Good Mornthing!

[blissmorgan]

 Precious few minutes this morning, and I am choosing to spend those which remain with you.

Yesterday was a rarey day off - no work, and the children at school, and SALM at work, and so I granted myself leave to sit in my chair and watch Blacklist in marathon mode while, stopwatch app running to keep track of my time, I finished a blanket that I had been commissioned to make. I'd already done the pattern once before, but this time I added a border as well, which made a world of visual difference IMO in terms of giving it a really "finished" look. It is the size of a throw:

     

Finishing the blanket made me nervous because the commissioner agreed to buy it not actually knowing what the final price would be, only that it would require me to time myself and that I charge $20/hour for most of my fiber arts work (which, considering that I have over 30 years' experience, might be undercharging, but eh. ::le shrug::). I finished, took pictures, sent them, and they were effusively excited. Then I let them know how many hours it had taken to make, and how much they owed outstanding after accounting for the down payment they had already sent. They went silent. For over an hour. I hate that silence. It is one of the loudest, and most uncomfortable silences, for me. I resisted the urge to fill that silence with offerings of any kind of discounting.

When they messaged me again, it was to let me know they had sent the money. ::falls down:: I'm still not used to people understanding and appreciating the huge difference between a handmade item and something they would pick up at the store, and being willing and able to pay for that amount of work and care. It is both one of the great and terrible things of a highly industrialized society that prices are so low. Great, because it means so many people have access to so many needful things. Terrible because the idea of what a thing "should cost" can get so skewed because we are used to the pricing of things mass-produced, and so unique and handcrafted items seem to be too expensive in comparison, rather than accurately priced for what they are.

I have an additional skein of this yarn on hand, and am making a scarf in the same pattern, albeit with the dragonflies offset. I made a short scarf with the remainder yarn and someone called dibs within five minutes of me posting pictures of it, and paid me so promptly my hair blew back.

Here is my face for no reason other than that I am feeling cute today, and therefore it makes me cranky that my webcam is so shoddy as to not even really pick up my hair.

Alas, you cannot smell me through this picture, which is truly your loss. I plucked a bottle at random from the collection today and came up with Spiked Nog Nutmeg from Solstice Perfumes. I smell gorram delicious.

There was more I wanted to write about, like the Spawn and a tornado project, but alas. I must be off.

Hello, Blisstopia.<3

Comments

[phantastically]

Spiked nog nutmeg? Mmmmmm.

[blissmorgan]

Mmmmmhmmm. I think I'm going to put that on today and combine it with Dark Ginger Spicecake. It just seems right for the holiday.

[wa_bob]

Some days, I wish your writing was scratch and sniff just to be able to fully understand the variety of good smells. Alas, technology is not that good yet.

A friend in Cornwall is producing wool from her own sheep now and she's had a few of the same issues with people understanding the value of mass produced vs you know exactly where it came from and what went into it. Fortunately for her, the UK seems to be more aware of these differences so she's doing better.

I hope yesterday helped you center better and you always look grand, even if the camera fails you on occasion!

[blissmorgan]

Would that I could push the smell through the internet to you! Spiked Nog Nutmeg is lovely; it smells like a warm eggnog with a hint of rum and the spicey goodness of cinnamon/nutmeg, just as the name implies.

Pricing of things seems to be different in the UK as a whole, in no small part I am sure due to differing supply/demand as well as differing trade agreements and taxing structures. I hope that your friend does well with the wool production! I still have a fleece I acquired a few years ago that desperately needs cleaning and preparation for spinning.

[littleweeds]

That afghan is beautiful!

[blissmorgan]

Thank you! The next thing I'm going to do (after finishing the third scarf in as many days with the dragonfly offset pattern) is sort out translating the pattern into knitting, because a lot of folks in my FB fiber arts group were interested in that.

[johncomic]

I see what you mean about the border. And I also grant you a woot for prompt unquestioning payments.

I am imagining smelling you. <3 <3 <3

[blissmorgan]

If/when we ever actually get to meet in meatspace, I imagine it will begin with the longest of hugs involving a whole lot of neck-smelling.

[johncomic]

can't argue with that <3

[hlinspjalda]

Awww. That beautiful scarf with the offset dragonflies is gone already? sniff

Welp, it was beautiful, so good on you and the lucky new owner!

[blissmorgan]

It IS. So I'm making another. :D

I'm also doing one in white vintage fisherman's wool.