Knotty Mouse

I’ve sort of been off in my own little world lately and have been doing a lot of thinking about where I want my business to go and how I want to get it there. Admittedly I try to keep the ‘business stuff’ off of this blog because I’ve been told before that people don’t really like when someone’s blog is all about their business. I can totally understand that but I also really love reading blogs that are written by women with their own shops & crafty businesses where they talk about their daily routines - be it cutting a million squares for quilts or knitting tons of hats for their craft show booths. I have a ’shop blog’ but I barely use it… its on blogger and I actually forget that its over there half the time. Its mostly a ’shop update’ announcement place anyway. I’ve been kicking around things about the business lately and when I got frustrated by having to explain so much to a non-knitting or spinning husband I was told that I should ask “the blog”- which is hysterical that he’d suggest something like that. (and he doesn’t even read Yarn Harlot.. lol)

So.. where was I? Oh yeah.. shop. I’ve decided that I am going to list myself as a “yarnie” over on Ravelry b/c I have been selling my handspun for a while, its likely that someone might have it in their stash, and I’d really like to pursue that part of my business further. I recently sent out a skein (in the photo) with the name “Two Paws Handspun” because its the name that I have all of my handspun yarns listed under on Ravelry in my own stash - and the name seems to have stuck. So this is where I get all confuzzled… In Ravelry you have a Brand name which also comes up under your user name in the “yarnies” section (say “Lorna’s Laces”for example) and then you can have different sorts of yarns (and LL has Shepard sock, Lion & Lamb.. etc) and you get a line that says where the person bought the yarn (”Knitch yarn shop” for example) or you can add in a website address. I’ve been sitting here for DAYS trying to decide how I want to list everything in Ravelry because I know that its a data base and would be a big fat mess to try and edit once its been done.. so I want it to work properly.

What I’m getting at here is that I basically need help deciding what name I should use. I could list the “Brand Name” (which would also be my Yarnie name) as Mousie Masala & then list ALL of the yarns as Two Paws Handspun - the whole whack of them regardless of plies or type. OR I could list the “Brand name” as Two Paws Handspun - then come up with catagories and names for the types of yarn I am selling/will sell (single, two ply.. art yarn.. etc). I really want to use Ravelry’s system to see IF anyone and how many folks have either stashed my yarn or used it as projects.. so I really don’t want to name each individual yarn by its colorway as I’ve seen some folks do. I have looked through Ravelry’s Yarnie section so many times that I’m starting to recognize people’s icons without looking at the names.

Where do I stand? I’m confuzzled to say the least. I’m not sure how I want to be “known”- whether I should go with my shop name of Mousie Masala that’s been out there for a few years.. or use the Two Paws Handspun as my brand (because Mousie Masala is technically the SHOP itself.. and Two Paws is the yarn..) and hope that people make the connection but then have to “name” all of my yarns. I’m totally over-analyzing this but I also want to be able to come up in the search thing when you type in a yarn. I *have* however changed the banner on my Etsy shop to reflect this name addition.. so I’m pretty committed to the name itself.

So, I’d really love to hear your opinion. I know there are some Rav Yarnies that read my blog too so that would be helpful to hear from y’all as well. Thanks in advance.

I thought about resurrecting this “Fake Isle” hat as a Christmas gift but I’m not entirely sure that the intended receiver will even like it.. and its Silk Garden, which isn’t something that is in my budget often (it was a destash gift) that I am willing to just toss it out to whomever and hope they don’t use it as a dust rag. At least in digging it out I was able to get an accurate progress shot for Ravelry and my new progress bars! I have been waiting for my shot at testing them (you have to be ‘approved’ for the Rav- Magic to work between your project list and your blog) and spent all of yesterday trying to install them.. until I realized that the error was really stupid (it helps to HAVE works in progress to show on said “progress bars”.. duh.) and boom.. they worked.

Here at Chez Mousie its been computer and website fun for the last two days. After my Zen-Cart shop screwed me out of shipping for the LAST TIME - I shut the whole site down for “maintenance” while I called the creators of the program nasty names and wished terrible things upon their mothers. I decided that no matter what Etsy throws at me during the coming year that its probably better than dealing with my impossible Zen-Cart shop and made the decision to trash the whole thing and start over with a general site ( I am paying for the .com for the next year already) that links to the shop blog, Etsy, has a gallery so folks can see stuff I’ve made,  and doesn’t make me want to tear my hair out. Hubby is in the process now of dealing with my impossible wishes making my ‘new website’ all pretty and beating the code into submission.  I’m paying him in chocolate cupcakes and candy coated pretzels and hoping to “go live” with the new site shortly.

Oh yes, and Christmas break came early at the House of Mouse as last night Munchkin sounded like he was coming down with the plague. I sent him to bed with the promise that if he was ok in the morning he could go to school.. but he woke up sometime in the night and came in to my room to tell me he couldn’t go because he was “snuffy”.  I kept him home so that he would be well for Christmas and he spent the day in his new “army guy” pjs (christmas from my folks which came in mighty handy) laying around the house.

This whole “Blogging Without Obligation” thing has made me a total slack-ass about posting because I don’t feel pressured to come here and ramble at you for no damn good reason. Unfortunately for you I don’t actually have anything to show - but I popped in because I decorated around the blog for the holidays and thought I’d let y’all know. (aka. there’s a new banner & holiday tag line for those of you who read on Bloglines)

The weather here in Georgia has been so weird that I haven’t really been put in a knitting mood. Its cool/cold here (around 38F)   in the mornings (7am) when I take Munchkin to the bus but warms up to ‘throw a sweater over a teeshirt’ weather  (60F) by 3pm.  I did totally botch NoroVember because I wasn’t happy with the Noro I had in my stash and wasn’t about to purchase anymore with our finances being sort of ugly (tis the season and all that) again this month.

So.. I am alive and everyone is doing ok here at Chez Mousie but I’m just really not up to blogging lately.  I will be updating my Etsy shop again in the next week with new sheepie bags, beaded & fimo spinning wheel orifice hooks, handspun yarns (which you’ve seen here on the blog) and possibly some destashing of yarn & fiber.   Yes, I’m shamelessly plugging my shop this time..  as all shop funds this time of year go directly to Munchkin’s Christmas gifts.  I’ve already put up some inexpensive beaded markers for holiday gift giving….  buy handmade!

Coming to my Etsy shop Monday or Tuesday

(EDITED TO ADD: I put some up tonight.. I think it was the 2 cups of pumpkin spice coffee I drank that made me so geared up!)

This years versions are a bit different (photos are recycled from last year) but these 3 designs will be returning from 2006. I’m looking at ‘dressing up” some of my other critter stitch markers for trick or treating as well.. stay tuned. (/shameless self promotion)

Just a little shameless promotion that I’ve updated the shop with 6 handpainted drop spindles! I’ve had a hard time shutting my mouth about my secret little project.. but I wanted to wait until they were done and up in the shop. I’ve “test spun” all of them - ok fine.. I admit that I played with every one of them and there’s some roving stuck to each one of them to prove it. After all.. I couldn’t just let them out into the world without making sure that they were ok.. right? RIGHT? yeah.. I thought so.
Funny thing about the one to the left.. it was going to be sheep on a blue background when I started it. How it went from sheep to the Buddha’s eyes.. I’ll never know, but that’s my “creative process” for you. Also during the making of this spindle.. I cleaned my brush in my coffee cup instead of the paint cup. Mental note.. move the brush cleaning water AWAY from your beverage!

I figured I’d post an update here as well.. a few new things were added to the shop today- including the “hippy sheep” bag you can see to the left. They’re printed on ‘patches’ made from thrifted teeshirts and were fused to the bags and then zigzag stitched with my sewing machine. I think they turned out pretty cool. I really wanted to keep one.. but I was good and put them in the shop. (/shameless plug)
Easter with the family was.. exhausting as usual. I get really tired of getting picked at about the way we choose to live our lives.. get over it people! Yes.. my 5 1/2 year old son has “long” hair (think.. the Beatles) and no.. I’m not planning on “making him cut it” any time soon. Sheesh! Munchkin had a good time since he is too little yet to understand everything that the adults were saying.. and he got MORE candy (the ‘bunny’ got a little carried away at Big Box Store’s 99 cent candy display..) and was able to play baseball and go on an egg hunt. I got to eat ham (somebody put pineapple on it though.. which really detracted from the experience.. but I lived..) and cheesy broccoli - and was able to knit another inch of my sock.

The shop update is live! New stuff is in place at the shop.. enjoy! I’ve also installed a newsletter function on the front page so that people can sign up to be emailed when the shop updates again- which will hopefully be in about two weeks.  (/shameless plug for shop)  I’m going to either have a cup of coffee or crawl back into bed now.. I haven’t decided which yet.  *thud*

Not much knitting going on here at Chez Mousie lately- but a lot of designing. I’ve spent the last week and all weekend printing bags, making polymer clay & beaded stitch markers, and working on some fiber animal cellphone charms in preparation for a huge shop update tomorrow - March 26th. I’ll update this post when the shop update goes live.. which will be sometime between tonight before I go to bed (around 11pm EST) or tomorrow after my son gets on the bus (820AM EST) in the morning.

You are a health conscious person, both your health and the health of others. You know all about the health benefits and dangers of the world around you.”

This quiz is completely amusing.. since I am getting sick and need to be taking echinacea so that I don’t get slammed with whatever plague that is going around. I’m probably going to muddle through the last few days of NaBloPoMo with some Memes because that’s all I’m up to.

 

I’ve decided that I’m going to attempt to play along with NaBloPoMo this month (rather unofficially though.. since I’m not joining the list) so y’all will be subjected to daily ramblings from Chez Mousie until I completely botch it and forget to post.  If I go by my fabulous track record with the ABC-Along, Soctoberfest, Kyoto-Along ( I hosted it and never finished the knitting.. how’s that for failure to commit?), and Saturday sky - y’all will only have about a week of posts before I blow it. Marching on with randomness..

I’ve updated the shop again with 3 skeins of handspun merino yarn that y’all have seen before on the blog.. I’ve put them up for sale so that someone else can love them instead of them taking up space in my cluttered studio.

Trick or Treating last night was a nightmare due to Atlanta traffic. Apparently its notorious for taking forever to get home in rush hour on Halloween.. and we got stuck in the middle of it because we left work over an hour later than planned.  It took nearly 2 hours to get 20 miles - and I was trapped in a car with someone who is having heavy duty nicotine withdrawal symptoms and is ready to tear off peoples heads. Thankfully my mother-in-law was there at the house to pick up Munchkin, take him to eat, and then get him into his costume. We did hit the end of trick or treating..  for whatever it was worth.. since only 8 houses in our ENTIRE neighborhood were giving out candy. 

My birthday continued to suck after I wrote the last post..  but instead of spending the rest of my birthday wallowing.. I worked on stitch markers for the shop.  There are 5 new designs (including “flat fleece” to the left) going up on Halloween and I’m  pre-dating this post for midnight tonight so that it goes live the same time as the shop. I’m a day early on my scheduled update but I will be working tomorrow with my husband all day and then heading home to trick or treat with Munchkin tomorrow night. I’ve also lowered the prices at the shop - happy holiday shopping!{/shameless promotion}

I’m only working “out in the world” one day a week but juggling home/life/knitting/blogging/motherhood..etc etc is already getting interesting. For a person who hasn’t even worn a watch for 6 years, getting onto a schedule and planning ahead is really difficult..  I don’t do well with structured days. Then again.. I’m also a person who thinks that being an adult gives me the right to eat cake for breakfast because there’s no one to stop me- hence the fact that I had cheesecake and tea at 10am this morning!

I’ve finished the Harlot handspun scarf and actually wore it out to dinner on Thursday night for my “pre-birthday dinner” at the restaurant opening. I have to ask my husband for photos of it because he took some outside on our deck for me… could be a few days though because he’s still rather um.. tense from quitting smoking.

I’m concidering doing the NaBloPoMo challange and posting every day for the month of November.. but I’m not entirely sure yet as to whether anyone could actually stand to hear me ramble like that on a daily basis.

ps. thank you for all of the birthday wishes, comments, and cards.. I really appreciated it. Y’all made my weekend much better here on the internet than it was in ‘real life’.