Weaving sales

For the last month or so I have been somewhat consumed in the production of stuff to sell. I have spent much of my spare time washing, carding, spinning and dying wool so that I could make some small items that folks would want to buy. I love playing with wool. It is satisfying and productive. When I have got a fleece washed or spun - I know that I have accomplished someting that is measurable. When I play with colour and I like the colour that I produce - it is exciting. I never quite know what the final colour will look like when it is woven and when it works - I feel good. That is why I spin and weave - it makes me feel good.

baby blankets

But I also need to sell stuff - if for no other reason than I need to pay for my supplies. Of course there is also the problem of what to do with the stuff I produce if I don't sell it. My walls are full of wall hangings and racks of throw rugs. I don't have any room left for new projects. So a show is a good thing.

large (44X60) rug

This weekend a couple of us on the same street had a bit of a show. Attendance was very poor - perhaps there should have been more advertisment - perhaps we needed a few more homes to be opened up, perhaps the economy is not doing as well as people think or perhaps no one felt like shopping. Its hard to know what goes on in the minds of people. Regardless of the reasons I did not sell as much as I would have liked to. I did however make enough to pay for the 6 fleeces that I have bought in the past 8 months, for the dye and perhaps even for the all of the hot water I used in washing the wool. I met some nice people and some of them said some rather nice things about my rugs or blankets. So it was satisfying from that point of view.

some  purses/bags

Actually - all in all it wasn't a bad weekend - talked to some people, made some money and got some valadation on my craft skills. I started think that it had almost been a waste of time - but now I think it was just fine - i am a lucky guy.