Time Trials for Crafters

I have been estimating.  Over and over, people ask, "How long did it take you to make this?"  And I, being the earthbound, factual person I am, make a wild guess.  It isn't that I haven't tried to recreate how long I have spent on items.  I have.  For example, when I price an item, I like to imagine that the price has something to do with the amount of time it took me to make it.  I even hope that I am charging a few dollars an hour for my time.  But honestly, have no idea, not really.  I pick it up and put it down.  I knit a few rows on the bus, in line, while waiting for an appointment, between helping kids with homework, while the coffee brews.  Knitting is marvelous (as compared with machine sewing) because it can be done while watching tv or listening to a lecture.  So, I really don't know.  Do you know how long it takes you?

Well, I have taken up a challenge.  I am timing my projects.  A good friend that has done development work with small crafting cooperatives in Africa told me that he had crafters make the same thing 10 times and time their work.  Then, they all took the averages of their times for that product and averaged them together.  The final average was the time they used when determining a price.  I am not going quite that far.  After all, this is a cooperative of  only one (with a large support staff of family and friends, of course).  I have made a little chart (on paper) with a list of products and four columns: three trials and the average.  Very systematic!

Now I know why I have resisted doing this. First, it is hard.  I have a little notebook where I jot down elapsed times each time I start and stop.  Imagine, you answer the phone, jot.  You check the food, jot.  "Mom!" jot.  Only, of course, I don't wear a watch, so the process is, find a clock, jot.  Annoyed with this non-system, I have begun to do more of my knitting during the quieter, school hours of the day when I have fewer interruptions.

And, I am discovering the second reason why I have resisted doing this.  It is depressing.  My products take me a long time to knit, a good while to felt, and many have very involved sewing/finishing that they require.  Oh well.  I have only just begun and I am simply "gathering data" as another dear friend would say.

All ye crafters out there in the blog-o-sphere, do you or have you ever done time trials?

Faerie Garland

Time to get ready for Spring!  I love this new thing I made this week!!  I wore it all last evening and Maggie liked it too.  Check it out.

All hand-knit and felted, of course.  You know I will be making more of these!

Year of the Gauge Swatch: Product Line

Over a week since I last posted!!!  I sure have been busy knitting!  I have designed a couple of new felt knit children's hats -- just in time for spring.  Oh well.

I call this hat the Twist.

The Comet

Actually, I also have been working on some other, non-seasonal products.  The rule of gauge says that I should actually PLAN what I make -- based on what is coming up.  Winter is not right around the corner, so I should make things that people might want to buy in spring and summer.  So, I have been thinking toys, dress-up, & imagination.  On Saturday I took an amazing all-day workshop on needle felting.  Check out the lovely little things I made.

All the ones on the left are needle-felted from raw wool by ME!  The lovely lady on the right I bought at a Christmas market.  Maggie and I have been practicing since then and we are getting better.  They aren't quite sturdy enough for babies, but they are nice for school age through adult though.

For little ones, I have been trying out different ideas for finger puppets.  Here are two of my newest gals:

I have also been working on a design for a fairy garland, decorated with leaves and flowers. My parents and Doug's parents both sent me money for my birthday & I have had a lot of fun spending it on my obsession.  Included among my other purchases, I got a great book with TONS of patterns for leaves and flowers, so now I will be able to finish that garland.  Here's a pic of some of the stuff that came in the mail the yesterday.

Thanks so much!

Open for Business!

Hoorah!!  It's small, but I have opened a shop on Etsy!  You can take a peek at http://www.etsy.com/shop/Feltaroo.  We spent hours and hours brainstorming names, but I eventually rejected all the smart puns (Doug) and long adjective strewn names (me) and went with the name Maggie invented.  It's easy to spell and no one has it.  Thanks Maggie!

Sunshine, Sickness & Swatches

So, as a matter of great note - the sun is shining this morning in Berlin.  This alone merits blogging.  Not only that, but it shone for a couple of hours yesterday as well.  I see clouds on the move, so the blog post must be short; I must feel the sun on my face today.  Even better, the days are getting noticeably longer!  While my family & friends in the US are buried under snow, we feel spring in the air here in Eastern Germany.  Unfortunately, the family has been battling cold after cold.  Instead of appreciating the amazing break in the weather, we have mostly been huddled up on couches and going through box after box of tissues.  I managed a week of running, but have been idle again for four days.  Argh!  Cabin fever!  At least the sun is shining and it looks like a new world outside our windows.

Alright.  I have a confession to make.  I almost never make a gauge swatch.  All you non-knitters out there- before you quit reading, I'll explain.  Making a gauge swatch is when you do a little square of knitting (6x6") with the needles you plan to use to see if you have the right number of stitches per inch and rows per inch -- so you come out the right size at the end.  Not gauging is really very stupid: sort of like not pre-washing your fabric when you sew a dress or paying bills without checking your balance.  It can lead to hundreds of wasted hours.  Why then do I fail to do it?  Impatience.  Yes, my old bugaboo.

Impatience was my character flaw that made midwifery so terribly difficult for me.  I deeply believe patience and trust are what distinguish midwives as the marvelous caregivers they are and what I continually found an insufficient supply of in myself.  Luckily, my impatience really only hurts me when knitting (and not a client!).  Yet, as today marks the completion of another year of my life and the dawn of a new year, I feel compelled toward resolutions.

May my 42nd year be marked as the year of the gauge swatch, literally and metaphorically.  May I make an effort, in the minutiae and the grandiose, to look ahead, be prevention minded and forward planning.  I do not want nor expect to quash all my impulsiveness and passion, but I'd like to value my work and life enough to invest a little more forethought into what I do.  This past year, Doug and I have been doing that with our health - with food and exercise.  We still have fun with what we eat, but we are trying to choose what we believe will keep us well in the long run.  Of COURSE, I could still do a LOT better (10-15 more pounds to lose, etc.).  It's just been a good learning path for me/us this year, leading to this moment. The beginning of the year of the swatch.

So, gauge swatches.  Wish me luck!

In the meantime, I will also continue to felt.

Vlog for the 22nd

Today's socks were made using the "Anne's Magic Stripes" pattern in Antje Gillingham's book, Knitting Circles around Socks.  The gansey booties are loosely based on a pattern from Lobolita's blog.

I notice I keep sharing all my lovely failures!  Please feel free to share your knitting/crafting failures & discoveries.

Knit Vlog for the 21st

If you would like to read up on rescuing yarn after you have "frogged" it, read this Knitting Daily article: After the Frog Pond.
The sweater I am frogging was designed using Knitting Without Tears, by Elizabeth Zimmermann, a classic.  My mistakes are NOT hers!

Attributions

I need to do a better job with the videos of giving credit to the knit designers -- in the same post! From now on, I will make a concerted effort! For now, I would like to add the following to yesterday's blog. The felted hats and booties were made using patterns from Beverly Galeskas' book: Felted Knits. I have also made several other patterns from that book and can recommend it wholeheartedly.

Tales from the Chaise Jan. 20, 2011

You can find the pattern for the easy cable hat here.