar/Donate button after the holiday, but until then you can still go to PayPal to send a little help for the holidays. Just select “Send Money” and then park it “Personal” and then “Gift”. I only mention that for people who used to use the button and now it isn’t there.

Always more than one way to skin a cat, as they say (although nobody has ever explained to me the value of a skinned cat).

You get the first look!

LimeAde Ice:

and a close-up:

And an unexpected colorway, temporarily called Mint Chocolate Chip:

and a close-up:

because of the technique, these can be done on either sock or lace weight, which is a good thing.

I’ll be adding these to the front page for pre-ordering in December with delivery mid-January as I did for the Solstice Winterfest and the Winter Solace.

Hey guess what?

I was digging through the back closet and found an unpacked container from when I moved here in 2006.  Inside were a collection of pillowshams that I retrieved from the local futon shop around the corner from where I lived.  They did all their upholstery and pillows and stuff in-house, so I am confident these are of fine hand-crafted quality in a variety of sturdy upholstery-type fabrics. All have a full zipper along one edge.

Each is about 18-inches square.

You can use them for pillows, of course, and I’m sure you can find pillow forms in just about any size and material online.

but I was thinking more along the lines of (ta-DA!) — stash storage, hiding your yarns in plain sight!

Or, if you know someone who needs a touch of new color, these make lovely one-of-a-kind ready made holiday gifts.

there are three pairs and three singles.   All but one pair has the same fabric front and back, and I’ve shown the reverse for that one pair.

The pairs can be had at $30.00 a pair.  The singles are each $20.00 apiece.  All are new, never used, just kept in storage for several years.

Like my one-of-a-kind Blog Reader Specials, these are offered as-is, and first-come, first-served.  Just email me the ones you want

So… here they are:

Pillows #1 - $30.00

—–

Pillows #2 - $30.00

—–

Pillows #3 - $30.00

—–

Pillows #4 - $20.00

—–

Pillows #5 - $20.00

—–

Pillows #6 - $20.00

I’ve been working all weekend to get these done and posted, and it’s just now been done.  These images below are the group shots of all the new Blog Reader Specials

Some Primo Lace:

And some more Primo lace:

And some Socks:

And there’s even some Superwash Merino Aran weight, which I apparently forgot to get a group shot of!

These just went to the rack this morning to dry.   There are

• 10 Primo Lace (80% Merino/20% Silk, 1000 yards), normally $27.50 apiece, but for the rack preview they are $25.50 apiece; and

• 5 Phydlbitz Socks (75% Superwash wool/25% nylon, 430 yards), normaly $24.50 apiece, but for this rack preview they are $22.50 apiece.

claim them by their L-number or Z-number along with today’s date ( like “BRS 18Nov11-L8, or BRS 18Nov11 Z4).    Email me your choices, and make sure I have your shipping destination so I can calculate proper shipping.  And remember, International Shipping has increased several-fold since I am now having to use Priority International rates instead of First Class International rates.  Supposedly things get there must faster, but it is a lot more expensive to the customer.

Also…. there will be TWO more racks of yarns showing tomorrow (1 of lace and 1 of Aran wt), so if you’d like me to hold off invoicing until you can see them all, just let me know which ones of these you want me to hold back for you.   Or I can simply amend your invoice and/or shipping amount if you see some more goodies tomorrow.

(If it is small in your monitor, right click on the picture and select “View Image” to see a larger version).

The following two Limited Edition yarns are available for order only here on the front page.   They will be available for order ONLY through November, and will be dyed and shipping on or before 15Dec11.   You may order as many as you like, but after December 1 neither of these will be available for at least 6 months.

First is “Solstice Winterfest” evoking the reflection of bonfires into the dark of the winter midnight sky. This will be dyed on Phydlbitz Sock yarn - 75% superwash wool/25% nylon, 430 yards per skein. It is available for $25.00 as a Limited Edition.

Phydlbitz Sock Yarns “Solstice Winterfest” $25.00

Primo Lace “Winter Solace” $27.50

Just a small collection this time….  unintended, actually.

I had just a small bit of sock yarn left, and a few “MUST DYE” orders.   I was able to get Talon, Ember, and Amanda done (YAAYYYYY), but managed to splash black dye onto some other yarns already soaking and ready to dye.   Grrrrr…

Anyway, if you go over to the Blog Reader Special Page, you can make your selection from these six skeins of Phydlbitz Sock Yarns.   There are three sets of Twins, but you can request them individually in whatever combination you wish.

OH!   and I have a confirmation/tracking number to tell me more lace and sock y arns should be arriving this Friday via UPS.  If I can sell half of them as BRS, and half to make-up for over-due dyes, and then repeat this process 2-3 more times, I will have caught up all the known back-orders AND been able to eat and maybe pay some rent along the way.   And then we get into some really fun stuff.

Yayy!

But now… back to work.

Wow… what a week it has been.

But things are coming together.  Wheee!     And I’ve already ordered more yarns — specifically the laceweight and the sock yarn so I can keep on filling old orders.  YAYYY!

And thank you (again) for all those who have sent emails reminding me of lost-misplaced-deliquent orders.   I appreciate it, because it helps me get all my ducks in a row again.

Tonight I’m dyeing up as many orders as I can (based on how much yarn is in the house), plus holding back two lace and two socks to make exemplars for the winter offerings.  As mentioned the other day, These will be available for order on Saturday or Sunday, with delivery at mid-December.

I just heard that prices on yarn from my supplier are going up on Nov 14, so I’m hoping to get at least one more nice order before that happens.  they did say they expect a large volume of orders just before the price increase, but if I get my order in before the increase, I can stand to wait a little longer for delivery, I suppose.  Having a pre-order sale on the new winter colorways will go a long way toward restocking my in-house inventory.   I don’t expect my prices to you to be going up until the Spring.  At least I hope not.  If I can increase volume and keep things flowing out of here, I’ll be okay.

Anyway…. it’s Friday, I’ve been on the steamers much of the day and my back is killing me.  One more steamer load and I’ll be done for the evening,  with more to do tomorrow to finish all that can be done this weekend.  yayyy…

Over the weekend, there was a highly annoying problem with PayPal and their “print shipping label” service.

I’m not sure *exactly* what was going on, but this morning I went into their Community Forum, and discovered several other people complaining about the same thing.    And a few people offered some work-arounds and “creative solutions”.  I also discovered that apparently PayPal is routing their shipping label process through ebay somehow, since the two operations are now combined.

What I specifically did NOT find, however, was any sort of official response or explanation.   Harrumph!!

But, no matter…..  i’ve found a system that seems to be working, and my only frustration with it now is that it takes so long to print one order, colect and package it, get it weight, that sometimes my log-in times out and I have to sign into PayPal again to get the label printed.   Whatever… at least it is getting done.

Slowly but surely, things are getting back to right.  Yayy…

Now that I’ve forced the shipping labels to work, I’m not doing anything today BUT tracking down long-over due BRS orders first and getting those out the door.   then trying to backtrack all the dye orders and get those working again.  This will include recreating AND PRINTING OUT A HARD COPY of the dye job work orders. (yeah, I know… “duh”)

Yeah, yeah, I know… this is all that icky “behind the scenes stuff” that nobody actually cares about, but given the problems I’ve encountered, I want to keep people aware of the process so they know I really AM doing something and making progress.  

If I have enough time this afternoon, I’m going to make a special WinterFest colorway that can be ordered.   That will mean taking orders ahead so I can order bunches of yarns and getting it all dyed up, with delivery on or about the Winter Solstice — probably closer to the middle of December, in time for gift-giving; probably not enough time for gift-making, but you’ll have a one-time colorway to give yarn (or keep for yourself) for the holidays.  I’ll post more about that tomorrow or Wednesday. (and yes, I confess — taking pre-orders for Winterfest will buy yarns enough for that plus enough to make up the yarns that I need to finish previous orders, since each skein bought gives me enough money to buy two more skeins’ worth!)

And now, lunch is eaten, blog updated …. back to packing orders and printing labels.

edit:  I meant to mention:  if you are still waiting for BRS from before this past weekend or if we haven’t discussed other orders since I got the new computer week before last, PLEASE LET ME KNOW — I’VE NOT GOT ALL THE BUGS WORKED OUT OF TRACKING DOWN EVERYONE’S ORDER, BUT I’M WORKING ON IT, SO IT’S OKAY TO REMIND ME OF A DELAYED BRS ORDER.   ACTUALLY, NOT BAD TO REMIND OF OF OTHER ORDERS AS WELL, COME TO THINK OF IT.

I am happy with how things are so swiftly improving in several directions.  I’m getting a handle on this PayPal shipping method, and it’s been working.

Well, it *was* working.   Until Friday afternoon, when I wanted to ship some things out.   I’ve tried several times since then, and this is the message i keep getting:

(click on it to read the yellow highlighted part)

Because this started Friday afternoon, and it has been like this all weekend, I’m going to guess this is one of those “technical problems” that can only be fixed by a 9-to-5-er.  Which means I should anticipate a measure of success sometime on Monday.

Thankfully, I know that it isn’t something at MY end.  There is money in PayPal to pay for shipping, and I just paid a bill to someone else, so other parts of the system are working.  It might be a problem with the interface to the U.S. Postal Service…?  I don’t know.  But I refuse to relinquish my Sunday to simply hitting the retry button and re-entering all the information every 10-15 minutes.  I have other things to do.

Like, just for example, this:

That is a collection of basic 5-round granny squares I created about a year ago (?) with some badly dyed worsted weight yarns.   The intended goal was to create a plain ordinary afghan.

Well, this past week, a local acquaintance came by and was wanting me to create a shawl or wrap for her mother for Christmas.    Yes… THIS Christmas… the one in just a few more weeks.   And, whattaya know, I “just happen” to have the squares all ready to go!   So I’m getting a small commission for assembling these squares into a nice shawl  to keep her mama warm this winter.

I will crochet them with a joining round or two of black, which will create a somewhat open-lacy look between the squares.  This will help it to be less “blanket-like”, which will help with the visual appearance as well as the weight factor.  I want it somewhat drapey, not super heavy.

So, anyway…. back to work I g… OH WAIT!

The recently posted bundle of goodies on the Blog Reader Specials page still has more than a dozen or so assorted yarns left to claim.   AND, this weekend (until 6:00 p.m., my timezone), all BRS requests will have FREE SHIPPING within the U.S.  So… skedaddle yourself over there and pick what you’d like.  And with the holidays approaching, you might think about the other knitters in your circles who need to find out about my yarns and would LOVE a skein to play with this holiday season.  

okay,  NOW I can go back to work!

Took a little longer than i wanted, but still faster than previously.   The electric skein winder made it easier to put these up.  It doesn’t wind much faster than I do (maybe a little bit), but the greater advantage is that I don’t have to stop and rest my shoulder after just a few, so I was able to get all 30-ish done in a few hours.  Yaayyyy!!

And the new computer is working like a charm, but I’m being cautious about saving things and processing things.  Plus it works so much faster, so I am able to get things done quicker.

anyway….last night I posted the most recent Blog Reader Specials,  as well as sorted through the sold items and pulled the stragglers back up nearer the top.

these are the two newest collections:

Some Primo Lace (80% Merino/20% Silk, 1000 yards apiece, except #58 which is 1200 yards)

and six hanks of 80% Alpaca/20% Silk, 880 yards apiece:

I’ll be back later in the week to discuss some other changes being made to help me move forward.   Many people have side ventures and multiple streams of income to fall back on.  I don’t.   I’ve had an incredibly bad year/year-and-a-half, and I’d really like to think the obstacles are mostly behind me.  I have little choice at the moment but to plow forward and make the best of things.

but today, I have workety-work to do, so I’d best get to it.

A couple weeks ago I showed a picture of what was coming.  It arrived yesterday.  Isn’t she pretty?

it can wind up to 3 skeins at once, but until I get a counter I won’t be able to do that just yet.  No matter, this is still going to save me some labor when it comes to reskeining.

And because the arms are adjustable, I can loosen one to easily remove the finished hanks.  I currently have to weasel each one off delicately so as not to break the flanges on the ends, as happened here.

When I opened the box I could smell the linseed oil and tung oil that was used on it, along with the beeswax and citrus oils.    It wasn’t a “bad” smell, but very very strong.  I assembled her out there on the porch, but then brought her inside.   Within just a few minutes I was light-headed and nauseated.  ICK.   She spent the rest of the day at the back door getting aired out, and i slept with the windows opened, and the smell isn’t so bad.

i wrote the company and asked about it, and he assured me it is all safe and non-toxic, which is nice to know.  It’s just really really strong odor and I’m sensitive to stuff like that.

But anyway, it is clearly a hand-crafted tool, and I hope to keep it a good long while.

Of course, I intend to keep my original skein-winder.  She’s served me well for over 5 years, and she was an antique hand-crafted item that I got on ebay.  Apparently some guy built it for his wife, and you can still see the pencil marks for where he cut the hub and other parts.  very cool.   I’ve had to put some screws and stuff into her as the flanges broke, but that’s okay.  that just adds character, right.

the great question is….  what shall I name the new skein winder?    the old one doesn’t have a name either, so I’m not sure i should name the new one.

Oh well…..

I’m continuing to parse the PayPal transaction records — I was able to download the whole thing now all the way back to The Great Computer Crash of 2010  (i.e. 1Sep10).  then I’ll remove all the orders for patterns, dice, and other things.  the sad part about this is that PayPal shows me each transaction event, but does NOT include the details — i.e., WHAT was bought.  So I am having to manually go in, see what each transaction was for, and then if it was an order for dyes or BRS, print it out and add it to the To-Do list.

It is slow going, but it’s getting done.

Yay.  Thanks for the tips from everyone on simplifying the PayPal shipping process.  that helps.

Back to work I go.

Well, sooner than I expected, I have switched from stamps.com to shipping from PayPal.  It is a more cumbersome process to figure out and make it work just right.   And I’m still fiddling with how to make the giant labels print at a size that actually fits some of these smaller packages.

but it means I’m actually getting things shipped because I don’t have to take time for transferring money 3 steps down the road before I can access it for shipping.

Yayy…. one foot in front of the other, that’s all I can do.

Completely NON-KNITTING ….

Yesterday it was t-shirt and shorts weather.   Today… umm… not so much.   In fact, when I woke at 3:00 it was still rather pleasant, but I had to close the windows because I heard thunder in the distance, and went back to bed around 5:30.   Woke again around 8:00 and it was down-right nippley!   Yes, that is a word, and it means exactly what it sounds like when chilly weather moves in quickly. 

The weatherdood said the cold front would be moving through today, but I didn’t realize it would be so early.   And last night it was 75°F at the late evening news and they said it would be 55°F at the same time tonight.

I went to the closet and pulled out an over-shirt (a heavy flannel-type plaid thing)…  <*phewie-stinko*> … pulled out a jacket, again with the stinkies.   EVERYthing I would have worn today was full of “hanging in the closet all year” collection of household odors.

I just washed a load of jackets and overshirts, filling the Downy rinse ball with vinegar.   I don’t use fabric softener, but the rinse ball works just as well for dispensing vinegar at the right time — it slightly alters the pH balance in the water, allowing more of the detergent residue to be stripped off, plus it helps eliminate extraneous odors.  It is especially important to add vinegar to the rinse when washing towels and kitchen linens — helps keep them absorbent (which is the opposite of what fabric softener does) and helps them smell as clean as they are.  And no, there is NO vinegar smell in the clothes.

And later this week I will drag out all my sweaters, or at least the ones that still fit and I might want to actually wear, and get them all washed and blocked.

So, your PSA for the day:  if you haven’t already prepared your cool weather clothes, you’d better get to it sooner than later. Just thought you’d like to know.

And now I return you to your regularly scheduled Tuesday.

Well, clearly the migration to Ubunto will take a while.   For now I have all my essential softwares and stuff, so I’ll leave the migration alone.

Today…. dyeing sock yarns.  tomorrow, dyeing laceweights.

I am also going to ahve to dye up some more of the other stuff in order to have some BRS to sell right away.  I am drastically short of inventory for dyeing everything that HAS to be dyed, but i have some of the non-standard yarns available that can be used for BRS to raise quick cash — I have “some”, but nowhere near enough to fill the gap.

Whatever.  I’ll make money in whatever way I can.

I also have about 40-50 hanks of Primo Lace ready to dye.  If I sell some of them undyed I’ll have enough money to buy thrice again as much as I sell, which is a good deal.  Would you like a 1000-yard hank of UNdyed Primo Lace?  Just $15.00 apiece (plus shipping).

Who here is really really smart with setting up a database?   The way I’ve been doing things is horribly ineffective and wastes a lot of paper in the process.   I need some advice on setting up a data base that will:

- retain customer contact data more efficiently

- track an order from start to finish

- show instantly what needs yet to be done

- compile the daily dye session rosters to ensure each job is done.

- and probably a bunch of stuff I can’t think of right now.

I don’t have money to be buying specialized database software, but i do have LibreOffice database to construct one.  If you are really smart with databases and how to make them work, please let me know and we can discuss it privately.

And now…. back to work.   Woo-hooo!

Some Changes Coming…

I’m going to be switching from the rainbow logo to this one (or something similar).

Less garish than the one I’ve been using, but not entirely formal, either. it looks better on screen than in print, so I may have to fiddle with it.

I will also be archiving this entire blog (actually probably deleting it and saving it elsewhere) and rebuilding the whole website from the front page.  The server has become clogged with too many legacy files that no longer apply to anything, and I’m tired of having 3-400 spam comments to delete EVERY day here.  Obviously this will be an after-hours project to make it happen, but as long as I’m pretty much starting over and picking up the pieces, I might as well start with a fresh new look, right?

AND, I will be phasing out my stamps.com account, spending it down to nothing, and will be switching over to using the PayPal system to pay postage.  this will ensure your packages get shipped out and the money won’t have to go to my bank, and then to my credit card, and then to stamp.com — I don’t have to spell out what a hassle this has been.  But first I’ll spend down what is still on my stamps.com account.

Okay… NOW, back to work i go.

tomorrow I’ll show hyou the hat I made last week as well as some pics of the crocheted shawl I’ve been working on.

OH!   and a few people have been kind enough to remind me of their orders.   THANK YOU.   I know I messed up, and I know It is a process pulling all the pieces together.  I’m not going to take it personally if you want to remind me of an order, just to be sure I include your order in the process.  I likely deserve whatever grief you may wish to express, but that won’t help move things forward.  Just give me the information and I will do my best to make things right.

Thanks.

No, really…. GUESS!

—————-

Okay, nevermind.  I’ll tell you.

The long, dramatic version isn’t worth the telling (but trust me–there was drama to be had throughout this past week); the short version is that the new computer box FINALLY arrived last night.

It is running Windows 7 and Ubuntu.  Somehow it managed to zip through the Ubuntu install process without my noticing, and my only regret is that it only gave Ubuntu a very small partition.  I seriously wanted to leave about 100G to Windows and all the rest to Ubunto, since that is what I plan to be using.

Whatever… now comes the “fun” part (insert eye-roll here) — making sure all my softwares and programs are installed on both sides of the partition.  Some software isn’t available for both sides, but I’ve found some pretty good equivalents.  The main issue is that I can have all my documents available to work in either operating system.   There are only a very few applications for which I will need to be in Windows.  YAYYYYY

The part YOU FOLKS need to know is that I’ve tried to download every PayPal transaction since June 1.  that should catch nearly all the BRS orders and the custom dye orders.   I’ll have to manually go through my print-outs for what has shipped (you know…. that piece of paper in each of your orders?  I keep one for myself to show it has been shipped), and then I can isolate the orders that must yet be done per the PayPal spreadsheet.

Yeah, tedious process but I don’t know any other way (right now) to ensure each order is gone.  I used to do it a different way, inside the computer, but with the hard-drive copies gone, I’m glad I have paper back ups for what has been done, and the PayPal record will reveal what is yet to be done.

Oh, and as I mentioned previously, I have an online place to store critical documents now, plus a STACK of CDs for regular back-ups.

So that’s where it stands this week — just technical stuff to get things working again.

I have to say …   The computer i moved here with was from 2004.  That one died last year and was replaced by a used computer from 2002.   Needless to say, I am super impressed with how fast this one is running.   WOW.     It would take nearly a day to adequate process a full load of BRS pictures, plus posting the entries.   This machine has enough power to load them all, process them all, and be done without constantly flashing up memory-low warnings or simply stopping mid-process to catch its breath (or whatever the heck it was doing as the hour-glass symbol flickered at me).

And one last thing — This new computer was a gift from someone who likes what I do and wants me to stay in business.   There are, in fact, several individuals who have extended themselves in a majorly big way for me.  I likely would not have made it this far without their assistance.   I won’t name names, but they know who they are and I hope they know just how much their help has meant.  The best way I can thank them is to honor their trust in me and move forward to get back in the game.   So that’s what I’m doing.

And now…. back to getting things set up in here.    Wheeeeeee!