Our annual January trek to Florida is right around the corner!
Our online shop is on “vacation” mode and will be back up with new stock the beginning of February. I invite you to sign-up to receive our e-newsletters to keep up with where we will be, and our monthly online special!
Back to the dyepots, and mountains of fiber in various stages of prep for the one and only Destin Spin-In next week.
The fibers will be posted this coming weekend on the Etsy shop. I have just reloaded our well-known free workbook Color Ray 1 that will always be available on the “Our Fibers” page. This is a self-guided workbook about how to create gorgeous colorways using our multi-hued fibers. Enjoy!
I got my Paint Shop Pro reloaded – thank goodness Corel stands behind their products as Louie ate the product codes a few years ago, and I was unable to reload a lot of my software onto my new system. Not every company is as easy to work with, however, I have always loved Corel products, most likely because I started with Wordperfect so many years ago. While the online service I was using in the meantime worked great, I really prefer not to have to be connected while I fool around with photos. I can get lost in it for quite some time….
So, if you are reading this, and not sure you receive our e-newsletters, I invite you to sign up now so you will receive the special discount code that will also be sent out in relation to getting the fibers posted.
Happy New Year to all of us!
Carol & Soft Shoe Louie
6 new colorways in sock yarn posted to Etsy, and the special continues through January 3rd at Midnight! Fibers are coming up next. Everything in time as they say.
Another new free pattern coming too! Sign up to receive our newsletters to stay up-to-date on our happenings!
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!
As I get our Etsy shop up and running, I am readying an e-newsletter to send out including our grand opening online special.
Now that I have completed a sock sample that matches one of our new colorways – Northern Lights – the formal pattern w/photo can be downloaded for free, and a copy is included with each yarn purchase from our New Etsy Shop! (you can still copy and paste from the actual “our yarns” page!) I have found the pattern and yarn make a beautiful complete gift.
More free patterns will be coming now that I am finally on the mend after being ill for the last 2 months. Lots of drugs are knocking the infection out of my system and I haven’t felt this great since SAFF back in October.
The basic spiral tube sock pattern is now posted on the bottom of “Our Yarns” page. Please feel free to use it to your heart’s content. Its one I have made many times over using various sock yarns, and find that our “Sock Yarn” line makes up beautiful in this. I wear a size 8/8.5 and the directions are written as I knit them.
There was a comment several weeks ago requesting the directions, and I apologize, I didn’t realize the comment was tied to a page I recently deleted and now I have lost her request. If you are reading this, please accept my apologies, I hope you find the pattern to your liking.
Photos coming!
For those of you who have been diligently waiting – our base Sock Yarn line is finally on its way here! 3 months in the waiting. This is the wonderful 70% Superwash BFL / 30% Nylon blend – 3.5 oz / 100 gram skeins for $16.00. It will take about a week to get the initial dyeing done and photos posted and then we will run our online special!
We invite you to sign up for our e-newsletter as the online special will be announced in that!
As with any new device/program/software now-a-days, some are simple intuitive while others have a larger/longer learning curve. I finally had my “aha” moment last night with our new website as I was struggling with knowing what I wanted the website to do versus trying to understand how to achieve that.
I had played it safe for many years falling back onto what was tried and true for me. I wasn’t happy with the results but knew I could handle it. Then we had the computer crash and website crash within days of each other in August. Since I already saw signs of the computer “failing” I had already started shopping trying to get a feel for what was available on today’s market and what would serve my purposes for “hopefully” 3 years (the expected life expectancy of computers used in businesses) so although I had picked out the system, I didn’t have the luxury of waiting until I got it at the best price (darn!).
So in comes the need for a website, and nothing like a website crash to push you out of your comfort zone. I had been shopping styles and types for quite sometime, not having the luxury of time to write my own code to develop what I wanted, and knowing full well someone else most likely had already done similar work (at a price) that I could tap into, it was a matter of finding that information and customizing it to my needs. Voila…Wordpress…I knew it was the one, I just needed to make it “my” one.
Nothing like feeling like the out-of-date kid on the block still using an SLR and getting my photos developed/made into CD’s to load onto my computer while everyone else is speeding by with their digital cameras. That is what it felt like, and I finally broke through what the terms meant and how to make them mine last night. So, I am thrilled to finally have the website in some semblance of order and continuity for all of our friends – fiber and otherwise to use as a resource.
There is one page in development – the one with all the great free stuff on it so if you aren’t already signed up for our E-newsletter, I invite you to do so. Once that page has 2 of our new patterns, along with our Color Ray booklet available, I will send out a notice to everyone. Thank you for reading this far and for being part of our fiber family.
Yours,
Carol & Soft Shoe Louie in sunny Grand Ledge Michigan on the river.
We are finalizing the details for River’s Edge Fiber Arts Spring Fiber/CSM Retreat being held in Grand Ledge at the Old Library Meeting Room, plenty of free parking. Event is free to attend. Nominal fee for lunch or many restaurants within 1 block, and nominal fee for optional workshops. Mark your calendars – April 28/29. See associated page with more details!
As our 2011 show season comes to a close I wish to thank everyone who chose to spend their hard-earned dollars with us. I love traveling on the road, and I am grateful for every person who has decided to make us one of their coveted places to come and say hello, show us beautiful stunning pieces created from our fibers and yarns, help me out when debb was unable to travel with me, and the list goes on.
I look forward to each show with anticipation, wondering if I will see familiar faces, meet new people, and the wondering if I don’t see some of my familiar faces, what happened, are they well, or did they simply have another obligation. I know on several occasions I have shocked several of you because you most likely aren’t used to someone like me, remembering your face, and most times, which show we usually see you at – especially when you decide to attend another show, your surprise when I say – this isn’t the show I usually see you at – and I mean it. At one time, I used to have an excellent photographic memory for faces/places/what you purchased. Now its mainly faces/places, and the reason why I look forward to seeing certain people at certain shows.
Each of you touch me, you give me giggles and laughs, ideas for me to contemplate and most of all, to see what you pick out to add to your stash, or have a particular project in mind I find myself feeling like a voyeur into your creativity, and I thank you.
We have introduced several new product lines this year in our quest to offer the best in related products to our fiber lines, and we are thrilled with the positive response we have received. I have this business because I love what I do, however, its because of each one of you that I continue to do it.
Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone of you.
Yours, Carol & Soft Shoe Louie
I am slowly rebuilding our main-site and our “shops” which will have our products available at both Etsy & Artfire. They will both be connected on our “shop” page here for you to easily connect to. I am still working through the logistics of both providers and look forward to getting our sock lines up first – there are now 3, starting at $16 – 22.50 something for everyone.
Don’t forget to sign up for our periodic e-newsletters, as we continue to update our shop, we will be running specials in association with those specific lines so don’t miss out on saving $$! Currently, we schedule shipments for Monday morning by 9a.m. & Thursdays the same.
