I usually don’t make my monthly goals public. But this month is a bit different. You see, I need your feedback on a few things… some rather important things, too. I guess I should explain, huh?

Over the past couple of months or four, I’ve been seriously looking at expanding the types of yarn in the shop. Right now, there are three; a sock weight, a worsted weight and a bulky weight. I really want a lace weight, and a wider variety of sock yarns, particularly one in non-wool fibers. I’m itching to get silk in the shop, and a pure bamboo yarn too, because I adore those fibers.

And I think I’ve found all but one of those yarns, and a possible way to get the one I can’t get right now. Hell, I’ve even got the accounts set up to get the yarns. But I’m worried.

You see, it doesn’t matter how much I love the yarns if you guys don’t want them, or if no one ever finds out about them. I’ve been advertising on Ravelry (Hi Ravelers!) and blogging and participating in forums when I have something to say, to help not being known. But you guys, you matter more than all of the promoting and participating in the community. There would be no yarn dyeing if it wasn’t for your support, in all of it’s forms. So when it comes time to introduce new yarns, I do tend to worry if you won’t like them. Yes, of course there is a financial aspect to it all, but mostly I worry because one of the greatest joys in this kind of work comes from seeing you create something you love with what I’ve created. And that doesn’t happen if you don’t love the yarns enough to knit, crochet… to create with them.

So I guess my question is, would you guys be interested in seeing some new base yarns? A No Wool laceweight, and a No Wool sock yarn with just as much bounce as a wool sock yarn? A 100% bamboo in fingering weight, perfect for fine gloves… perhaps even shimmering tams and heavier lace scarves? What about hand painted spinning fiber?

I’m excited about the idea of all the yarns, but particuarly the 100% bamboo, because it is one of my absolute favorite yarn mediums to paint on. Which gives results that look much like this, which was the sock yarn for my middle Yarn Baby:

And knit up like this:

Anyway. Introducing a few new yarns is one of the goals, and I’d really love your feedback on the above ideas. There are other goals too, though I still haven’t quite worked out how to achieve them.

• I’d really love a positive review on one of the yarn review sites of one of my yarns. (Who wouldn’t?)
• I’d absolutely adore seeing more FO pictures from you guys! (It’s addictive, I’m telling ya.)
• I really want to get this first wholesale order (so excited!!) out the door on time, and to exceed the expectations for the yarn shop ordering it. (It’s a custom colorway.)
• I need to set up my different styles, and get a routine down for dyeing each style, so there is a good selection of yarn types in the shop.
• I want to get the shop done in the same design as the blog.
• I need to write here more often than I have been, at least three times M-F.
• I want to break the 10lb plateau I’ve hit - I can dye more than 10lbs a month, but paying for more is another story.
• I need to promote more, and possibly look into taking out a second Ravelry ad.
• I want to run some kind of special in the shop, once a stable 1.0 version of the shop comes out.
• I need to get a newsletter set up for the shop, to announce when new yarns are up.
• Finish the Combat Boot sock pattern. (For real.)

That’s the gist of it, I think.

I’m nervous that I’ll have to re-cover ground I’d already gained because of the recent time off, but the time off couldn’t be helped, so I’m just trying to take it one day at a time and remember that as frustrating as this time away has been at times, it wasn’t fruitless. The new design finally got underway, and I found more knit blogger friends to keep me company in this big, wide, little world.

Oh, and if you have a few moments to spare, do stop by and cheer thinggtwoo on - she signed up for the three day, 60 mile Breast Cancer Awareness walk, and is planning on contributing to the fight against Breast Cancer not just once, by walking, but twice… and in a very knitterly way!