Starting Anew!?

Well it has been an interesting month, and an especially interesting week. Interesting is probably not a good word for it, but I try to stay positive...so keep that in mind as you read on.  This is also going to be a long post.

This morning, as I was making my coffee, I was trying to figure out what "lesson" or "gift" I am supposed to pull from this week's experience.  This on top of the experience 2 weeks ago when my trailer broke down on I-84 just at exit 7 and 8 in Danbury, CT.  Trailers having problems on busy highways can be disastrous for the truck and the trailer being pulled, but it can be equally bad for those traveling around a trailer.  Every day as I travel on roads and highways, I realize how much faith we all have that we will get somewhere safely and that all the other drivers will do exactly what needs to be done to get there and stay safe themselves.

But this week, well I suppose it is one of the worst things that can happen to a small business. I have had smoke damage to almost all of my dyed inventory, and to some of my undyed yarn base. How did this happen?  Very simply.  I went over to the studio on Sunday and dyed a pot of yarn. Then I walked out of the studio thinking I had turned it off, but hadn't. Thank God for stainless steel pots! as over the course of the next 16 hours it smouldered but never ignited.  Jen found it the next morning when she came in.

[caption id="attachment_369" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Pot - (Yes, the water was added when it was found)"][/caption]

So we immediately opened the studio up and removed everything and as the day went on I became convinced that the damage was worse than I could imagine.  The smell more penetrating than I could believe.  There is nothing so sad as a carport full of yarn and fiber that simply reeks of smoke.  On Monday, we also took almost everything on the website down to zero as it was clear we could not sell anything.  I put a vacation notice on the front page as I have just needed some time to think.

[caption id="attachment_370" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Day One"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_371" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Moved all yarn to the carport"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_372" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Another picture of the carport"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_373" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Rack of toes - Stinky!!"][/caption]

So here is what is happening.  After conferring with my insurance adjuster, we are taking all of the affected items to the dump. None NONE of the smoke damaged yarn will be available for anyone to purchase at any price.  I have a few skeins that I have hung outside as they were my "dyeing guides", but as soon as the colorways as repeated, those will be gone from outside.

As we started the process of getting rid of the yarn yesterday, it was amazing how much the smoke had affected the color of the yarn.  Hmmm..... hand-dyer....color....feel...smell...texture....isn't that what you are buying when you buy yarn from me and from other dyers?   I have had so many suggestions about...can't you just air it out? can't you wash it? and then air it out? Don't you want to do a fire sale? Can't you use an ozone generator (we are in the repainted studio.) Well, maybe the smell will go away, but I have been told that ozone can pull some color out of fabrics, oops...that darn color thing!  So, about 900 pounds went to the transfer station (dump)yesterday and more will follow today.

[caption id="attachment_376" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sport weight yarn"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_377" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Sock Yarn"][/caption]

To be clear about my thought process about the yarn and you, my customers.  The quality of the yarn, its colors, its feel, its smell (or lack thereof) is what you are buying from me. I cannot let any one of those things be less important than the other. I cannot let making a buck be more important than the quality of my yarn.  My reputation is on the line. And no doubt, I will see many of your sniffing my yarn at shows to make sure I am telling the truth about all of this.  All I can say is here are the pictures.

[caption id="attachment_378" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Yowza skeins"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_379" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Yarn Headed to the Dump"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_380" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Yarn in the dump....."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_381" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Load ticket from Trip #1"][/caption]

As to the studio itself.  Thank God it did not go up in flames, and it lives to dye another day. (Probably a bad pun, but I was brought up on bad puns.)  The entire studio has been painted with Kilz.  The floor has been painted a lovely milk chocolate color.  We are getting fresh plastic supplies for using with dyes and so on.  The stove has been removed and will be going to the dump today...yes, it still works, but I will no longer be doing that kind of dyeing inside the studio.  Can't risk it!  Can't trust me!

[caption id="attachment_382" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Craig painting the floor of the studio."][/caption]

New yarn is on its way to us.  I expect that I will start dyeing again on Sunday or Monday.  We have a Stitches show in 3 or so weeks in Chicago.  Yes, we will be there with a substantially smaller stock for folks to select from....but it will all be freshly dyed.  The yarns I will be focusing on dyeing for now is Yowza, the two Yummy's (2 and 3-ply), Sojourn (cashmere-silk), Yasmin (my new lace), and my Bamboo Baby show special.  I will also be dyeing BFL, mixed BFL, and Merino/Bamboo/Silk.

I would also ask that you be patient over the next month or so in terms of communication with me.  I tend to get up early and answer e-mails, and that is the best way to communicate with me as I do not keep a phone available during the day in the studio.

I need to thank some very special people who have been helping me through this. First of all is Jen who found the offending pot and the smoke-filled building and who has been right there through moving all of this. Kathy who is the wonder who twists most of my skeins.  If you have touched my skeins, you have touched her handiwork. She is a working/cleaning/painting wonder! Sally has kept shipping flowing (I have certain items in the house away from the studio) and done the myriad tasks I have asked of her. And Craig...who showed up on Monday because "something" told him to come by. Within 10 minutes of arriving, he had paint in the pan and started rolling. What more could I have asked of a friend! And then my lovely husband who has kept me steady in the face of all this. He is my biggest cheerleader and supporter!

So back to the beginning of this post.  What is it that I am supposed to take away from all of this? Now mind you, even though I am a production craftsman with yarn, I consider myself to be an artist too.  I can only believe that out of destruction will come new inspiration for creativity, for new colors, for new willingness to try things in new ways as I try to figure out how to achieve effects that I used to do in the pot to now be done on the table.