Ram inthe Thicket --Hand Dyed Wool in Every Color!

[raminthethicket]

So, well into my second year of business, I am gratified to know that I still love what I do. I smile whenever I am dyeing wool. The other day I had occasion to talk to a client who had just found me online and was very excited to be a customer. Based on my philosophy alone, she was ready to be a steady customer, without having seen her first order of wool. This reiterates to me that I am doing the right thing for my customers. Although my orders are on track to triple this year over least year, things still move along too slowly for me. Patience is the name of the game!

Hand Dyed Wool Fabric

[raminthethicket]

I think my financial drought is finally ending. The day job that still supports me as I get the business established has picked up at last, and wool sales are coming along nicely. I am awaiting several large orders at the moment. Dyeing goes on regularly, as the 4-5 orders a week that I process come in. I am slowly getting a complete inventory of every color. I have dyed at least one value in all but about 12 colors that I produce, and this tells me that there is someone for every color! I honestly thought before I started that there would be colors that no one would every buy! I think that in another 3 months or so, I will have all the colors. I am anxious to produce the color planners, but I have to be patient for that -- I still need some capital to fund that little project, but it won't be long now!


Rug Hooking Wool

[raminthethicket]

I love wool. May I just say that? I have such a short attention span, and when I first started this whole wool thing, I was afraid that I would get six months in and feel the need to try something new. But I must say that I love wool more than ever, and I love being my own boss even more! I love having a product that is so good that it sells itself. A product that causes people to blurt out (via email):

"Dear Susan, All I can say is, 'Oh my God!' the colors are GORGEOUS!"

Yeah, I get a lot of that.

My only regrets are that I still have to have my day job for perhaps one more year, I don't have much wherwithal to work on my own wool projects, and I am extremely anxious to be all done developing colors and items to sell, and to have my permanent website up and complete. But all in good time--that's the great thing about all these regrets -- they are rectifiable in the future, and they are not regrets about what I never did in the past --things that are too late now to do anything about. What great regrets to have!

Creating Hand Dyed Wool Fabric is my great love.

[raminthethicket]

So often, when I am telling someone what I do, they don't have the first clue what I am talking about. So I have to start from scratch, telling them about the crafts of rug hooking and wool applique. Almost invariably, the person I'm talking to will think that I dye wool yarn. So then I have to explain that I buy wool yardage and dye that, not yarn. Knitting and its related arts are so much more established that people are naturally more familiar with them. Poor rug hooking and applique. Not as well known.

But that's OK. I really love being an ambassador for The Wool. My husband is very passionate about sharing Christianity and promoting good international relations through student exchange -- a worthy goal, and one that is certainly important in the big picture of life. My sphere of influence is very tiny by comparison -- I just want to share The Wool! (Well, I want to put the kids through college too, but that is secondary!) I told him recently that I would like to be well-known in this world of wool, and have a good reputation. I know I could probably do great things in the same arenas where he dwells, but I am content in my tiny little wool corner, sharing with others and learning from them about The Wool.

Hand Dyed Quilting Wool

[raminthethicket]

I have had nothing but trouble dyeing greys since Day One. For some reason, the red wants to separate and mottle the wool, to the extent that it alters the final color. So I am trying this week to reformulate all the greys, using black as a base, and adjusting it with the primaries. This grates against my purist ideal of using only primaries to create every color, but at least I know I can do it.

I had a ray of hope the other day when dyeing up some browns, which often give me the same problem. I used vinegar at the very beginning in larger quantity, (as the dye directions say to!) and the brown turned out much more even. So I may try this with the greys and see what happens. Even if it works, I may still use the black as a base, because formulating the colors is much less confusing for me that way -- it is easier to estimate what I will end up with when trying to create a new colors.

I still love my collection of colors, even the greys and browns, those rascals!



Quilting Wool

[raminthethicket]

Over time I am noticing a curious pattern in purchasing on my site. For instance, as week ago, I began a long stint of double shifts at my day job, spanning four days. The moment my feet hit the entry mat at the hotel where I work, I got four order right in a row, which of course I could do nothing about for a few days. After that . . . nothing for over a week now. And I see that often -- a cluster of orders from all around the country, as if my customers were somehow collaborating, or otherwise in cahoots with each other, then nothing for a period of time. This is fine, of course, and in fact I almost prefer it, because it gives me a stretch of down time to keep working on projects. I just find it interesting. I also think that summers and the holidays will be particularly quiet times each year, which pleases me to no end. I will gladly work harder at other times of the year to have natural breaks at that time. I love this job.

Quilting Wool

[raminthethicket]

I am finding that most of my sales occur on the weekend -- when people are home and can take the time to ship online. So just when I think there won't be any sales for the week, several come in. It is always exciting! I have some work to do today for a few orders, and then I am going to go back to work on reformulating greys. I have had such problems getting consistent results, and my new trials using black as a base and altering it with the primaries, have been very successful so far. I am anxious to try the same thing with the browns.

Penny Rug Wool

[raminthethicket]

I have been reformulating greys and I am having a lot of success with it. I have a nice sampling of greys from all around the color wheel. I think that it will be much easier to organize things in my mind using these formulas. With black as a base, it is easy to tip a grey toward any direction from there. in an organized way. I have a customer interested in buying some blacks and browns, so I will have to work with her to get her what she needs during thie reformulation process. She sells wool applique and does wool quilting.