Yarn Stash and 2012

Okay, what does my (to me) humongous stash of yarn have to do with 2012?
I spent the better part of a day last week re-organizing my yarn bins and cleaning up the mess. A cat would have a heyday with the flowing strings and balls! Everything was being placed into semi-clear bins by color, except for one bin of only cotton.
And what I discovered were some wonderful threads I had forgotten about so I pulled out a bunch and put them in a basket.......whoa! STOP!!!! That's how the mess got started with the "I'm going to use this next" basket of yarn which was next to the "new yarn I don't want to put away" basket besides the "scraps of yarns just finished with" basket....ugh!
I put them all back in their respective bins. I emptied my 2 knitting totes of all their odd leftovers and stashed them as well.

And we were neat again.

So what does this have to do with 2012? AGAIN, I vow to make a dent in this stash. Unless there is a special order calling for a color I don't have (unlikely) I will NOT purchase yarn. For how long? I dunno! But I'm going to try. I am going to disregard the 50% off coupons and walk away.
The photos just show 3 of the 6 bins.
Oh, see anything you like/need/want? Let me know and it just may be listed in the shop! That's another way to get rid of some and then buy more, right???!!!

Happy,Healthy 2012!

January 3....not to be believed....just got a special order and don't have the color for part of it. What color, you ask? BLACK!!!!

Lesson Learned

So in my last post I ranted and raved about devaluing my work, marking down prices, the value of a sale.
And what did I do? Had a sale!!!! Head hanging in shame? No, this one worked. Why?
Last week was my last show of the season and we all know meeting and talking to people in real life is vastly different than our on-line experiences. I also am well aware of what I call the "touch factor"....beng able to pick up, touch, try on beats examing a photo on the computer. As I was packing for the sale I was thinking how some pieces have been with me awhile. Read that as:OLD! I want them gone!
I decided to have a sale on my hats, gloves and scarves-a pre-holiday draw. I also sent an e-mail blast to local friends, neighbors and previous buyers, offering them the sale price AND delivery. I would never do this at the start of the craft show season but since it was my last, I felt it was worth a go.

Well, it worked! I had a good fair, moved many scarves, hats & gloves and the verbal interaction definitely made the difference. That also included 4 local sales.
The best comment I heard was "Your prices are so reasonable, I feel like I'm stealing!"....to which I replied, "Well, you can pay full price!!!"...she bought.

The lesson learned: Sales may work in real life.
Did I lose any money? No.
Did I network? Yes.
Did I devalue myself? No.
Oh, did I mention I had the same sale going at the same time online? Zip, zilch, nada.
And now I have some extra coin to buy more yarn and make new items. Well, I won't buy any yarn....we all know how huge the stash is.....the photo shows a teeny fraction!

In case we don't 'talk', I hope your holiday is warm and wonderful!