Photos of my workspace

The garage is still a work in progress and I am still putting up some shelves but here is what I have so far. What do yall think?

Here is one set of the built in the wall shelves with some bins on them.


Here is my mailing area on the wall behind my desk.


Here is a better photo of my desk and traveling table turned into a large skein maker. This is the 180 yard skein I mentioned before.


Here is my sewing area and some more shelves


Here is my dyeing area

I have turned my desk into a giant skein maker

Yep thats right, I added nails along the front to help keep the yarn separated. I also turned another table on its side to add to the loop length. I am doing this because I am making a 180 yard skein. This is the longest skein loop I have ever done. I have had to rethink my strategy several times. I think this way will work. The only downside that I am having so far is that its sitting on the floor as most desks are. This means that I have to sort of walk in circles upside down. It makes me very dizzy and I can only wrap a few wraps at a time. Then I secure the loop with a clothes pin and a piece of string. How do you do your giant loops?

I'll Drink to That SAL KAL CAL - batt roving yarn package choice

The I'll Drink to That Sal/Kal/Cal packages are now available here!
Since St Patrick’s Day usually means lots of drinking we will play along with a fiber version for this SAL/KAL/CAL. I will be your bartender. You name your favorite drink and I will mix it up for you in the fiber version. Your drinks will come to you served up just the way you like them (batt, roving, or yarn). I am a pretty cool bartender so not only will I tell you whats in your drink I will send you the recipe so you can make it for yourself later. I will also send you a plastic party glass to practice making your own drink in. So what are you drinking?


The I'll Drink to That Sal/Kal/Cal packages with your drink choice must be ordered by Feb 13th. Packages will then be made to order and ship out on March 11th. Post your drink orders with inspiration photos if you have them in this thread on Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/ever-improving-me/1503340/1-25#17 so that I can mix your fibery beverage up the way you want it.

If you have not participated in one of my SAL/KAL/CAL also known as the
Spin-a-long
Knit-a-long
Crochet-a-long
Here is how they work. Take a look at my example photos of possible drinks but then pick what ever drink you would like. You can do this by telling me a drink name, or by telling me what colors you would like to have in your drink. You will also tell me if you would like this to be a batt or roving for spinning, or yarn for knitting or crocheting.

You will post a inspiration photo in my raverly thread and then join in the fun conversation if you like while waiting for your drinks. Once I have made the packages I will send them out to you for you to make into a finished object. The finished objects will be posted into their own thread by April 11th. I will then run a random number generator to choose a winner of some nifty prize.

The photos posted are just some examples of how a drink might look. Packages will include the drink of your choosing, a recipe card with your drink on it and a plastic drinking glass that you can mix your own drink in!

My goals for 2011

Its 2011 (Yes I know its been 2011 now for about 31 days now) and I have finally decided I need to kick myself in the butt. I keep making all these huge plans. I think about them. I dream about them. I even talk about them but I have been puttering out on the actually doing them. Well if all else fails why not put it right here for all the world to see (or at least the part of the world who pops over and takes a look at this blog from time to time). I like to write things down so that I can see them and see that they are moving forward. I figure I will put my goals here now so that I can see them. I can add more goals as I move on and cross some off the lists as they get done.

Here is my list of what I want to accomplish this year:

1. In 2011 I will finish my AA.
2. I will decide on a business plan that I will follow by March 1st (I will allow myself to revise this plan as long as the revision is purposeful and follows my vision).
3. I will decide how many conventions and fiber festivals I will attend this year by March 1st.
4. I will decide which conventions and fiber festivals I will put applications to vend at by April 1st allowing myself the ability to add new applications to the list as I learn about them or as they fit into my schedule.
5. I will do yoga 2 times per week (I can do it more if I like but this will not take off any future yoga times).
6. I will do some sort of actual cardiovascular exercise starting at 2 times per week for 20 minutes, building up to a minimum of 3 times per week at 30 minutes (this is in addition to yoga).
7. I will complete all orders in a timely manner.
8. I will dedicate myself to completing new fiber and yarn items every month in the quantity that I decide on in my business plan. These will be used for shop updates, SAL/KAL, sampler packs, variety packs, custom orders, wholesale orders and fiber festivals.
9. I will update my blog at a minimum of 1 time per week with at least 2 of these updates per month to contain photos.
10. I will be positive and believe that life is good and will only continue to get better.
11. I will be more uplifting to myself and to others, encouraging us all to follow our dreams.
12. I will do one new thing a month and if possible I will blog about it. I would love to hear the new things that others are doing too.
13. I will make it a priority to spend time each month with my family. This can include a phone call to family far away, visits to those close by, and dates with my husband.


That is a lot of stuff and I believe it is all I have for now. I hope 2011 is wonderful to you all. What are your new goals?

I have decided I need to update my shop more often

This means I should be working smarter to accomplish more. This last week I got a bit of a setback. I am not used to wood stoves. That is what we have out in the garage which is also my workspace. So in the process of trying to start a fire I started a fire. See what I did is set some wood on top of the stove while I tried to get the fire started because it was wet. Then I went inside for 20 to give it some time. I came outside and opened the garage door to a white filled garage. I immediately went over to the stove and the wood I put on top of it was now on fire.

I put on my wood gloves and opened the stove and tossed them inside. Then I propped the garage door open and thought about what else to do. Since I was starting to not feel well I went outside for a min to get some air. I decided that if I opened the big garage door it would help to get the smoke out.. and i needed it out because I was worried about my stuff. So after being outside for maybe 45 seconds I headed back inside and tried to open the garage door. It started but then went back down because the big 500lb stove that my friend bought but has not gotten to put in the house yet was stopping it. Me in my rational thinking new that I needed to move it. I went over and jerked it away from the garage door and then finally I was able to open it.

That helped a lot because a lot of the smoke started exiting through the big door. This is when I noticed my husbands computer monitor hanging from the ceiling because it had been plugged in on the ceiling under where the garage door went over. I ran over to it and grabbed the monitor and unplugged it from my end. Then it was time for another trip back outside to get some air.

I went back in about a minute later and turned the fan on and started waving a towel around to push out the smoke. It cleared out mostly and thats when my husband called me back and my roommate got there. we closed up the doors and I moved all my stuff into my bedroom so it would be out of the garage. Its all in plastic bins but I was still worried about it. It still smells too much like smoke for me in the garage. I am going to try to air it better on monday.

Happy Birthday Chanidax contest and sale!

My friend Chanidax has a birthday on Monday Jan 24. I say this is cause for celebration! To help celebrate I figured we could have a Happy Birthday Contest! If you want to enter the contest it is simple! You can enter 1 of two ways:
1) Post a message with an earburn in this ravelry thread to Chanidax with a happy birthday message so that when she logs in she will have as many messages as we can give her!
2) Buy anything from my shops (use Coupon “Happy Birthday Chanidax” to receive 20% off everything except Gift Certificates, Clubs, & Sal/Kals in my Artfire Shop only)
EverImprovingMe.artfire.com
EverImprovingMe.etsy.com
or from StoriedYarn’s shop
StoriedYarns.artfire.com
now through the 24th and link it in this thread. You may post one time for each purchase and once for a happy birthday message. Be sure to post your transaction links because on Tuesday I will get Chanidax to do a RNG drawing from this thread and the winner will get a $25 Gift Certificate to my shop! It does not get any easier than this! Good luck and Happy Birthday Wanda/Chanidax! If you do not have a Ravelry account you may post in this thread and it will still count.

I do not blog as much as I guess I should

I was realizing that I used to keep up with my blog on a good and pretty regular basis. I think I am going to start setting aside some time each week to update and say hello. I like to put photos of my new stuff that I have been working on here and also let everyone know whats happening with me. Of course it works better when I actually do it *grin*

So this week we are doing 3rd shift. Why? Well Tom has to do it and since I work from home I see no reason not to do it with him. I kinda like him so seeing him is a bonus. Next week we go back on a day shift and I think he will stay on that for awhile. His days off will be Mon and Tue so those will also be my new days off once his schedule settles down. This week I am dyeing up some lincoln locks, some alpaca, and some yarn. I also plan on doing some batts and simple project bags for my shop. I have asked what people would like to see in my shop in my ravelry group and it seems that everyone likes my inspired items. People like to see the story behind what I am doing and why and how it turns out. I think thats pretty cool because that is part of it that I really like too.

Things to look forward to in the shop then will be more inspirations with photos when possible and back stories. I also plan on redoing some things that I have made previously in SAL/KALs. I will try to put some photos up later. Thanks everyone!