All good things come to an end. Trite, but true… and so I am bringing Phoenix Fiberworks to a close, something I feel I should have done a while ago, but I didn’t want to go off half-cocked. ‘Cause you know me, long on planning, short on follow-through. It’s not as ominous as it sounds, really. Here’s the thought process, or plan, as it were.
Phoenix Fiberworks began as a dream, a way to make extra money and perhaps build a future career doing something I thought I’d enjoy. Harriet and I had a long conversation about what I’d like to do with my life, and owning a yarn shop, in some reincarnation, is what it boiled down to. The easiest way to do that was to learn to dye and offer yarn for sale online. So much planning, so much work went into this, getting my idea ready to bring to market. I found the then fledgling Etsy, I applied for my DBA. It was an adventure.
As time went on it became apparent that space was an issue, and the joy was quickly sucked out of dyeing yarn for others. My kitchen has three feet of counter space, two feet I can actually use. I was carrying (and sometimes dropping) dye across my apartment’s hardwood floor so I could dye on my plastic covered table. I found it very hard to muster enthusiasm to set up and tear down my working area every time I wanted to dye. I don’t have affordable access to an industrial kitchen for rent or otherwise. I tried wholesaling and it nearly killed me.
During this time I was diagnosed with mild to moderate Fibromyalgia. I was kinda stunned, I always thought I felt like crap because I’m fat, at least that’s what my long time physician always told me. Apparently there was more going on than just that. My pain and exhaustion levels worsened until the spring of this year when I was able to get them under tenuous control. For all intents and purposes, aside from the April show, I was no long a business and the guilt was eating me up inside. It’s hard to muster up initiative for something that isn’t making you happy. You know, I’ve never even really liked my business/blog name. I’m awful at coming up with names, really really bad at it, so I just went with what didn’t sound stupid at the time.
For quite a while now I’ve been talking with close friends and my husband about reincarnating. I feel like my focus, until such time as we have a house with space for a studio, is much more on fiber culture and community. I have a lot to say and share about knitting, spinning and crochet. A lot. I love sharing the passion and joy I get from it with others, and I especially enjoy hosting and arranging events for our community. I feel like it’s time to let go of the past and plan for my future.
I’m shutting down my Etsy shop and will be seriously considering dyeing once a year, for Clermont only. I will be moving to a new blog, possibly a new domain as well. There you’ll find free patterns, eventually some for sale, things I’ve been meaning to post for a long time and new things as well. I already have them formatted and written up. I’ll be investigating producing a podcast, and I’ll definitely be looking for more ways to bring the fiber community out into the public in the Hudson Valley. To put it simply, I’m going to play to my strengths. When I’m ready to make the move, which should be by January 1st, I’ll let you know. I’d love it if you continued to read, and if you’d update your feed readers so you can follow me on my journey.
Thank you, in advance, for making the last few years so much damned fun. I look forward to seeing what the future brings.
