Saturday, March 15, 2014

A bit of a conundrum

Trying to figure out what to get in order to grow my yarn business. I could upgrade my drum carder, get another wheel for production/plying/teaching, or get dyeing supplies. All are needed really, but I can only get one thing at a time :/ What to do?
I already know my drum carder of choice: Strauch Mad Batt'r, but the price tag.. $775. Would need a few hundred more dollars. How much would I need to sell? How do I sell batts and yarn?
The wheel is a bit harder to figure out. Used or new? Probably going to be used. The Babe Pinkie? It would definitely be portable, but would it be enough wheel? Close behind is the Ashford Country Spinner. Defintely not doable right now.. Then there are Heavenly Handspinning wheels. I really like the Stella Double Treadle. Affordable, but I don't know much about them, other than I used to have a kick wheel from the same maker.
Dyes will be coming from Dharma Trading Company. I should probably go get these first and get the wheel.... anyway!

This is what I'm working on. :) I still have another 2.5 oz to spin. It's hand painted merino top and I plan to Navajo ply it. Can't wait to see how it comes out. It may be the first yarn that I sell :)

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Getting there

Been spinning more and have been sewing a bit more too :)

 Scored this free cabinet off post. It was like a community Throw Out What You Don't Want day. Meh, perfect for my wool :)
 Crocheted this cute, chunky infinity scarf. Was supposed to be for my cousin's wife, but it got too hot :/ I'll wear it next year and make her something for the spring. Check out the awesome dress form :)
 Finished the Nebula yarn. A bit softer than I thought it would be, which is awesome :) I think it's 37 yards, but need to recount the yardage. Chunky fluffy awesomeness.
 Llama "wool" dryer balls. :) Started making these and got some orders for 36 balls. 16 down, 20 to go :P
I figured out how to makes hanks also.

Right now, I'm debating on getting a used Babe Pinkie to ply on. I like that it's portable, but I'm getting mixed reviews on it. The one I'm looking at does have a bunch of extras including the plying flyer. $180 shipped, so I just might get it. We shall see :P