1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,640 I'm Drea. I'm Meg. I'm Tina. And I'm Jess. And this is Pardon My Stash. 2 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:19,440 Welcome to Part in My Stash, a podcast about knitting, the fiber arts, and how awesome it is. 3 00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:24,320 Before we delve into this week's topics, let's share what we're working on today, 4 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:32,880 Drea. I am working on the chemishawl by Isabelle Kramer, and I'm using jeans. 5 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:44,240 I am using Silver Moon fiber arts in fingering, and it is faded jeans. 6 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,200 Literally all I could think of was like the two episodes ago where we talked about frogging. We 7 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:55,440 talked about the possibility of knitting while you're frogging, and I'm just picturing you knitting 8 00:00:55,440 --> 00:01:00,800 from jeans. Like those ripped jeans that you can buy. Pulling at the strands of your jeans and 9 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:05,680 knitting with it. The fancy ripped jeans. I don't know if I would want to knit with denim. 10 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,920 I don't know if it still is around, but I know a while ago there used to be a denim yarn or 11 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:18,880 denim blend yarn that you could knit with. And I can't imagine how it would feel. To be fair, 12 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:24,640 nerd fabric fact here. Denim is actually the weave of the fabric. The fabric itself, 13 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:30,080 before you weave it into that, is just normal like threads. 14 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:42,800 Putting that BFA to use. Listen, man. That's how it do. That's how it gets solved. And you're not 15 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:48,000 supposed to wash it nonstop unless it gets really bad because of that. It wears out faster. It has 16 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:53,680 to do with the way they weave it. Well, the more you know, I guess. Yeah. So all right, Meg. 17 00:01:55,120 --> 00:02:02,960 I can't follow that. Jeans. Jeans. I'm still knitting Ocean Stones by Greta Menson, 18 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:09,040 and I'm knitting it in Fiberspace Vivacious Decay in Heavenly. I love that color way, by the way. 19 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:14,800 You know, honest to God, I do too. It's so subtle. It's very pretty. I kind of want to buy more and 20 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:19,840 make a whole sweater out of it. I'll be honest. It's a really cute. I know it's probably not 21 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:24,880 appropriate for a baby outfit, but that's just horrible. That would be so cute. Why wouldn't it 22 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:30,240 be though? No, I'm just thinking maintenance wise, it would be hard to clean. But I think it's super 23 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:34,720 wash. Is it super wash? I don't know. Let me check. Okay. No, because I'm talking. Yeah, because I'm 24 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:40,800 just if it was like, you know, machine washable, I would say it's like it's a gorgeous color for 25 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:48,720 like neutral, but still like, it has a little bit of everything in it. So it doesn't seem like it's 26 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:55,920 more of like a boy or girl. It says machine wash. Nice. Okay. It is washable. So yeah, I would, 27 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:00,800 if it were me, that would be like an adorable, like I would make like a little baby vest out of 28 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:06,080 that. This would be a good, like, and it's great for especially if you don't know the sex of the 29 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:12,160 baby. This is a great gender neutral color. It really is. No, I definitely would be like, I did. 30 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:16,720 I saw it. I fell in love with it. I'm like, I need that. I would make a little like floppy hat and a 31 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:23,200 vest with that 100% or a blanket. That's a really cute blanket one for a baby blanket. It would be 32 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:27,120 with a nice, because it has a really good stitch definition. It would be nice with like the cabling 33 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:33,520 or something like that. Yeah. Keynote? I am still plugging away at my Ingalls sweater by Caitlin 34 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:41,280 Hunter from Boylan Networks. And the yarn I'm using is string yarns NYC Dil Ceto DK in red, 35 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:46,000 gray, and dark gray. I don't know if this is going to change for a while, what I'm working on, but. 36 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,520 I think we're all in that boat pretty much. Yeah. Like, I don't know. It's just like, it's, 37 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:57,520 it's taking it slow. We're having a chill year. Yeah. I feel like, I feel like honestly, I've just 38 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:02,400 been like, when I have time to focus, I've been doing like little projects, like the baby sweater 39 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,320 from last week and stuff like that. I've been doing like these little projects in between, 40 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,760 but otherwise. This is your main project and everything else are your side projects. Yeah, 41 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:14,160 pretty much. This is like the one I'm working on when I don't know what to work on or I need to, 42 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,480 you know, just chill. And then if I'm, if I actually want to like do something, it's, 43 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,600 it has to be a smaller thing. It's not going to be another sweater or something like that. 44 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:27,360 And. Sweater monogamy. Pretty much. Yeah. I am being sweater monogamous right now. My poor, 45 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:32,960 dark academia is in a corner right now. Just crying. You'll get there. No, once I'm done 46 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:38,160 with this one, I'll, I'll switch. That'll be my next sweater. So I'm, you know, I'm good with 47 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:50,000 sweaters for the next probably like three years. Jess. Yeah. I am also still working on the Alexandra 48 00:04:50,000 --> 00:05:00,160 Davidoff studios. I am dragon two and we are just plugging away at that in, oh yeah. Critical hit 49 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:07,680 dies Morgan in ranger. You're going to just knit the whole dragon lion, aren't you? No, I think 50 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:12,240 I'm probably going to be good with the stitch for a little while after this one. Cause it is, 51 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:18,560 it is a very fun stitch, but I know it now. I've going to have two projects with it for our projects 52 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:24,240 and information, you know, about part of my stash. Uh, you can check us out at our website, 53 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:30,240 part of my stash.com for that info, some picks, patterns and yarns. 54 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:39,680 All right. So this week's topics is going to be, uh, lessons we learned from crafting. 55 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:44,160 So many lessons learned. I was going to say, I wanted to do from crafting because I feel like, 56 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,480 I mean, we all knit, but we all also do other crafts. And I feel like we have learned a lot 57 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:53,360 from all of these. Um, and I'm not just talking about like, you know, cause we've talked about 58 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,240 things that we've learned that we would do differently. And when I'm more talking about 59 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:01,600 like, you know, just, just random, it could be completely random. Like we've, we've come across, 60 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:08,560 like, you know what I have learned that for me, there, there are multiple uses for a certain type 61 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:15,280 of yarn, um, that you can use across several crafts that have nothing to do with knitting. 62 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:24,400 Like we used to use yarns for building forts and you would think that bulky might be good 63 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:30,240 because it's bigger for the blankets and whatnot, but actually a worsted works fantastic. Don't look 64 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:35,200 at me like that. Like there's things that you're really going to use. Grandma's old, like old, old, 65 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:42,480 old school red heart made out of legit plastic that if a flame goes near it, you're going to get like 66 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:50,640 arsenic poisoning from. Yeah. That makes good for holdups. I don't know. I just hear, 67 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:55,760 I felt like arsenic poisoning needed the do, do, do. Wow. That's, that is not where I thought that 68 00:06:55,760 --> 00:07:01,120 was going to go. I'm just saying that is not where I thought that was going to go. It's a broad range. 69 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:13,200 I wanted to open the floor to that. I was going to say that I learned recently that swatching was 70 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:19,200 important. You still don't do it, Dra. I have done it for the one project that required it. 71 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,520 And it was important. I don't need to swatch for the, for a shawl. It's like just wrap it around 72 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:28,320 yourself. If you speak, if you speak to swatch purists, you're supposed to swatch for everything. 73 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:32,880 It could be a fricking washcloth. You're supposed to swatch. I mean, I feel like a washcloth is the 74 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,880 swatch. Yeah. I have seen people make arguments for swatches for washcloths. That seems a little 75 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:42,960 bit ridiculous. That's excessive. Anything else I can kind of like, I don't know. I think I'm going 76 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:47,040 to go out on a limb here and you know me, I'm the swatch defender, gauge swatch defender, but I will 77 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:53,280 go out on a limb and say, if you are the type of person and I feel like you are, I am, you don't 78 00:07:53,280 --> 00:08:01,120 even know what I'm going to say yet, but I am. Okay. I could run with that. If you are the type 79 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:07,040 of person that does not mind knitting for like, God knows how long until you figure out this is 80 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:13,120 not working, ripping it all back and starting over. If you are not the kind of person that minds that 81 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:19,840 you do not need to gauge swatch. If you are the type of person I think you are, but I also know 82 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:26,560 how I knit. Like I'm not going to gauge swatch for a hat. I like, right. Right. And I don't think you 83 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:33,920 need to like, okay, I have knit so many accessories out of Malabrigo Rios. Yeah. I know like if I am 84 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:40,480 knitting a hat or a cowl out of Malabrigo Rios, I know exactly what my gauge is going to be. Maybe 85 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:46,000 not down to the inch, but I know which needles to knit with and I know how it's going to come out 86 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:54,000 in terms of tension. Yeah. Yeah. So as much of a gauge swatch purist as I, okay, but the washcloth 87 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:59,840 is breaching. Listen, I didn't. That's not me. That's not me. No, I know. So whatever lady asks on 88 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:03,920 YouTube that was doing the swatch for the washcloth, I'm sorry. Like you're wrong. I really, I mean, I 89 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:11,200 think going in- Swatch the washcloth. In line with the terms of find your joy. If you are the type 90 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:17,360 of person that does not mind starting a project five times and ripping it out five times until you 91 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:24,560 get the gauge right. If that makes you happy, go forth, enjoy yourself. Or if you don't care that 92 00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:30,560 it's not exactly the right size that you were going for. Like, cause I'm actually of that mindset. 93 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:36,560 Like I honestly, like I'll do a, I will absolutely a hundred percent do a swatch if it's for a test 94 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:40,320 knit or I'm doing it for somebody else. Like I measured them and I want to make sure it's 95 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:46,080 perfect. But if it's for me, like nine times out of 10, I will like not swatch and I'll be like, 96 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:51,200 eh, this is going to come out bigger. Cool. And then if it comes out smaller, I'm like, 97 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:57,680 ah, I can find somebody. I can find somebody. That's fair. But for the most part, I know that 98 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:03,680 I tend to my, because I'm a Lucy goosey, I tend to, um, it comes out a little bit bigger than what 99 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:08,560 it's meant to be. So I also know that I'm a tight knitter. So most of my projects, I have to go up 100 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:14,080 a needle size. Yeah. And that's fair. Yeah. I remember when we were knitting those socks 101 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:17,680 and you're like, yep, I'm knitting them on twos. And I started knitting them on twos and I'm like, 102 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:25,280 this is a sock for a sumo wrestler. I am going to frog this and go with ones. I did not realize 103 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:32,320 until that point how different our gauge was. I really did not. So, all right. Well, good talk. 104 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:41,680 Did you know? Oh no, I didn't. That face, that face. You knit yourself your own garden fence. 105 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:48,240 I have seen that. I have seen the garden, knit garden fence. It is spectacular. It really is. 106 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:56,480 Fantastic. You need like heavy duty, uh, rope and some big arse needles. What? Yeah. Yeah. 107 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:03,680 A Scottish lady did it. It's beautiful. It's fantastic. Her name is Ann Jonsson. Jonsson. 108 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:09,040 Sorry, if I'm pronouncing your name wrong, Ann, that's nuts. Oh, I've seen. Yeah. I've seen that. 109 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:17,040 I have seen that actually. Yeah. So learning from that is that you, you can take your knits 110 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:23,200 and just do all sorts of stuff with them. Well, if you think about it, knitting, crochet, anything 111 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:27,280 that you're honestly creating some kind of fabric, you could do whatever the heck you want. You want 112 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:31,600 to make a, you want to make a fence, go for it. You want to parachute. I mean, I wouldn't recommend 113 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:38,400 it, Meg. They probably die from a knit parachute. Oh, I don't know. Depending on most, most old 114 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:42,720 school parachutes are made out of silk. I'm talking about like open weave lace. No, but 115 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:51,680 I was just thinking like me and you are very Lucy goosey. And I just feel like if I took my 116 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:58,080 simple lines and jumped out of a plane, I wouldn't be living from that. Probably not. But like, 117 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:03,920 meanwhile, Dre, who I know can knit Kevlar if necessary, you know, we, yeah, I'm not throwing 118 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:08,080 on my simple lines and jumping on a plane. Guys, I'm going to leave parachute making to the 119 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:14,000 professionals. If any of us had to make a parachute, I would trust you, Dre. Thank you. I don't. 120 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:22,480 So lessons learned, uh, don't trust us to make your parachute. That's all I gotta say. Uh, no, 121 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:28,720 I was going to say, um, a lesson I have definitely learned, uh, from knitting in general is that 122 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:37,040 anything, anything can be, um, can be made into a consumerist activity. If you don't check yourself 123 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:42,720 before you wreck yourself and why that's fair, you know, like in terms of like how we talked last 124 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:47,520 week about knitting with intention, like just knitting random crap or like buying way too much 125 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:52,720 yarn. And then you have like more yarn that you'll ever going to knit within your life or having 126 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:59,920 like, you know, getting the latest, you know, bags on bags on bags or tools on tools on tools. 127 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:05,520 And then you just have too much of everything. It doesn't, it doesn't matter. Like as much as 128 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:14,400 the idea or the principle I would like to think of is this slow fashion, slow knit idea. Um, 129 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:23,280 anything can turn into this fast fashion idea. Well, anything can turn into a secondary hobby too. 130 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:30,800 Like knitting is a hobby. Buying yarn is a hobby. Oh yeah. Like those are two different things. 131 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:36,640 Yeah. And I, and yeah, and I don't, I think there's a, a disconnect too with the whole idea of 132 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:42,480 collecting yarn because yeah, I definitely have yarn that is just, it's, I have it. Yeah. I have 133 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:46,880 it because it means something. It doesn't, I don't necessarily need to use it. It's okay. Like it's 134 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:52,720 more for me to, oh, there's a memory with that or like, oh, this is like a limited something that 135 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:57,760 I really wanted because this designer was important to me or something like that. But, um, 136 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:03,840 but yeah, I constantly have to kind of check in with myself on that because it does. Like you kind 137 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:09,680 of, especially honestly, it's been more noticeable for me now that I've been spending this last, 138 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:15,920 I think I'm on month seven or six, I don't know, um, of not buying yarn. I've just caught myself 139 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:20,400 so many times where I would have instinctively like just bought something and now I'm like taking a 140 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:24,880 step back and going like, hold on. I don't want to buy any yarn right now. I have enough yarn. 141 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,600 I don't want to buy any yarn right now. I have enough yarn or I'll even go back to my stash 142 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:34,560 and I'll be like, wow, that sea blue green skein was so nice. And I'm like, I have eight sea blue 143 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:44,000 because I have a type, uh, and yeah, um, similar to Meg's blue. I am also, I have a blue 144 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:50,320 inkling, uh, when I look at yarn, but yeah, no, I definitely it's, it's amazing kind of, 145 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:56,080 at least for me, my kind of self journey in that. Um, obviously if you want to buy all the yarn, 146 00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:02,640 like do it. I'm not saying not. It's just for me personally noticing how, um, how my mind steps 147 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:09,600 mindset is now shifted because, um, I'm not focused on like, bye bye bye bye bye. Now it's more like, 148 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:14,800 well, you're not collecting anymore. No, I am not collecting, not definitely not actively 149 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:23,360 collecting anymore. Um, and I'm actually enjoying watching the stash go down and giving the yarn 150 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:29,520 that's important to me, to people that will appreciate it, AKA you guys and that sort of 151 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:36,640 thing, you know, patients maybe self control. Yeah. Well, I've definitely learned patience. 152 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:44,560 Yeah. Yeah. You have to be, yeah. Unless you're a speedy, speedy, speedy crafter, any craft, 153 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:50,560 you have to have patience. It's going to take time. This is not an immediate gratification 154 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:56,080 craft itself, but if you want immediate gratification of having the finished item, 155 00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:02,400 Oh, I have news for you, my friend. You will be disappointed. It will take time sometime years 156 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:10,640 to get to the finished, the finish line. Um, where you want to be. Yeah. And you again, as we always 157 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:17,440 say, never know thyself. And if your goal is finishing, maybe you don't make the fingering 158 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:28,240 weight three X sweater, Tina. Um, yeah. So, um, you know, it just, if, but if you're enjoying the 159 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,720 craft itself, then yeah, go ahead. You do the fingering weight sweater cause it doesn't matter 160 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:37,920 when you finish it. Um, cause you're going to enjoy the process. It's kind of in like tandem with, 161 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:43,360 with the idea of consumerism. Uh, one of the things that, and I don't think this was ever 162 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:48,080 something that I really like entertained. Um, but it is something, and I know you guys have heard it 163 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:54,240 before. I think a lot of crafters hear it. Um, whenever you take up a craft and you show any sort 164 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:58,800 of aptitude for it, there's always going to be that person that's like, you should sell that. 165 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:06,640 And I think like, honestly, something that I, it was never, it never entered my mind. Like I'm like, 166 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:11,360 Oh, I'd love to do this professionally. Like I would love to knit things professionally. Um, 167 00:17:11,360 --> 00:17:15,760 but I think that there is something to be said for doing something for the sake of doing it, 168 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:23,120 for the joy and not for the money. Um, sorry, I don't know how else to say yeah, girl talk. 169 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:28,000 I know that may sound weird coming from, you know, Jess and I who are, who are, you know, 170 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:33,600 dying yarn and selling it. Um, but we, we don't do that. Like we didn't go into it thinking like 171 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:37,440 we're going to die yarn and we're going to sell it and we're going to make big bucks and it's 172 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:43,040 going to become like our full-time job. We do it for the fun of it. And you know, we are doing it 173 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:50,240 on a very small scale. We're a very small business and we're okay with that. Like we know our, 174 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:55,040 I don't want to say limits. I hate the word limits, but we know what we're comfortable with. We know 175 00:17:55,040 --> 00:18:00,400 our comfort level. And I think there's nothing wrong with, you know, wanting to, if you want to 176 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:06,480 find a way to monetize your craft, that's fine. Um, but you need to know what your comfort level 177 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:14,800 is, how much you want to do. And it is okay to just say, you know what, I'm not doing this to 178 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:20,080 earn money. It's got nothing to do with the money. Knitting has cost me way more than it has ever 179 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:29,120 made me financially way more. It's not even, it's not even a, a drop in the bucket and that's okay. 180 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:35,600 Like it's okay to spend money on your hobbies. It's okay if, if you are operating at a net loss, 181 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:42,480 um, for your, for your hobby, most hobbies are like that. Um, but I feel like crafting is on a 182 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,560 whole other level of people who look at what you do and they're like, well, why aren't you monetizing 183 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:52,480 this? And it's okay not to do that. That comes from a capitalist society. It really does. It 184 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:56,800 really does. And it's, if you're doing that and you're good at it, then if you're not making money, 185 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:03,360 then you're just throwing away. You're not allowed to have fun. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And it also comes 186 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:08,400 from that mindset, like of, you know, if you know, when you go to work, like you should find 187 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:14,000 something you love to do and that, that should be your work. And I'm like, well, sometimes work is 188 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:20,000 just work, but maybe sometimes work is just work. Also, like you, you don't have to, like, first of 189 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:26,160 all, you can have like multiple things that you love to do. Um, your whole life doesn't have to 190 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:34,800 surround from what you work on. Um, and also like a newsflash, uh, one day, hopefully you will retire 191 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:39,920 or not be working. What are you going to do with your life? If you don't find different work? Yeah. 192 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:45,360 Yeah. Find different or do more side money in other ways. Yeah. There's dude that hustle culture, 193 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:51,760 no hustle crap. I don't want to hustle. Nothing. And there's like literally the disclaimer of if 194 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:59,280 you are making money off of designing patterns or spinning yarn or dying yarn or whatever the hell 195 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:04,880 you're doing with your craft. Yeah. If that is making you happy, fine. But the pressure, I think 196 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:11,760 that people put on crafters of making it a hustle. You should make this your hustle. Like you're so 197 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:16,800 good at it. Why aren't you making money off it? Um, I learned from a very, very young age and, 198 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:22,880 and this is not to do with, um, with knitting, but if you consider writing a craft, 199 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:28,720 I did not want to be a professional writer because writing was my, my escape. That was my, 200 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:36,320 my stress relief and the thought of a deadline or being, you know, someone taking my writing 201 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:40,320 and critiquing it and telling me you've got to undo this. You got to change this. You got to do 202 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:44,720 this, that, and the other thing you got to make it marketable. You got to, yeah, you got to market 203 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:50,000 it. Um, I'm like, that's going to take all the joy out of something that I really legitimately love. 204 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:56,480 So that's not something I want to do. And I think that having your, your craft or your hobby 205 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:04,400 for its own sake is so important. But again, if, if you want to do it to hustle, if that makes you 206 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:11,440 happy, go for it. Yes, absolutely. And there's nothing wrong with that. Well, there's also like, 207 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:18,400 also like, it's not just like having a hustle and like a hustle is like even just that word in itself 208 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:26,640 is such a large umbrella of stuff. Cause it's not just, okay, I make nice hats, for example, 209 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:31,920 or something like that. And then I say like, okay, I'm going to sell my hats. It's not just selling 210 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:38,560 the hats. That's like one 16th of the process. You have to market, you have to SEO, you have to do a 211 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:43,520 website, you have to do ads, you have to go to markets, you have to pay taxes, pay taxes, 212 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:49,600 you have to deal with accounting, you have to deal with like, there is so like paperwork, paperwork, 213 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:55,360 paperwork, paperwork, business paperwork. I cannot, oh my God, that's like half the life of an LLC. 214 00:21:55,360 --> 00:22:01,280 I swear to God, as someone who has an LLC, that's like half the life of the LLC, but like, um, but 215 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:06,880 yeah, and not everybody wants to do that. Right. And that's okay. I think it's fair to say that 216 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:13,120 crafting knitting has taught me how to better say no. Yes. Yeah. And that's a good thing. 217 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:23,440 And, and it's okay. And like, I just, I hate this mentality that, um, certain people have of just 218 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:28,960 like, well, if you're not selling it and you're not donating it, then what's the point? Why are 219 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:35,040 you doing it? Yeah. Maybe I just want to sit in my house with my three dozen hats. Yeah. That's 220 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:40,960 it. That's okay. If I want to make hats, just to make, maybe I want to make the hat and then I'm 221 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:46,640 going to unravel the hat and then I'm going to make it again. Like, no, honestly, like I know people 222 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:52,080 who do that too. So it's like, it's okay. Like that's fine. It does that bring you joy. Find your joy. 223 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:58,160 Do it. Find your joy. Yeah. Like it's the minute it becomes, the minute it becomes an obligation, 224 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:07,680 it's not a hobby anymore. And, and it stops being fun. And no, like, I think it's, it's okay. And I 225 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:12,800 think the world needs to kind of comprehend to get off the capitalist train and be like, it is okay 226 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:22,560 to be good at something and not sell it. You know, um, I learned from a very wise man, cough, 227 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:28,720 my father-in-law, um, that the, the best money that you can make is easy money. 228 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:38,000 So, and a craft is not easy money. It's, most people do not appreciate the amount of hours that 229 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:44,560 you need to put into that craft. The, to train yourself, honestly, it's a training process of 230 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:51,280 learning skills, understanding how to perfect those skills, techniques, um, becoming just even how we 231 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:55,680 talked about several weeks ago about like that cardigan I have, like just the betterment of the 232 00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:01,360 stitches as it went down in my skill or as it went, you know, as it went down the sweaters, 233 00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:09,200 as my skills increased, like that, that you can't just open a pair of needles and just do that one 234 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:14,160 day. Like you, some people do maybe, but like it took me a while. So like all that training and 235 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:21,760 time and process when there's so many, so many different easier ways to make money. I'm like, 236 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:26,800 if you find joy in that, like you find your joy is to like go to markets and sell those like, 237 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:32,400 cause I actually, I do like that sometimes. Like I do take commissions sometimes, not all the time. 238 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:37,040 The fair we did was so, I had so much fun at that. It's so much fun. I wouldn't want to do that as a 239 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:41,600 full-time job at all. Like it was exhausting. Yeah. But it was fun. Some people like that. Some 240 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:46,160 people like that. They want to do that all day. And great do it. Awesome. But not everybody has to. 241 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:51,840 And, and yeah, there's just, there's just honestly like people, there are easier ways to make money. 242 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:56,880 Like you want to find passive income. This is going to turn into an economy talk in a minute, 243 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:01,200 but like, just like there's just so many different ways that you can make income. That's way more 244 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:07,840 passive than aggressively trying to meet all these deadlines and like creating like wholesale 245 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:15,920 orders of like knit hand knit items. Like it's just not or any craft. Yeah. And, and just most 246 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:20,960 people aren't willing to pay. I'm sorry. They're just not that most people are willing to pay for 247 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:27,440 items that are not paying people enough for the work that they've done. They think that that is 248 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:32,400 the correct price because that's what they've been trained by the stores to believe that. 249 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:37,520 That's marketing. Yeah. That, uh, you know, $20 is acceptable for a crochet bag. 250 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:46,480 It's not, sorry. Um, you know, like, especially a big one, like, no, there's like a lot of time 251 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:52,480 that went into that. And if you want to pay people a respectable wage for that time and the materials, 252 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:58,560 then you would pay a lot more than that. So that being said, it's going down in a whole 253 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:02,960 another trail that I'm going to just rant about. If I keep going, say we are way off the top. 254 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:07,680 I'm sorry. Well, it's lessons. Lessons I learned is no, I'm not going to monetize like how Meg says, 255 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:13,120 I'm not going to monetize my craft anymore to the degree that I have, which is I make a pattern 256 00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:17,680 when I feel like making a pattern for myself, because that's honestly when I make a pattern, 257 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:21,760 I'll put it up for sale on my website. Yeah. Maybe I'll get like a couple of downloads here 258 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:28,960 and there, like literally like none, like to the capacity of like a livable, um, payment, like the 259 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:33,360 money that I get from those patterns, like no way I could live off of that. Like I don't get enough 260 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:40,480 downloads for that. And then, you know, every once in a while I'll do a commission, but I'm good. 261 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:47,440 Otherwise I have a full time job that I will do. Um, you know, and I will make that money separately. 262 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:53,680 Um, and my craft is for me to kind of, again, piggyback off of that. And, and I won't, I won't 263 00:26:53,680 --> 00:27:02,480 belabor the point, but, um, if you do decide to monetize your craft, um, I think there is a, a 264 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:07,520 false perception of, I don't want to say success. That's a bad word, but like bad word to use for 265 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:14,000 that, but more of like, you're going to jump in and you're going to be like making the big bucks 266 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:18,560 and you're going to be able to quit your job right away. The number of designers, pattern designers 267 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:24,320 that are living off of their patterns alone is, is very, very tiny. There are very few indie dyers 268 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:31,280 that are living off just the proceeds of their yarn. I think that it's important to be realistic 269 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:37,280 and, and realize that this is not something that is going to be like an overnight success or something 270 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:41,600 that's easy. Um, and there's also nothing wrong with that either, like being a small business, 271 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:46,160 there's nothing wrong with, with doing it the way that you said it, Tina, where it's like you, you 272 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:52,480 are doing it for the fun of it. And if you make a little money, that's great, but you, you're doing 273 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:59,760 it for the joy of actually doing this thing and, and don't go into it expecting to, you know, become 274 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:01,280 wealthy off of it. 275 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:07,120 Heck the podcast is that we don't do this podcast. Like just so you all are very clear, 276 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:12,480 like we do not do this podcast where we're like, we're going to be a list celebrities and walk in 277 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:17,920 the red carpet. That's my nightmare. Yeah, that is also my nightmare. Um, and like make all this 278 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:22,960 money and like, no, like we, you know, if we make some money from it, cool. But honestly, at the end 279 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:27,920 of the day, when we wanted to do this, it was to just record our conversations when we do these 280 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:33,920 things, cause we usually meet once a week and we usually have some kind of night and like, and then 281 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:37,920 we thought, Oh, wouldn't it be cool if like we let other people in on that conversation? Cause 282 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,600 sometimes we said really funny stuff that we thought was fun and we're just here to have fun. 283 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:46,800 And we're just here to have fun. And other people think we're funny sometimes too. I am funny. 284 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:55,200 Thank you, Drea. Here's your soap box. That's it. That's the whole thing. I am funny. Thank you. 285 00:28:55,200 --> 00:29:03,120 Thank you. Put that on a t-shirt and sell it. Drea, I am funny. Thank you. Thank you. 286 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,240 With a period. I'm polite about it. 287 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:17,440 We had Drea's gauges. We had Jess's for and fence. Don't forget about the fence. 288 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,840 Actually back on that point that you made Jess about using acrylic yarn, like really crappy. 289 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:28,720 You can lessons I've learned is that you can take that really crappy yarn, do things like make hair 290 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:34,560 bows for your kids because believe it or not, that crappy scratchy yarn that nobody wants to use, 291 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:39,440 like they want, don't want to touch their skin. It's durable. It's fantastic for hair. Plenty of 292 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:45,520 crafts. Right. Yeah. But it's fantastic for hair. Just so you know, like, cause like I did those 293 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:50,960 scrunchies in like the crappy yarn and one of, um, uh, my daughter's teachers that got those, 294 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:55,440 one of those scrunchies, she was like, I can never get scrunchies to stay in my hair. This is actually 295 00:29:55,440 --> 00:30:00,080 staying in my hair. I was like, yeah, because it's like literally clawing at your hair the way it 296 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:06,800 would claw at skin if it was on your skin. So negative over here, positive over there. It's 297 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:12,400 great. There is a use for every yarn use for every yarn. You may not want to use every yarn, 298 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:19,280 but there is a use for every year. Let's say on a, on a maybe end ish note though, uh, 299 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:25,520 talking about things learned from crafting, uh, guys, everyone has a craft. You may not have 300 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:30,080 found yours yet, but you've got one. And I know some people are like, no, but I'm not like good 301 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:36,000 at it. Like I can't paint. I can't knit. I can't do stuff like that. That's not the only craft out 302 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:43,520 there. Some people's crafts are actually legit. Like in spinning the marketing tail, man, my 303 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:50,080 old school store manager used to be able to sell expensive water to people by telling them a fun 304 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:58,400 story about it. Like not even joking. This man had a craft for gab still does. And that's a thing. 305 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:07,600 Shout out to the legend. But yeah, so a craft can be something like that. I mean, it could be in, 306 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:15,760 um, just like plain leadership. It can be in growing things. It can be like, if you find really 307 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:19,600 that it's like, you know, you're trying to get into these things and this just may not be your 308 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:24,720 craft and there's plenty of options out there. Look around like, and you may think you're like, 309 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:28,960 ah, I don't have a craft and I'm good with that. That's awesome too. You probably have a craft 310 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:35,360 that you don't realize is considered a craft and, and that's what is going on there. Like people are 311 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:42,560 very simple and they are all drawn to be social and to make themselves feel good and create art 312 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:49,760 for themselves, whatever that art is. Um, we happen to be in a niche of fiber arts. And so we talk 313 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:55,760 about that a lot, but there are plenty of arts out there and we, as people get together and share 314 00:31:55,760 --> 00:32:03,120 that and do that. And you know what power on with your bad selves. Like, so basically, sorry, that 315 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:08,000 needed a whole applause. I feel like that needs to be on a freaking, what's that called? The, 316 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:16,400 the Ted talk videos, put Jess on a Ted talk. So basically, try everything. Yeah. And yeah, 317 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,960 if you find something that you like, stick with it and keep practicing because you're 318 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:27,360 doing it. Keep trying different stuff for you. You'll get there. You don't have to do it for 319 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:31,040 anybody else. So long as it's making you happy. You know what? That's your craft. You do that. 320 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:37,600 You do that. Crafting is a D and D campaign. Yeah. Everybody has a role. Ask your DM. They would 321 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:43,440 know. Yeah. Everybody has a different ability. Sometimes your role is touching the cursed object. 322 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:52,640 My role is to sing everybody is sweet tune while we go on our adventures. Sweet tunes. Anywho. But 323 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:58,160 yeah, no D and D campaign. Keep it like that. And everything that just said time seven. 324 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:02,480 And that's all the time we have for this week for additional content and opportunities to connect 325 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:08,800 with the cast. Be sure to check out our Patreon or our website at part of my stash.com and remember 326 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:28,640 to tune in next week for more tips, nips and wits at part in my stash.