Neatly Tangled » Business

Correction of Errors

deb — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:42:26 +0000

Last Saturday I had to take a trip into the Walmart Supercenter that’s just down the road from my house. This is the one that they remodeled a couple of years ago, eliminating the fabric counter and at least half the yarn in the process. I used to work in that store, and after the fabric was gone I don’t think I made it through a day without suggesting to at least one shopper that they call corporate customer service and tell them how unhappy the lack of proper crafty offerings was making them.

I suspect some of them did. And if you figure even one customer a week per Walmart that had its fabric removed calling to complain over the last two years, apparently it adds up to this:

I was heading down toward sporting goods when I saw something out of the corner of my eye that stopped me in my tracks. It was a bolt of fabric. And along with it? More bolts of fabric. And when I peered around the end of the aisle, I discovered something I never expected to see in a Walmart store again: a fabric counter. And they were busy, too. Ten o’clock in the morning and there was an associate cutting fabric and a couple of people waiting in line.

So just for fun I headed down a couple of aisles to take a peek at the yarn. I’m not sure it’s quite as large a section as they once had, since it’s arranged so differently that it’s hard to tell. But the footage that they have now is about double what they had immediately after the remodel. I was going to walk down and see what exactly they had, but the aisle was blocked by people shopping.

I’m shocked and oddly pleased that Walmart has responded to the unhappiness with the changes it made by actually changing it back. No matter how you feel about Walmart, I think this is a good thing.

New Pattern!

deb — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:48:07 +0000

I’m so excited that this is finally finished!

Simply Square Log Cabin Dishcloth (Ravelry Pattern Page)

Hope you like it!

Not dead, Jim.

deb — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:30:48 +0000

Day job out of control, trying to get the pattern that just got out of testing into final shape to release, and summer vacation just got underway. And it doesn’t help at all that Michael finally badgered me into reading George R. R. Martin. Page-turners, but long when you read in half-hour chunks.

Coming soon: pattern release, finally a Peaches & Creme review, and more. Stay tuned…

Progress

deb — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:24:18 +0000

Slow and steady, right?

Work continues to be a bit of a living nightmare. Home Office keeps adding things to the must-do list while cutting payroll. I know that a lot of folks are in the same boat with this right now, because employers are well aware that they’ve got us trapped. They’ll no doubt be surprised when their best people leave as soon as things pick up. It’s part of the cycle of corporate life.

I have a pattern ready to go to testing. It’s been a 5-minutes-here, 5-minutes-there thing, with the day job having to take precedence, so I’m wicked excited about the possibility of finally getting another pattern released. Hopefully that will happen in the next couple of weeks.

Spent last weekend in Maine, trying to relax and pretty much failing. It was gorgeous, though, and the company was good. We went to see X-Men First Class at the drive-in…I don’t think I’ve been to a drive-in since high school, and the movie was fantastic. Crazy fun!

I made an addition or three to my growing stack of dishcloths this weekend. School is inching closer to getting out, and the summertime is adding a level of chaos to the kids’ behavior that’s just a tad exhausting. It was 90-odd degrees today, so they’re even nuttier than summer normal. Lovely New England weather, lol.

And that is, I think, about it for the moment.

Day 20

deb — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 17:24:52 +0000

After just short of 3 weeks of reasonably concentrated effort in half-hour to hour length packets, I have a design probably 70 percent done, including the pattern writing. It’s nothing that’s going to revolutionize the design world, but I quite like it and I’m pleased with having managed to get it out of my head and into the physical world. At this pace, it won’t be too terribly much longer before I’ll be able to introduce it here. This is an unqualified Good Thing.

I have to fight the feeling that I’m still working too slowly, but that’s ok. Life is here, and sometimes demands my attention. This window with this new post sitting in it, for example, has been open for 2 days while I’ve dealt with other issues.

I’m seriously considering reopening the Etsy shop. It sounds like they’ve made some upgrades that will make it a little easier to run that I’ve found it in the past. It was fabulous for selling physical objects, but not as much for patterns. That may have changed and may be worth trying again. That’s another window that’s been sitting open for a couple of days now.

Anyway, onward. There’s laundry to do and a promised project to finish and kids to herd.

New Pattern!

deb — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:18:53 +0000

Scrubbing Ruffles Dishcloth

Available at that link, at Ravelry, or at Etsy.

Restructuring

deb — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:25:39 +0000

There have been some crazy-big changes in my life over the last few months, and that’s caused me to reconsider my strategy for keeping the business and the blog going. I promise you we will eventually have some content around here! LOL. But I’m going to take a week or two at this point and restructure my web presence a bit. Stay tuned…

Still here!

deb — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:55:42 +0000

I’d forgotten just how exhausting it is to work retail at the holidays. Yikes.

Anyway, for kicks and to see how it works out (and because I think a little competition might be good for Etsy), I opened an ArtFire shop: Neatly Tangled. Had a sale already, which I’m going to take as a very good sign, seeing as how I’ve only managed to list two patterns.

I hope the holidays are bringing you joy rather than the appallingly common misery.

Between the Lines now available!

deb — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:02:54 +0000

My new scarf pattern is finished, and I’m working on getting it posted at Etsy and Ravelry and here as well. It’s my oldest daughter’s birthday today, so I’ve been taking time out for the festivities. I’ll update this post when I’ve got it posted everywhere. In the meantime, here’s a pretty pic:

Thanks so much to Tracie at The Crochet Studio for testing for me again!

Update: It’s now posted for sale on Ravelry, on Etsy, and right here at the site.

Another Etsyversary Moment.

deb — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 08:36:39 +0000

One year from my very first sale, I’ve sold 230 items on Etsy. That’s a hell of a thing, isn’t it? I’m shocked, and pleased beyond belief. I seem to have wound up focusing on patterns, which wasn’t my original intention, but I’m thrilled with the way that it’s working out. I love doing this. I love it more than I can quite explain, although the fact that I get up an hour early every morning to make time for it might be a reliable indicator. Heh. But seriously? For me there’s nothing quite like it in the world.

It’s going to be another great year. Thanks, y’all.