Pink Coyote

Letter to an Etsy SELLER

Am I crazy to write letters to sellers like this one I wrote tonite?

Hi [Ms. X],

I received the capelet today and I wanted to thank you for prompt shipment.

I wanted to tell you that I'm a little disappointed in the quality of the capelet and of the hand. I expected something softer for a baby item and perhaps I should have asked about it first-though it's difficult to describe wool softness. The button seems small and the loop, (which was also disappointing and unattractive with just a knot tied) would not stay on it. I'm going to line it for my baby and replace the button and loop.
I'm telling you this because you have a nice record of positive feedback and I didn't want to give you neutral or negative feedback.
I'm in a pinch and my babe needs something to keep her warm on our travels next week, so I'm going to try to make it work. The color is beautiful for my little Ivy.
I think that capelets for babies are brilliant and underrepresented on Etsy and you could really do something with it if you clean up the design a bit, and make it with softer wool or cotton. I would have gladly paid more as a consumer for a superior product.

Hopefully this is feedback that will be of value to you and your store.

Thank you,

pixie

 

Have you ever done such a thing? I need some feedback if you'd be willing to share your thoughts. I, for one, would like to know if my product was disappointing to someone and I'd think nothing of offering to exchange it or credit a portion, if not all,  back to the consumer if they came across honestly about their experience. On the other hand, I am far too accomodating to strangers and perhaps Ms. X needed to hear some harsher emotions from me.

I'm big on feedback.  I also love to see people do well, I just hate to see someone with a great idea execute it halfassedheartedly. What do you think?

Postscript:

Hi

Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it.
I agree that a softer wool or cotton would be very nice and am going to be using something different going forward.
In this series they were made from a very nice wool that just happens to be a bit rougher. I liked the rustic quality of it and didn't think it would be an issue since it is meant to be worn over something. My daughter is 1 1/2 and wore it last Winter with no issues and will continue to wear it.
I am really sorry the loop did not stay on.

Thanks again for your input.
[Ms. X]

 

Ahhh, settling back into life at home. For a little while, anyhow. I'm doing a bit of beautification in my studio here and trying something new: using what I have onhand to create some organization and prettyishness instead of going out to buy new things and spending a fortune, which is what I usually do. I can't get enough color around me at the moment. I'm clinging to everything green just as the world around me turns brown. Summer is so hard for me to love. I will give you a try again, hot lady, but you are simply not my type.

I got these veggie bins at Michael's last year and my gobs of yarn work well in here. It's just about the hottest it will be all year here, and I'm all juiced up to start knitting for the holidays!

I mentioned being a bit obsessed with citron-yellowy-green a few posts ago, in reference to the deer piece- and as it turns out it was featured in Etsy's Treasury West section, which I had no idea existed. It's like a little underground Treasury where the treasure- seekers go for inspiration. I was way flattered. Citron Expressions was the name of the collection. I wish I had time to sit and wait for Treasury spots to open up!

Tonite I'm sewing a curtain to cover the shipping supplies and overflowing fabric baskets underneath my taller table and I've really had fun with the composition part of it. As with my paintings, if I ignore all of the rules I learned in school, I have much more fun. I've always wanted to sculpt, so playing around with fabrics and yarn, and using my sewing machine as something it really wasn't intended for, & felting with soap and water gives me a fix. I should be able to get the thing hung by Friday so you can have a peek.

Will fall be here anytime soon? *wink* Please hurry.

Little House

The lovely explorer, Keri Smith and I share a love of tiny houses. I excitedly read her blog last week and began another tear through tiny home blogs, Jay Shafer's awesome site of Tumbleweed houses, gypsy vardos, and hobbity little earth dwellings.

 

The XS

What is it about the wee house that we love so much? From a simple little living room fort to a backyard yurt or tipi, a private treehouse or beautiful boat, I can't get enough of small spaces.

My godfather in another life, Carl Jung, said, "Everything in the unconscious seeks outward manifestation". One could run in any bloody direction with that, Carl. But as it applies to "stuff", I think it's worthwhile to investigate how we collect, what earthly items we cherish and what houses we dream of.

I'm dreaming of a tiny house in a wooded glen at the moment, as I'm deeply missing the trees once again...

And as for earthly items I cherish, here are a few:

1.Hairpins from the vintagebelljar

2.Jeans

3.My favorite mug and this tea

4.Perfect lip balm

5.Sewing machine

6.Yarn/needles

7.My collection of big feathers

8.My grandmother's cast iron skillet

9.Blockprinted dishtowels (sneaking in functional art wherever I can)

10.My worn-out copies of (surprise) Women Who Run With the Wolves, Gift from the Sea and Walden.

I'll keep this list going and encourage you to create your own- bearing in mind that if you only had 200 sq ft to live in, what would you bring with you? What are you afraid of not having?

I'm Just Sittin' Here 12 Days Old

 

Life with Ivy is good. She is a very easy baby-the only complaints she has are about gas and burping. Seems she can suck in quite a bit of air-perhaps her latch could use some work.  Easier said than done in the dark in the wee hours when it's just she and I tapping out the soft rhythms of the new mama/new baby dance when the world is silent and sleepy. I actually had to go online to try to find some new burping positions and to be reminded that it takes some time.  I love how tiny the details of life get when a baby is born...

I gave her her first bath tonite. She kicked her little froggy legs back and forth and I told her stories of swaying jellyfish and songster dolphins and she fell asleep as I poured cups of water on her back. She's a total goddess and I love it. I love treating babies like the sacred little buddhas they are-it makes me feel so honored to be one of their guides. It's odd to think of how babies come to us, in their own perfect time, not to be possessed, nor as our property-but to be guided gently into their individuality so that they can be healthy people in the world.

We chose her name, Ivy, because it symbolized climbing, a certain verdant growth-far beyond us -and because it had the feeling of a cool and magical forest where moss grows on all of the tree trunks and rocks, and little streams trickle through.

I keep finding myself saying to Miles over and again, "I'm so happy to be yours and Ivy's mommy!", and I'm sure he thinks I'm perfectly insane.

 

These are some little legwarmers I knitted for the babette yesterday-super easy, using organic cotton yarn that is beyond soft for as cheapo as it is.  I cast on 16 stitches and split them somewhat evenly over three 10.5 double-pointed needles, knitted 8 rounds then knit two together on stitches 1&2 then 8&9, then knitted 22 more rounds.  (I did knit two more together just two rounds before I bound off, but then I undid it because it wasn't easy enough to get them over her feet.) They're totally no-frills.  Might have been lovely with some stripes in other colors and the yarn does come in green and an earthy tone that actually grows that way. These things keep her little stems toasty, yet I don't have to wrestle every time she blows out her diaper-which is often.

And the most magical, proud magnadoodlerific moment of the week was this:

 

"Mawma, this is your big fat TB from when the baby was inside. And these are your stretch marks. And this is your VAGINA."

Can I hear an "Amen" ?

Fear and Trusting in Lost Spaces

After tea on my favorite corner of the couch that has been seeing a lot of my bum lately, I caught up on some of my favorite blogs and knitted while the pages loaded.  I've been holding my breath to see a post from the sweet Boho that her baby boy is on his way.  I can hardly stand the suspense!

I spend so much time with my head in my family matters, my local interests, and being generally avoidant of what is going on in blogland that I thought Out of the Loop would be the perfect name for a knit design company!  I truly feel left out of the doin's most of the time.  I have a little circle that I stay connected with, and many cyber relations often fall to the wayside.  I think I'm okay with that, but there are just so many interesting people doing the most amazing things (check out any of the links in my sidebar for a taste of what some really creative peeps are doing). When I don't keep up I wish I'd done a better job of staying in the loop.

This business of the "placental bleb" (can you believe it's really a word-I thought it was a typo) and "lake of blood" on my babe's ingoing and outgoing feedsack is probably not a big deal and most of the time I don't think of it.  But I had a meltdown in the shower yesterday (why always the shower?) because my imaginative fearfulness ran away without my noticing and I imagined that if I had to birth in a hospital because of a condition that needed that sort of care-what could happen to my early moments of bonding?  Or what if in the case of a C-sec, I didn't get to see my baby for hours?  Would nurses bathe her roughly and stick her with needles and drugs I haven't authorized them to use? I freaked out in tears at the thought of it and then the shower washed it all away and I was totally okay again.

I have tried to make a stern practice of being fearless in nearly everything I do.  It really goes against the way I was raised, so I make a point to dismiss or face fears with as much courage and faith as I can in the moment.  But I find myself needing to freak out to unsettling news sometimes and then as it sinks in and my higher self comes back into the picture, sensible thoughts return rather quickly.  I can't hold it against myself for overreacting if it's only for a short little time, can I?

I know well that birth is not something to be idealized or controlled.  I'm prepared to be as fearless as I can be about it again.  But no matter how many times you do it, there are still so many unknowns.  Can anyone be a pro at childbirth?  Each little bean comes with his or her own mysteries about how they will come in. It requires so much trust- and a few trusty distractions, as well.

I've been knitting up a storm preparing for a faire this weekend and another one the weekend after Thanksgiving.  I'm excited to show my work, to see what the economic climate is like in the crafter's market, to meet with people and have them try on my goodies.  It has been a very long time since I've put myself out there this way and it is going to be fun to share table space with some amazing glass and jewelry designing friends.

Here are yet another pair of wristwarmers (with thumbholes one can't see in this pic) that I finished a bit ago.  I like working with the thick/thin yarn-more alpaca-just so delicious and four times warmer than wool, it is said.

 

I think my biggest inspiration these days comes from unexpected sources.  I love hearing about grassroots movers and shakers who are finding different ways to create incomes while making room to stay home with the babes, growing food for the neighbors in their yards, travelling, creating local products and information sources that nourish the earth and protect young people from poisons.  I love what is happening in our country right now.  We have a mess to clean up, but never before have I felt so...um...united.  There have been times where I've wondered what the heck I was thinking to have children in such a time of corruptness in politics-and then there are days like the ones I've been having lately.  Despite real or imagined fears, I feel a deep sense of peace that everything will be alright.

Knitting for Life

I work at a little spa in town that is so cool.  Tonite we're having a fundraiser for a humble, helpful organization called Links for Life.  Rebecca Cotton, who owns and operates our oasis in the middle of downtown Bakersfield was struck to dramatically change her path in life when a dear friend was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago.  She's a great example of how we can be moved by the journeys of others to move in a completely different direction than we thought we were headed, and enjoy every moment.  Our spa offers many chemical-free and organic products, which is right in line with how I roll.

Cancer is something I've had my head in the sand about for too many years.  The number of people around me facing it or helping a loved one who has it is slowly growing.  The environmental influences we face today, coupled with all of the aspects of modern life that create cellular distress in our bodies, means early detection needs to work its way into our young lives sooner than later.

A very dear friend in our world just recovered from a double mastectomy at the age of 39.  With babes ages two and four, she could not risk the recurrence rate that a lumpectomy and radiation promised-so she went for the total removal.  Of course, she has a gorgeous new rack now, but the irony in the story is that the precancerous activity she gave up her boobs for would have been the least of her worries.  Lurking near her collarbone was a bit of active, invasive cancer, missed by the mammo, but caught by the surgery.  Whew!  Her intuition guided her not to take any chances and she listened.  Her courage blows me away.

For Jill, and anyone else who has been affected by this disease, six gals will be partying in your name tonite.  The scarf above is my contribution to tonite's giveaway-it's made of the most divine 100% brushed alpaca, which is like cotton candy on your skin.  It feels like a soft, warm, hug... 

Peace.

Hard Cheese and Why I Love Knitting

I'm thinking of taking a no plastics for a week pledge to raise my own awareness of how much plastic our household consumes (then tosses into the recycling bin....or not, in some cases of saran and other baddies).  If you haven't seen pictures of the Great Pacific Garbage Dump, it may alarm you into swearing off of polymers, too.  Olga Naidenko's article at Enviroblog came across my inbox and led me on a scavenger hunt, which led me to this funny gal from Oakland, who is doing all sorts of neat comparisons to decide which commonly used grocery and household items we can replace in order to avoid adding to the plastic grossness.  Anyone know of a great plastic-wrapping-free cheese from CA? 

Every once in a frequent while,  I need to reassess consumption around here.  Miles birthday was an example of a lot of excess wrapping paper, plastic toys, giant gift bags, and things that I will be trying to find a home for when Spring cleaning and the nesting season kicks in.  I can tell you that this Christmas there will be major moratoriums.  If I thought I could do it, I would commit to handmaking all of our gifts, but I just don't know what I'll have time for.  I don't think it will be that challenging to select or make thoughtful, minimumally-packaged gifts, but I will forego Tyvek (which I don't use that much of anyhow) in favor of small boxes and no stuffin for the peeps far away .

Is it that time of year already!?  I'm going to try to put a list of my favorite gifts together again this year and also just throw out there that not giving gifts is totally ok with me, too.  What about you?  Would it ruin the holidays to adore someone in such a way that doesn't involve the purchase or exchange of items?  Of course, it is a little harder with the wee ones.

Totally changing the subject...

Design Studio, 5:20 am this morning:

 

Knitting Schmitting, are you tired of hearing about it yet?

Ten things I love about knitting:

1. Totally portable, follows me from room to room, to work or dr.'s office in the bottom of my purse and can be stopped and started at any time.

2. Kiddie-friendly, can be dropped immediately to wipe someone's bum or kiss a boo boo, with no handwashing or de-chemicalling required to do so.

3.  When natural materials are used, they can all go straight back to the earth (or compost pile) without harming groundwater or future generations.

4. My workshop is in bed. Or anywhere I want it to be in the moment!

5. Doesn't cut into my social life. With a headphone on, I can talk on the phone and do it. (nice social life)

6. Near instant gratification

7. Yarn that stretches even just a little forgives the advanced beginner

8. The colors the colors the COLORS!!!!

9. Cackling women that discuss the male anatomy in art while knitting in the yarn shop crack me up and help me fix my mistakes

10. Silence and sitting still have never been so fun

The Master likes to break his fast at the counter these days, preferring to move right from stirring his oatmeal to eating it seamlessly.

   

In other news, I taught myself to knit in the round this weekend, and not on those cheating circular needles, either.  I'm rather proud of my wristwarmers in the making.  And, of course round is the predominant theme here in babyland.

   

It all happens on four needles at a time, which just about put me off of knitting forever with much cursing and finger cramping at first.  But once I got past the first few rows it is really easy and I definitely recommend it over circular needles. What a headache those tangled things can be!  I bought three pairs thinking they would make it so easy.  Perhaps for hats later.

I'm really happy with how the legwarmers turned out last week, but I got bored about half way through, knowing I needed to increase the width a bit (because who needs patterns, right?) so I stopped short and made boot toppers out of them.  I see cute youngsters wearing ballerina flats with legwarmers over skinny jeans, but I'm more of a boot girl, weather permitting.  I may make some more and see what you think.  These were stitched up the back because I hadn't yet learned to knit the fancy above pictured tubes.

 

Whoops, I suppose I could have dusted off those boots...

We had our "anatomical survey" on Friday and the results regarding gender were somewhat inconclusive.  I'll keep you in suspense until I know for certain.

Yarn Stash Legwarmers

I started a new knitting project last night that I'm kind of excited about.  It's a pair of legwarmers to stick out the top of my boots-likely for after the holidays at this rate, with it being so warm out!  I always loved legwarmers, but we don't have a strong motivation to wear them in CA.  I run a bit cold, so perhaps I'll get some use out of them...  I'm using some cheap ass yarn from Jo-Ann, leftover from Hurricane Holli's visit this summer, when we set out to knit a storm and ended up with a sprinkle.  It will be good enough to figure out my pattern and learn how many stitches it will take to wrap around my chickeny legs, though I may have to reknit it 3 times.  Because who needs patterns, right??  And I plan to stitch them up the back since I'm using straight needles, but once I sort it all out I'll have to make them on circulars like a sane person.

 

I am declaring No More Cheap Ass Yarn, which means no more shopping at Jo-Ann and that hideous Michael's, which I am loathe to even set foot in.  Their yarn lacks personality, and all comes from suspicious sources.  We have a wonderful yarn store here and of course there are Purl Soho and The Yarn Tree to buy from online, but closer would even be better.  Anyone know of a great west coast yarn supplier online?

I am going to have to move my family to a colder climate if wool is my new medium of choice!  I have to turn on the air conditioning just to test out my scarves!!  I love wool because, when grown and harvested consciously, no one gets hurt, it is completely non-toxic, and working with it is a tradtional living art that is so functional yet can be very ornamental, personal and artistic.  I suppose the sheep eventually become mutton pie, though.  Yikes.  Check out these gourmet babes.

I love this ranch because they are working so hard with native animals, seeking truly creative solutions to keeping their flocks safe.  I admire the effort that they are putting into conservation.  Wolves just think sheep are yummy.  Can you blame them?

Happy day, you.