Well, what have I been doing all this time I’ve been lamely silent? A lot!
In late February, I set a goal for myself to dye 100 skeins of yarn. I had about 2 weeks – in the middle of which I went snowboarding near Tahoe, but when a friend offers a free place to stay and a $33 lift ticket, you just can’t say no. So realistically, I probably had about 8 working days or so. And I did it! Well, 98 skeins plus a bunch of roving, which counts for at least 2. :)
Behold, the fruits of my first production runs:
Yes, the red is really that bright! It’s my favorite and proudest color yet. I’ve also done a lot of work to make the labels educational and interesting. I know that most people don’t really read labels, and was not expecting much, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by several people saying, “I LOVE your labels!” Yay! People really DO read! I’m glad. I still would have worked hard to make good labels, and I’m happy that the work is being noticed. :)
And all these yarns are available now at Yarns at the Adobe in San Luis Obispo, CA. Anyone who has met Anne Gough, the proprietor, knows that she’s wonderful, but I really do appreciate how supportive and encouraging she’s been to me this past year. She’s given me my first opportunity to publicly sell my yarn, and I’m very grateful.
…and speaking of availability…yes, I am working on my website! For real! No kidding! It’s my main task for when I’m in Australia, visiting Dan. Australia, you say? Yes, the lucky duck got a job there for the spring (well, it’s fall there), so I’m going to visit him. (Pause for a short freak-out — EEEEK! Only 4 days!!! I have so much stuff to do!!!! /End pause.) I mean, I could work on my website here, but I might as well work on it there since I have a free place to stay and free food. And he’s in a small town called Robinvale, which isn’t very close to anything, so I should be distraction-free for a bit.
Though I am planning on meeting up with a friend, who’s been working at a winery near Adelaide,and travelling with her for a little bit. I’m kind of leaning towards backpacking the Great Ocean Walk in my new little hippie shoes, if Shannon’s amenable to that idea….But I’m also up for other stuff! Anyone listening from Down Under? Give me a shout-out! Will trade lodging for naturally hand-dyed yarn! I’ll be there from April 7th thru May 15th!
Alpenglow Yarn 
April 1st, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Beautiful! I especially like that deep red in the first pic. I’ll have to get down there and check it out.
Have you read In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson? He’s my favorite travel writer and this book’s about Australia. It’s not his best because he spends a lot of time in the car (Australia being a big place) and a bit less time interacting with people, which are his best fodder for writing. But it’s still a very funny book with a lot of history to boot. Good stuff!
April 2nd, 2010 at 4:45 am
No, and I think someone else recommended that book to me too! Cool, history is always good since I don’t think we ever learned anything about Australia in school.