LeClerc Cendrel Give-a-way!

It’s that time of issue again, the time when I have something fantastic to give away.  Are you ready?  This is a big one.  A super cool one.  One I really want to keep.  REALLY WANT TO KEEP!

You’ve read the smart and sassy Amy Tyler’s article and project in the worsted issue — holiday inkle band,  right?  Well I’ve never woven on an inkle loom but her project was so cute and she made the loom — the LeClerc Cendrel floor inkle loom — sound pretty darn nice.  I thought you might think the same thing.  The people at LeClerc thought you might think so too.  So we’ve got a brand new one just for you!  Well, just for one of you.  Want it?  All you’ve got to do is leave a review of the worsted issue  on the worsted issue page!  Don’t leave your review here (unless you want to copy and paste it here, make sure you leave it on the worsted issue page!

On Feb 4th I’ll post the randomly chosen winner from all the reviews!

 

Buying Things

In the Ply Ravelry group in the thread about what people would like to see in Ply, there has a been a bit of discussion going on about the stealth reviews. Some people are happy with them, and some people would like to see more about the downsides of the products being reviewed. It’s a fine line and I think Jacey did a good job of answering concerns and explaining that’s going on. You can check it out here: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/ply-magazine/2611174/201-225#201

It got me to thinking more than usual about buying fiber tools and how to go about it. Since I owned a fiber shop I have thought about this question a lot but in the last year or so I’ve not been so invested in it for other people. But here I am, back again to thinking hard about the whole topic.

Here’s what I see happening. Somebody wants to buy a new thing. There are several makers of this thing and so it’s hard to decide which one to invest in. Fiber tools seem expensive and so this somebody doesn’t want to get it wrong. So they go to Ravelry/Facebook/Twitter/G+ and say, “I’m looking to buy a thing. Which thing do you recommend?” Then the spinner gets 1 million replies with all of the people saying that the thing that they own is the very best and all the other things are poorly made/don’t work/are stupid. Now the spinner is even more confused. What to do?!

woolprocesscard

 

Here’s my advice, since not everybody has a spinning shop within a couple of hours of their home where they can try things.

First, if you have a guild, take advantage of it. Ask people there if you can touch the tools they are using to see if they feel comfortable to you. If it’s a spinning wheel, it is not difficult to try the wheel with your own fiber and then take off the length that you spun even if they are in the middle of a bobbin. Most spinners are very happy to help.

If you don’t have a guild and you feel like you are out there on your own, chances are you aren’t – you just haven’t found the people yet, go with your gut. Don’t buy the cheapest thing but buy the best you can afford.

Here’s how this discussion goes in almost every class I teach.

Student: “Really? $75 for hand cards!?”

Me: “yep, that’s what they cost.”

Student: “Can’t I just use a dog brush?”

Me: “yes you can. But the tines aren’t as strong and you will be replacing them often and they cost $10 so once you replace them seven times over 7  years you will have paid the price for hand cards which will last more than 20 years at least. $70 over 20 years works out to $3.50 per year which is way cheaper than dog brushes over time.”

That’s how I feel about almost every spinning tool. Yes, the initial expense feels high but buying the right tool for the job will work better and the tool will last for almost your whole fiber life.

So, now, what if you buy a tool that’s not working for you? Well, there is a giant market for second hand tools. you won’t get what you paid for it but it will be close. Chalk this up to a learning experience. it’s like paying for a class. Now you know. Sell the thing and get a different one. There is somebody out there that will love it.

Also, when you are asking for opinions, be sure to talk to people who have tried more than one kind of thing. So many people will tell you that they just love their xbrand thingamajig and you should ahve one too when they’ve never even touched a different brand. And when people have a negative opinion about a thing, ask them why. It may be because the handle didn’t fit their small hand and you have a bigger hand so it won’t be an issue.

See? Easy.

Or you could just ask me. I have lots of opinions and they are all right.

 

Those New Year’s Resolutions

Moreno Big Yarn 1

Holy moly, I hate New Year’s Resolutions, but I’ve kept making them for  years. I’ve made huge ones, tiny ones that should be easy to keep, lists of 100 things, on and on. I almost never keep them, even the fun ones. I run out time, I run out of fire, I run out of headspace.

For example, every turn of the year I get all excited about weaving tapestry, every year, why in January, is tapestry so appealing? Over the years I’ve bought the books, biggish looms, I have yarn, I have an idea or two. I have fiery determination to make this my next thing, my next fibery craft.  Every January I get out the books, pet the looms, find new tapestry blogs to read, but I can never fit it in with everything else, it just feels too big and it gets lost again.

Resolutions in general made me feel bad, so I quit. But I also feel like the turn of the year needs to marked in some way, welcomed in some way.

This year I made intentions, just a few that are as broad as Lake Michigan. They can be rationalized, shaped and generally messed with to fit any mood or instance. I’m hoping they help on those days come when I wake up feeling a little lost. Do I take the left path or the right?

Two of my intentions fit my crafting life perfectly: Connect and Make. See? Broad, but they feel great. They are reminders to do things I love and talk to people about it, to ask questions and to just fiddle with tapestry or what new interest pops up, making not conquering.

 

Do you make resolutions? What can you tell me about spinning yarn for tapestry?

Twists and Turnings

women spinning on a spindleWe try to minimize the mistakes, but we do make them.  I make them.  I made one in the Worsted issue and I’m about to tell you about it.  See that pretty picture to your left, the one where I try to make it look like I’m spinning as fine as the fine Jessie Driscoll?  Well, when I listed in on the Independent Spinner page, I didn’t give the correct information. This spindle was made by Twists and Turnings and the correct URL is http://www.twistsandturnings.com.  I’m really sorry about that, it’s a gorgeous spindle and Sari and Ron are super nice.

In other news, the magazine is making a slow trip of it this issue.  I’m not sure why the holiday mail is worse this year than last, but it seems to be.  They all went out in mid-December so you should see your copy soon if you haven’t yet. I wish I could make your mail carrier come faster but they don’t give me that sort of power.  I did just hear that it finally crossed the border into Canada!

 

 

 

Did I tell you we have a new copy editor?

I know I told you we were on the lookout for a new copy editor, but did I tell you we hired one?  Her name is Karen Robinson (and I can totally put that online because you’ll see it on the masthead soon enough), and I couldn’t be happier.

It wasn’t an easy decision.  Not at all.  Within 48 hours of putting up the call for a copy editor we got over 200 applications.  As they came in, I broke them into 3 groups (so they’d be easier to manage) and replied with the test packet.  The test packet included our just-barely-there style sheet (the thing with all the specific-to-PLY rules that we try to follow), one article in 2 stages — edited by me (what they’d get if they had the job), and  the final, print version (so they could see what their job would entail), and another article edited by me that they had to copy-edit.

Within 3 days almost everyone had returned articles and I sat down to read.  And I sat some more.  And then I sat some more.  It was a lot of sitting and reading.  Some I could dismiss right away – not that they weren’t good – but just not the level of editing I was looking for (some too deep, some too shallow).  Some went into my maybe pile and a few went into my yes pile.  My plan was to go through the yes pile again first and if I didn’t find somebody, to reach into the maybe pile.  I can tell you that my maybe pile was about 25 and my yes pile was about 25.

That meant more sitting.

I never had to reach back into the maybe pile because the yes pile was full of amazing editors, most of which are more qualified to do my job than I am.  There were 6 that copy-edited the style sheet.  There were 3 that copy-edited my entire email.  There were 2 that copy-edited the finalized article that had already gone to print! It was a little intimidating, honestly.  I liked them all. Finally, I narrowed it down to 5.

Our of those 5, I couldn’t choose.  I felt like I’d just be closing my eyes, spinning,  and pointing, so I sent all 5 to Kitten.  I may be the one that reorganizes and restructures but he’s the one with the close eye and quick brain for editing.  I told him to choose which one he’d like to work with and while he said all 5 were good, Karen was his top pick.

And so it’s Karen.  And Karen rocks!

You’ll see her handy work in the next issue (the Leicester issue).  She’s going to make us so much better!

Give her a little welcome, won’t ya?