Dyer’s Rants

Hi Everyone!

With all this crazy weather-it is a wonder I can get my work done. Kids have missed now 7 days and my sanity is in question. But I am thankful for the dye studio where I can focus on my dyeing and inventing new colorways and colorwashes. Actually-I must confess that many of the inventions are actually from customers and fans of Scarlet Fleece. So without delay-feast your eyes on the following:

Abalone

Bubble Gum & Blue Jeans

Spruce Tips

Tree & Sky

Raven

Eucalyptus

And there you have it. These will be available at your favorite local and online shop soon. Speaking of shops-we have added about 35 shops and online sites to the Scarlet Fleece family. These new shops will be posted very shortly-so check back soon.

I will be heading beak to the dye studio for more dyeing today-but as we are dealing with the inconveniences of winter-take a moment to look around at the beauty of the season!

Our lamp posts at sunrise.

My sheep babies in the snow

Mr Rocket Man battles deep snow

Hi Everyone,

Nice to blog after a long absence from the blogosphere. This is a rare discussion (on my part) on the nature of business and how it applies to a yarn dying business.

One of the reasons for my long silence has been due to …well…lots of work. Thanks to my sales force-my orders started coming in at a pace that resulted in long days in the dying studio and longer delays than I would like (or customers would like) in getting out orders. While this is a wonderful problem to have, especially in these economic times, it is a problem that needs addressing. So the notion of creativity verses innovation.

In my business-I love the fact that I can work the creative side of my brain-I love it love LOVE it! But as I tangle with the trial of figuring out how to streamline my production without loosing the quality-I am forced to deal with the needed requirement in any business-Innovation. In my mind, innovation in the implementation of the creative idea and is the most difficult part of building a business. It will either make or break you. I have been watching the hand dyed yarn industry-and many dyers have flooded the market. While there is a lot of talented dyers out there, there are very few dyers that are good business people. And I very much understand the commitment involved. When faced with orders, family, animals, husband’s schedule, kids, household and farm chores…how do you make it work and how do you you make it work well? If you are going to grow a business-even a yarn business, especially a yarn business-you have to have many skills. You have to devise a brand, logo, and a marketing scheme, create your own ads; you have to set up your books and a means to keep track of your expenses; you have to be computer savvy-a photographer, a web geek; you have to have excellent customer service skills, and you have to have vision-a goal as to where the business is going. Not to mention you have to knit, design patterns, and yes-know  color and how to dye yarn that is color fast and beautiful and consistent. And I am finding the most important skill of all is as a time manager in how to do this all and fit it into your day. Other hats you will wear is a labeler, skeiner, and builder (if you build your own studio-I did all the finishing work-put in the moldings, laid the tile floor, etc) and last but not least-cleaner upper. I am a wiz with the shop vac.

Currently-while I do contract pattern writers and sales reps-I do the work. This year as we find ourselves in 2010-my goal is to reduce production time and increase productivity-so maybe I can have a weekend off here and there. And yes-increase sales.

Following are some some pics of Sweet Tree Hill Farm, a new Cowl pattern to go with the Mushroom cap and some of the holiday knitting I did for family. Happy New Year to all of you-may your dreams take a fast track to reality this year!

The Puffy Ribbed Cowl that is a free download on Ravelry

The barn and dye studio a week before Christmas

Scenes 1 week before Christmas at the farm

The sheep in the snow

Yes...I did knit a bit for Christmas!

Greetings Everyone-

I sit here in an Autumn Wonderland-I am so enjoying the overdose of color. It is a brilliant reminder of why I enjoy dying yarn-playing with color-so entrancing. I am sooooo lucky to get to live and work here, to live with such inspiration. Later in this post will be some wonderful views I get to see as I start my day. This is my very favorite time of year-and am reminded that life is so fleeting as the leaves fall and then disappear into the greyness of Winter. I do like the calmness of Winter, but now -just for a moment-I relish in vibrant oranges, reds and yellows. Some farm activities include canning the many pears that are coming in on our 2 trees. So far my son Ian and I have made 7 quarts of pickled pears and 14 quarts of Pear Pie Filling. We also have made 12 bottles of Hot Pepper Vinegar from the bumper chili pepper crop we had. (More to do- Christmas is coming!) I grew up in Louisiana and crave hot stuff-add a few drops to Red Beans and Rice or stew or chili and you have a party in your mouth-trust me!

Animals are a big part of daily life here-with goats, chickens, dogs and rabbits.  Somebody is always needing to be fed. We have a few newbies to the farm family. We have 2 new baby cochin chickens I got last weekend at a farm day at the local feed store. And one of our bantam chickens had a yen to be a mother-she would not stop setting. So I let her have 1 baby and here she is-meet Sassy!

new chickie

Ian, Ginny and I went to the Fall Fiber Festival in Orange VA a few weeks ago and came home with Purple Rain-a lavender English Angora Bunny. Might consider introducing him to Fiona and Enya-but not for a while. He is a sweety who likes to be held:

While I owned Holly Spring Homespun-our mascot, our little boston terrier, had many fans. In fact-we have named Scarlet Fleece after her-here is a pic of her, and her favorite daddy and little sister enjoying a Sunday morning.

Progress is moving along on the dye studio. The electricity has been added along with plumbing, a double sink-with HOT water (yea!). The rest is up to me as I painstakingly add trim and baseboards-almost done. I am horribly slow at trim work-not my area of specialty. And I am trying to work it in as I do dye orders. But I plan on starting to apint the interior this weekend. I want to move in in about 2 weeks. My kids are worrying I will not get done in time to decorate for Christmas. You see, currently the parlor is being used as office, storage, drying area and shipping zone and they want to put the Christmas tree there. So I struggle to get all the work done.

I am also working on some small patterns for Silk & Ivory as well as 2 new yarns-Grassy Wool and Scarlet Green. Scarlet Green is a bulky organic merino yarn that is as soft as a teddy bear-and I am working on a shoulder scarf and matching hat-I’ll be putting on the site soon. The Grassy Wool is a fingering weight washable merino and bamboo blend lending an elegance to socks, shawls and anything lacy. I am starting a lacy shrug soon. And the designers are starting to design for 2009 using all the yarns-many yummy things coming, including new color ways-so stay tuned! But here is a scarf in Silk & Ivory in the Easter Basket colorway that is currently available as a free pattern at your LYS:

Ok-that is it for now-need to get back to dying. As promised-here is a little slide show of views of Sweet Tree Hill Farm: