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| 2009-08-20 17:20 |
| So many things |
| Public |
 squirrelly |
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1) I registered for the Garden State Sheep & Fiber Festival, which is Sept 12-13 at the Hunterdon County fair grounds in Ringoes, NJ. It's local to me and it's small and I am going NUTS trying to think of all the stuff I need for it. I have something like 30 pounds of yarn to skein, dye up and label before it, too. More if my back-ordered stuff arrives in time. It's been too hot to think about going outside, however. Still, even if it doesn't cool down soon, I have to get to dyeing it soon, so the rest of this week will be reeling.
I have a *lot* of stuff to do, including get a sign made, a rubber stamp with my business info for the receipt books, and make myself at least one logo tshirt. I've also left a message at the contact number since the registration date has passed, to see if I can upgrade the registration from an outdoor booth to an indoor one, as someone who's been there before says the outdoor vending area is quite windy.
2) I'm going to be sending samples to the Phat Fiber Box thingy hopefully some time in Sept or October. I'm waiting to I get my back-ordered yarn and a chance to dye some up. The plan is to do sample cards with a couple yards of each of my bases and a tuft of roving, and then a 10g sample of one of them so a proper sample can be worked up. I've been dividing up skeins of yarn for this and I need to do a lot more. I'm trying to pull skeins that are underweight or damaged so I'm not losing too much out of the sale stream, but it's not always possible. It's kind of a huge undertaking, too.
I'm planning to also sell a few through the shop. Because these things are expensive and time consuming to make, I've decided that the ones I sell will be $6.50 each, and the buyer can specify which base they want to try. And these will have a coupon code inside them for $5 off their next purchase. I think it's a decent trade off. It costs more than $1.50 to put the things together and there are the fees to consider. I figure the total is high enough to discourage people who aren't serious. But for those who *are* serious, $5 is a decent incentive towards a yarn purchase and they'll still have a neat, organized little sample card of all my bases.
3) I have no idea how my yarn did at Sock Summit. I know one skein sold because the buyer contacted me to enthuse about it, and that was fabulous. I was really grateful because I've been thinking about Sock Summit and all that sock yarn in one place and how the buyers in the marketplace would all be overstimmed and how my woeful 23 skeins would just disappear into the haze of color. Knowing that if nothing else 1 skein sold means I no longer feel like the kid picked last at sport in school. XD Because I know at least 4.35% of my yarn sold, and that's not bad! XD I'm hopeful that all my business cards went out, however. It seems like the booth had a lot of traffic, and I sent stuff for exposure, not for profit so that's what matters to me.
4) My computer is finally going kaput after worrying about it for almost a year. It's started having trouble recognizing its own AC adapter, after having given up on its battery, the dvd drive is starting to malfunction, and I've had mounting speed and memory issues as the system can't handle what I ask of it. The power issue is the insurmountable problem, however. So, I took the balance in my paypal account and went and got a Dell scratch and dent. I'd be more excited, but a) I don't really have the money for it, b) it runs Vista. :P Vista is very pretty, but it gives up some practical functionality to it. I ordered the new computer late Monday night. I received it on Wednesday. o.o Totally didn't expect it that fast. Cosmetically, it's big and black and has some tiny, difficult to notice scratches on the hinges. So unless it's got refurbished parts in it, it's not appreciably scratched or dented. The exterior is matte, which is good, but once it's opened everything is glossy/shiny which I think is kind of stupid given how it's instantaneously covered in fingerprints.
It's going to take some getting used to, especially the touch pad, and I'm still using my old computer right now as I get the other up to speed. Luckily, most of my software is free and downloadable, and I have a lot of stuff already on an external hard drive. Still, moving over all the files I use regularly is a bit of a drag. That, and finding all the passwords that didn't move over when I saved my firefox profile. :P
5) It's so ridiculously humid that I had to give one of the rabbits a coaster for her ice bottle. When the weather is dangerously hot, I give them each a gallon milk jug filled with ice water. The rabbit in the hutch with the wood floor now has it sitting on a frisbee because otherwise all her bedding gets soaking wet. The other rabbit's hutch has a mesh floor so it's not an issue.
... Is it really bad that I want an angora rabbit so I can sell angora fiber through my etsy shop? We've already got rabbits, what's one more? No, I'm not going to get an angora, they're way too much work. But we have the spare hutches.... No, no, not going to get one. Can't afford one, let alone having the patience to fluff it's fur every day.
6) I'm planning to excavate my closet with the goal of removing at least 20% of the crap as I only wear about the top 5% of it. So I randomly picked up a linen sun dress I've never worn (it was mail ordered) because it was too tight around the lower half and it mysteriously not only fits, but it looks pretty good. This is both pleasing and annoying since it's nice having new stuff that looks pretty good and knowing that my current stable weight is an appreciable difference from my previous, but it's also one less thing to chuck. XD
Last, I have acquired a cell phone that has a qwerty keyboard, a gift from a friend who took pity on my thumbs. OMG it's so much easier to text and email now. I moved over the numbers and email addresses by hand, and realized that a number are really old and possibly not current (yeah, I don't really use my cell phone to call people). So, if you'd like me to have either or both bits of information, leave a comment. I'm screening comments just in case.
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