Friday, January 22, 2010

8 Years

dye notebooks jan 10

Deb and I finished inserting the last sample in the last notebook and boxed up the remaining binders: 200 dye sample notebooks total, 100 of Book One, and another 100 of Book Two. There are over 1100 samples in Book One, and over 700 in Book Two.

We sent out emails to the waiting list we had, and several people responded, so some of these are already sold (thanks! and hi Di in Tazzie! :). We have just a few of Book One left, and less than 40 of Book Two. If you think you are on the waiting list and have not received a notice, email Deb. If you would like a copy and did not receive a notice, email Deb!

This was a project we thought might take us a couple of years, and provide us with an excuse to get together periodically, plus a product should we decide to vend at conferences like SOAR. We did vend once, but most of the books have sold through word-of-mouth. Most of the books also went to guilds and guild libraries, teachers of dye classes, and shops, which means the information reaches a lot more people than the individual sales would indicate.

It took us a bit more time to complete the project than we anticipated, however. It took 8 years.

We plan to start all over and begin dyeing for Book One, Version 2.0 soon. We're hoping to keep up with orders this way, and not have long waiting lists ever again. Maybe!

In other news:
weaving

This is a quick shot from my phone, but there was also weaving! The Cricket fit nicely in my suitcase, and once all the samples were done we had a few days for our own projects. Deb is getting pieces ready for a one-person show in March, so I had weaving time, and a little spinning time:

silk2 jan 10

Deb gave me some dyed silk to play with; this is about 100 yards plied. It's coming out to about 4500 yards per pound, or about the size of 20/2 silk. I think it will be a travel spinning-knitting project, perhaps a scarf: a small amount of silk, but the maximum amount of spinning and knitting time for road trips this year. And it will all fit into one small bag (and soon! the bag will be a woven bag made just for it!)

Can you say Obsessed?

5 Comments:

Blogger Lynn said...

What's this about a sample notebook? I might be interested; please tell me the details (harperlynn AT msn DOT com). Also, your link to Deb (Menz, I assume) brings me right back to your blog.

11:21 AM  
Blogger Delighted Hands said...

Congrats on a job well done! Love the spindle spun silk.

11:59 AM  
Blogger Cynthia said...

Love the books! What's this about version 2.0? Will it be different? If so, will there be upgrades available for people with the original set?

3:26 PM  
Blogger Charlene said...

OK, so you're not a knitter and not a spindle-spinner - what other modalities do you not do?

Highly amused, here!

The bag is looking gorgeous (I still haven't finished mine. Either of them), the silk makes we wish we can see-and-touch screens, and I have no doubt that the ensuing little knitting project will be quite lovely too.

6:09 AM  
Blogger Jackie said...

Wow! What a lot of work! Congratulations on getting it done though. And your silk looks as beautiful as the spindle upon which it was spun!

5:12 AM  

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