Sock Hop

Another busy week, but not without the chance to catch up on some blogs and get inspired by pretty projects from Yarnjeannie, Leah and Amy, just to name a few.

Thankfully, though, that inspiration is taking the form of motivating me to finish what's already started, instead of diving into something new.

I got to finish one of three lingering second socks this week. My daughter has become a knitted-sock convert, amazed at how soft and comfortable these are.

I cropped off the very tops in this (rushed and poorly lit) picture because my binding off needs some work. All in all, though, they're completely functional and I learned a lot in the process.

(For example: Size 1 DPNs are just a little too small for me to work with, and there's no reason to make sock toes so pointy!)

I'm pretty proud of my restraint in not even having touched the Madelinetosh yet. Yes, I wavered briefly and considered crocheting socks with it, but now I think I'll be able to stay strong. Wishing everyone a happy weekend!

Last Friday...

...to celebrate our aforementioned anniversary, my sweetie and I went to Atlantic City. We had a lovely Friday evening; but on Saturday, he was attacked with excruciating pain under his rib cage, which was diagnosed as a kidney stone at the ER.

Infused with much pain medication and armed with prescriptions for more, we came home on Sunday.

It's been almost a week now, and the ordeal is still not over. I HATE to see my honey hurting (and it must be pretty awful, because he has a high tolerance for pain).

You know what, though? He insisted on making a Valentine's dinner for me -- his specialty potato and egg omelet. It was fantastic (as always).

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Working a lot of hours this week, I've had some good opportunities to read and comment on more of my favorite bloggers' posts than usual. Checking my Blogger Reading List periodically is a nice break from transcribing!

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Etsy Experiment Update: I recently sprang for a week's worth of Etsy search ads. These had worked pretty well when I used them once before, bringing in a lot of views at least. This time however, NOTHING.

Just to see if it would have any effect, I changed the listing titles to be very specific about exactly what the items are (i.e. broad category (gloves), descriptors (fingerless, texting), and color). Now they're so...technical. Gonna give the search ads one more chance and make a comparison.

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And if you like bread and butter pickles, check this out! I made them this morning and they were excellent!

Last Thursday...

Middle daughter won her high school's American Idol-style competition! This video was posted to YouTube by a friend of hers.

Last Monday...

...my darling husband sent me flowers for our 24th anniversary!

This January

I always liked the idea of January. The Christmas craziness is over. A fresh new year is beginning. It seems like it should be a time to breathe a sigh of relief while contemplating new possibilities and the approach of Spring.

The usual reality of January has its drawbacks, however. It's cold. It invariably snows. And, for me, the end-of-the-year bookkeeping and tax form filings for my husband's company must get done.

This January, though, it's been remarkably warm.

This January, the piddly snowfall we had on the 21st was our first since October.

This January, I got all that 2011 paperwork done in one afternoon.

And as if all that weren't enough, this January is in a Presidential election year! (I am nerdy enough to get irrationally exuberant over debates and polls and primaries).

It's taken until the 24th to realize and appreciate what a lovely January it's actually been. If my family didn't have so many good things to look forward to in February, I'd kind of like January to stick around for another month.

The Etsy Experiment -- Packaging and Platform

Packaging: What is it that makes a gift look better if there's tissue paper in the box?

Why is a glossy recipe card with a picture more appealing to work from than the same recipe in plain type?

The few times I've shipped out orders for handmade stuff, they looked so forlorn (even wrapped in tissue paper!) -- as if they were missing something.

In an attempt to add that bit of a finishing touch, Wrist Waffles have labels (also because I really enjoy dabbling with CorelDraw!). It's also a good place to put the care instructions, even though they appear in the listing.

Platform: Why Etsy? If I was going to do this from scratch and seriously try to make a go of it, I think I'd carefully research other marketplaces in addition to or instead of Etsy. But I already had a shop there, so it was kind of a no-brainer.

Sometimes I want to print business cards that say "Find me on Etsy...I dare you." I could be wrong, but the Etsy interface seems a little overwhelming and navigation is a bit of a pain in the butt. We as sellers pretty much know how to get around, but how does it look like to someone who's just interested in buying handmade or vintage?

Anyway, that's where I am -- ready to start the most difficult and unpleasant, but maybe most interesting phase of this little experiment, which is promotion. And since that's most likely going to be an ongoing process of trial and error, I'll just update periodically on what, if anything, seems to be working.

The Etsy Experiment -- Product

If I remember correctly, it was a successful seller who made this comment on one of the Etsy forums, and it really stuck with me:

Do one thing, and do it perfectly.

And in this context, "perfectly" takes on a different meaning. To me, it's deciding on and creating a product that's...

...enjoyable to make...

...easily repeatable, and...

...not so labor, time and supply intensive that it simply cannot be profitable (remembering that Etsy and Paypal are each taking a cut, too).

In my case, fingerless or texting gloves were the obvious choice of product. As I've admitted before, I'm basically a really lazy crocheter. I like to work with solid colors, so I don't have to weave in ends. I don't want to deal with sizes. And if it takes too long, I get bored and give up.

BUT, Etsy is awash in fingerless gloves, and I knew that from the start. However, my reasoning was along the lines of what seller Jenna Sue said in the Etsy's "Quit Your Day Job" feature recently:

"Not everything has to be a revolutionary idea. There are only so many ways to knit a scarf, but you can make yours stand out by making it easy for customers to personalize it, offering a wide range of colors and patterns... and setting up your shop with excellent product shots, clean cohesive branding, and the right price point."

I swatched a bit, using my favorite hook size and yarn weight (because remember, this has to be enjoyable!) to come up with something I hoped would be a little unique, and settled on a stitch that looks like thermal underwear...or the surface of a waffle.

When I was happy with the design -- the look and fit of the gloves, the time involved in making them, the amount of yarn required for each pair -- I did a Google search to ensure that I would not be infringing on anyone else's idea for the "brand name" that kept repeating itself in my head, pretty confident that no one would already be using such a supremely corny alliteration. Yeah. I'm listing a product called Wrist Waffles.