Seems like it's always house cleaning time.
Right now I am trying to get the store ready for the holiday season. I am checking inventory in each catagory and finding holes and many things that aren't listed.
We have lots of Ashford looms, wheels and carders, Interweave books, crochet hooks, knitting needles, Laffing Horse trilooms, hand spun yarns, hand dyed rovings, felting supplies, natural fibers and so much more...
back to work!

This has been a very creative spring here in the Common Threads workshop. In spite of being so busy on our new homestead (or perhaps because of it!) we have lot of new yarns, incredible new crochet hooks and a new stock of fiber arts books from Interweave Press for inspiration.

While the books are a great source for new ideas - most of our new product ideas here at Common Threads come from you - our customers! That is what I love about ebay, it gives us a chance to interact with our customers one-on-one (in a virtual way). We get to hear what you like, or didn't like about a product and most of you are generous with your time and enthusiasm. Our newest size Q Tunisian Crochet hook is a customer request. It is huge and looks like a baton. Of course, I had to try it out. I love it! So now I have one, too. I'm working up a purse that I am crocheting and then will felt. I'll let you know how it comes out.

As a way of saying thanks to everyone for helping us out, we are running regular sales. Keep an eye on our newsletter for upcoming sales! And as always, if you have any questions, please send an ebay message!

I want to thank everyone for their patience while we moved our farm, business and family from the Plains of Colorado to the Arkansas Ozarks. It was a challenge to keep orders filled - and we're still playing a bit of "catch-up" but we are starting to get the store set up and the critters settled.
We still have barns, fencing and sheds to build, then we'll start on houses. I think it will take about 5 years before we have homes for everyone, but in the meantime, this is a wonderful place to live!

Our new store is a wonderful stone building in the middle of a tiny town on the top of a mountain. We are right next door to the Post Office, which makes shipping your orders much easier. In the back of the store is a nice field for taking pictures of all the new items we are hand crafting.

Many of our Laffing Horse Trilooms, knitting needles, crochet hooks, spindles are developed upon customer request. If you have a need for a special size or type of hook, loom or needle, just send us an ebay message and we'll let you know if we can create it just for you.

Well, the snow finally stopped yesterday and they got a plow down our highway for the first time in 5 days. I'm afraid that boxes I shipped on Thursday are somewhere under a drift. The snow is well above the level of the mailbox, the water hydrant, the cars... We'll get the mailbox dug out before Wednesday and see what is left inside. Hopefully the mailman got through before the snow got too bad.
We started digging yesterday morning and have the water hydrant found so we can water the animals and paths to all the barns. Actually, we are really feeling blessed. Our electricity, water and internet have held throughout this blizzard. We had ample warning, so the animals are all in barns and we have plenty of food, even if we can't make it to town for a few more days.
Hopefully, we'll have the driveway dug out by Wednesday, so that we can get one of the trucks out and get all the orders to town to ship.
It is a daunting task though, we are shoveling by hand, and the last 30 feet of the driveway is mostly filled with snow drifts over 5 foot tall. What I wouldn't give for a Bobcat right now!
Hope this New Year's day finds you all well, happy and warm!

Now that the Christmas rush is over, business is in a lull. Yes, I know it is Christmas eve and we have friends and family over and we will be spending tomorrow with family, but that is the down-time. It is for fun and relaxation, it doesn't have to be scheduled or productive. And yet, it is - vitally productive in several different ways.

It is an time to assess and plan upcoming business needs and directions and to let new ideas ferment in the background. (Sorry mom, your turkey dinner is great even if I am considering sales direction for the next year in the back of my mind.)

One of the great things about getting together with friends and family is that you can get a different perspective on trends and issues. This seems especially important for us here at Common Threads. We are very distant from mainstream USA. We live in a very rural area. While our business does not necessarily follow trends and we are mostly historically based, it is nice to understand the language people are speaking. We do not have television. We get all our news from the internet, Time magazine and NPR.

And we all hate to go to stores. The weekly trip to the grocery store is an ordeal that we try to pawn off on each other. We are growing more of our own food so that we don't have to go shopping!

We do most of the rest of our shopping online, but that limits what we see in terms of popular colors and people's reactions to trends.

The one place we can (and do!) people watch is at the Renaissance Faires and other shows we vend at. There we do get to see changing color preferences in action. But, what the Duchess is wearing is probably not the latest fashion trend!

This holiday time shared with friends and family is also important because they are our support network. Holidays are the only times we really seem to get together, sit down, visit and catch-up. We can share dreams, hopes and see changes.

Yesterday was wonderful, we had a houseful of fun and laughter. Shawn's granddaughter Lydia (9 months) almost stole the show, but I think the sheep still had center stage as we took everyone out to help us sort the yearling ewes out of the main flock. It was so much fun to see teenagers from town working side-by-side with farm kids and business women in their grubbies.

Merry Christmas to all of you - may your gift be happiness in the new year!