Week 4 – what I learned

Here’s how this short week went.  

another batch felted

I felted 15 bars of soap – citrus spice.  I smells really good.  I’ve had the batch here for the final week of its curing time and it has filled the house with a yummy smell.   (If you counted – the 15th bar is in my shower!)

baby socks

I have 4 new pair of socks completed.  Along with the pink pair on the shelf, I have a pair for each blanket set.   Another pair of each color only needs to be sewn up.

baby hats

I have 9 (yeah, 9!) baby hats completed.  I have another on the needles to work on during the show, should there be time.   The brown one in front is for a customer order from my Etsy shop.   I’m nearly out of enough yarn of any color to make another hat.   I’ll probably try to make a few more with stripes like the lavender / mauve one on the right. 

felted mittens

And lastly, I have these 2 pair of felted teen / small adult mittens. 

What has this experiment taught me?  

   1) it really helps to have a schedule set over a long period of time, that kept me from becoming discouraged when one day didn’t go as planned

   2) it helped to share my schedule with people (in-person and on-line), that kept me accountable

   3) I was glad I scheduled in previous commitments.  I looked forward to my fiber meetings as mini vacations

   4) Discipline is not always fun – even when I like what I’m doing. 

   5) I had to adjust and cut myself some slack.  I didn’t hit all my goals to completion, but I’m happy with the accomplishments.

   6)  it helped having the schedule on paper on my desk.   I checked it many times each day – can I move this? do that? 

Will I try this again?   What changes will I make?   So far, I’ve started putting some goals on my calendar on my laptop for next week, next month, January.  I’m not convinced that is a good idea, as I don’t use my laptop daily.  But I really shouldn’t have such a crunch as this again.   I think I have enough inventory to get me through Christmas, then I have until farmer’s market / summer before things start moving.  

Today was the day for packing for the craft fair in Braham tomorrow.   I hope to see you there.

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Week 3 – wrap up

Wow!  I got so much done last week.  I had a lot to finish – since Week 4 is going to be really short.   Here’s how it went:

Cat toys – I reduced my goal from 15 to 10 and finished those 10!  $5.

Ready for play

Toddler mittens – 5 pair complete – Yay!

Little mittens in a row

Ladies mittens – 4 pair complete, 1 pair to be felted!

Ladies mittens

Baby socks – 10 pair knit!  Look at this heap of little socks!  

Yikes! That's a mess of socks

 So far only 3 have their seam sewn.  I’m waiting on back ordered yarn to make 2 more pair of blue!

Socks complete!

Baby hats – I have finished one of each color.  I mis-calculated the yarn I would need to make 2 hats and 2 pair socks of each color, so my new goal is to use up all the yarn on hats.

Week Four’s Schedule:

Monday – felt more soap, 15 bars of Citrus Spice.  It’s been spreading its fragrance through the house as it finished it final curing.  Yum!

Tuesday – my spinning guild meets, so I’ll work on baby hats between shopping, eating and visiting!

Wednesday and Thursday – finish baby hats and baby socks! 

Friday – pack up the truck for the trip to Braham and wrap up all loose ends before the show.   I have an hour drive, so will have to leave about 6:30 AM.   I’ll be at the First Annual Fall Craft Fair in Braham.   If you are in the area – stop by the high school. 

And I should add, I picked up one more show.  It is a fundraiser on November 15  for the Zonta Minneapolis Club.

Week 2 – wrap up

I think last week was pretty successful.   Here’s the breakdown:

Soap – 15 bars felted – success!   (7 bars sold!)

Ladies mittens – 4 pair knit, none complete – partial success

Baby hats – 4 complete, 2 partially complete – success!

Wristwarmers  – 24 pair on the shelf – success!

Wrist warmers all in a row

That was a good week! 

Week Three’s Schedule:

Monday – 15 felted cat toys  (these are now available in my Etsy shop!)

Tuesday – dedicated to baby hats

Wednesday – 5 pair of toddler sized mittens

Thursday – work on ladies mittens

Friday & Saturday – 11 pair of baby socks to match hats and blankets

Sunday – Finish the ladies mittens

That means that the cat toys, toddler mittens, baby socks and ladies mittens should all be done by week’s end.   The ladies mittens will be a challenge (as I need to dye yarn for them), but the others should be do-able!   This is the week of completion!