In Which the Pirate Ponders Business Ideas.

I have been thinking about how I might start up a fiber artistry business. Here are some of the thoughts I have:

• Dyeing yarn and spinning fiber:
  • Acid dyes and citric acid, though vinegar can be used for the acid.
  • Punta for $12.50/lb.
  • Other wools for even less.
  • Good superwash sock yarn. I have heard good things about both Kona *and* Treadsoft.
  • Dyeing tutorial one and two
  • Sell on Etsy or to LYS
• Carding fiber:
  • Run already-dyed top through the drum carder to make nice blends
  • wool + nylon = sock batts
  • Sell on Etsy or to LYS
• Handspinning fiber:
  • have to get faster at this, first, to make it worthwhile.
  • Sell on Etsy or to LYS
  • If selling to LYS, probably need to have steady production
• Designing and publishing patterns:
  • I can see that this is going to be the slowest one of all, but the work only needs to be done once and then the pattern is out there forever.
  • I have a few ideas in mind. Just have to knit them.
  • Ravelry has a great system of selling pattern .pdfs.
• Marketing:
  • this website (needs more pictures)
  • Twitter
  • business cards
  • Etsy
  • LYSs

So I took the first step – my new twitter username, to be used for fibery stuff, is KnittingPirate. Feel free to follow!

What else? I think it might be time for a new look for the website, too. I have been using the same theme for two years, and I’m running into some limitations. For example, I would like to be able to put a twitter widget into the sidebar, but this theme doesn’t use widgets (and the sidebar isn’t wide enough, anyway). Heck, the whole layout should be wider. And I’d like another sidebar; the one I have is sort of long.

Edited to add: New layout is here! With sidebars and widgets!

PS I put a few new stripes onto the stripey sock yesterday, lest you think I’m not knitting at all. :)