Research, Reaserch, Research

     Today I spent many hours sipping juice, (sorry, I am not a coffee drinker) and eating cookies, oh yeah I could not decide between the peanut buttercup and the oatmeal raisin cookie so I had to get both, in the café at Barnes and Noble. Boy, those seats are hard! I don’t think they really want you to stay there for long periods of time. I am sure the idea is for you to get your, half calf mocha latté chino frappe thingy and down it in 2.5 seconds and go boppin on your way as you float out of the store on a sugar and caffeine rush from hell. Well anyway, I had a couple of hours to kill and I did not want to go home and be faced with the dirty dishes and laundry that needs to get done so I went there to get some research done.

     I poured through many books, which I did not buy just perused, to learn about the world of publishing. The irony of me sitting in a bookstore trying to get information about publishing a book that I actually want people to buy and not just look through was not lost on me. I got to the section called Publishing and there was a sticky note on the shelf that said start here.

      I figured it was a sign from god and was as good a place to start as any. I found many, many books that covered all aspects of the publishing field. I learned all about query letters, what they are and why I need to learn how to write them. I even read two different books that showed me bad examples of them. I learned that I really know less about the subject then I realized I did. I do not know that I am any closer to getting my book done then I was last year, (FYI- I had no plans of doing a book last year.).
      Mike did some research online for me last night about the company Bob represents. Remember Bob? (Refer to blog post: the book is becoming a reality.) Now I am not so sure anymore. His research turned up some not so encouraging things about self publishing, actually today I learned the services they offer are not really self-publishing but is called vanity publishing. Now, does that have a bad connotation to it or is it just me? Depending on who you listen to, it is the best or worst thing a person can do to get a book printed and into the hands of the public. I read today that companies like that sell more books to the authors, at a discounted rate but no royalty, then they do to the general public. That is not the news I wanted to hear!! Oh well I guess I will keep writing the patterns, working up the samples and see where this all takes me.
     The moral of my day is this; after several hours of reading and thumbing through books that I thought might help me, I left for work with a numb butt, a sugar high, at least I think that is why I can’t stop tapping my foot, more scared and confused then I was before I started doing research. If you find yourself in a Barnes and Noble café for several hours perusing but not buying books, bring a pillow to sit on and just go for the peanut butter cookie. The oatmeal raisin was good but it suspiciously resembled something healthy.

My book will become a reality!

    I moved a step closer to getting patterns completed for the book last night, or this morning, it was about 2 a.m. but I had not really been to bed yet, so I am not sure which you would call it. I got a call from Bob, Bob is my wannabe publisher, or at least the agent assigned to sell me as much as possible to “help get my book published. He called to offer me a deal that I could not refuse and to, in his words “light a fire under me” to get the process going. I have decided the best thing for me is to start out self publishing with an on-demand company. I have learned quite a lot about the publishing industry lately. On-demand means you pay them to help you put together a book and they offer it for sale to bookstores; on-line and brick and mortar. Then whenever someone orders a copy they print it and send it. I make money off the sale of those books, if and when they get ordered. Bob’s job is to sell me a package to get the book printed and edited and maybe, for a little bit extra, advertised. He is also there to keep me motivated and actively working on the project.

     So, the progress I was talking about, remember, that is how this all started, I have been searching for months for a program that will allow me to put my crochet designs in a graph format. I finally found a couple of them last night. The first one was for sale for $160.00 and on a disk they would send; the second was available for immediate download for $3.95. Can you guess which one I went with? Bells and whistles are overrated. This program will allow me to write my patterns in word form then to translate them into graphs. This is exciting because more and more patterns coming out right now are offered in both forms. It helps those of us that are very visual, to read patterns more easily. Graphs have a lot of X’s and O’s and squiggly lines all over. These graphs sort of look like a football playbook. Actually, I think I have seen some patterns that would make a pretty good football play when graphed out. Note to self: get a hold of Chilly and let him know about those. Hey they can’t be any worse than some of the plays he called last season!! Maybe I can even design one that Bret can throw and AP can actually catch. Hey I may have a whole new career going here. Football plays disguised as graphed crochet patterns. Ok settle back down to earth and deep breath, whewwwww moving on. So the long and short of it is I am getting to work on my patterns! The book may become a reality. Check that, WILL become a reality. I guess I should not spend any more time procrastinating here I should be working on writing patterns.

Losing your computer cord sucks!

      I was at a wonderful quilt retreat last weekend and got 3 whole projects completed. It was great! I made a MN Wild (that’s hockey) wall hanging for Mike. I also made two bags, one was very easy and one we lovingly referred to as “the bag from hell!!” They both turned out great and I love them. The main problem with the bag from hell was the writing of the pattern. It was so poorly written it both confused and frustrated us to distraction. It took two of us 4 hours to cut out the pieces. Then we spent another 8 hours putting it together. Now that I have done it once, I know what changes to make so it will go together easier.

     Once again I seem to digress; the point of this blog was to tell you I have not posted since my trip because somehow I lost the cord to my computer and it does like to run without power. I ran it completely dry and had to wait till I could get a new cord. The way things work in my world, I am sure because I bought a new cord I will find the old one.

Where have the last 10 days gone????

Where has the time gone? It has been 10 days since my last post. I can’t believe it. It has been a very busy 10 days. Let see what I have accomplished in that time...

 

• I got the girl-child motivated to get packing for her big day of moving. You would think she would be just chomping at the bit to do this but she needed some daily prodding. I gave her 3 choices for everything in her room, 1- goodwill, 2 – garbage, or 3 – going with you. This was hard for her, but her “stuff” is not staying here. We went shopping and bought several hundred dollars worth of things she needed for the apartment, we actually moved her bed in and got it set up, we dropped some boxes off but did not unpack them.
• I  talked to the girl-childs landlord, got in to see the apartment and answered the questions I needed to know.  No, there are no lights in the living room, they do need lamps. No, there are no curtains, they do need these, there is not a shower curtain, and yes only one dresser will fit in the bedroom.  She will need to reevaluate the amount of clothes she plans on bringing with her. Unless the boy plans on not ever wearing any clothes.  What they do in their own home does not matter to me but I think work and school might have something to say about it.
• I set up my summer schedule for crochet classes at Yarn Harbor. 4 of the classes I have planned are for new projects, I need to write the patterns for these projects and get samples made. Having to teach a class will give me good motivation to get them written.
• I cleaned house and cooked multiple times, these are worth mentioning cuz they are not things I tend to do on a regular basis, my family will attest to this. (Mike does most of our cooking; he’s good at it and likes it so why fight him on it????)
• I have been to the grocery store 11 times. (We really need to do one big grocery buy instead of always getting what we need for supper)
• I have been to the gas station 6 times. (Running to Two Harbors really eats up gas!!)
• I helped the boy-child get through the third quarter; I think we passed all our classes. With all the homework I read and did with him we better of passed them!
• I taught 4 crochet classes and 2 needle felting classes at Yarn Harbor.
• I started writing 3 patterns and testing them, they are in various stages of production.
• I bought and read a book about writing crochet patterns and how to get published. I started setting up some of the guidelines that the book suggested; I started editing some of my current patterns to fit these guidelines.
• I made contact with two publishers to get information about my book process.
• I taught two after-school recycled art classes to a group of 15 Kindergartners.
• I have done 11 massages.
• I took my mother to physical therapy 5 times.
• I started and completed 2 crochet projects; one for me one for a gift.
• I packed for my quilt retreat this weekend. I think I have everything together; maybe I better go back and check bags.

 

I think I better go now because I still have to go to the bank, get my hair cut, teach a craft class, and go to the grocery store today. Dang!! I need a nap!

 

 

 

Fiber Rummage Sale, Maybe I shouldn't have gone.

     Today I went to the fiber guild rummage sale. I got there about 45 minutes before it opened and was about 10th in line. I knew it was going to be pretty busy, that’s why I got there early. By the time the doors opened there were about 30 people in line, waiting anxiously to stampede the room and get bargains. There are some great deals to be had if you can get into the room fast enough. Have you ever been to the park and thrown bread crumbs out and was instantly surrounded by seagulls screaming mine! Mine! Mine! Well it was something like that. When I got inside there was a table heaping with yarn, some hand-spun, some bags of bits and pieces, some store bought but never used, a little bit of everything. By the time l checked out ½ hour later, I looked back at the yarn table and there was only about half dozen skeins left. Now I helped to empty the table so I am not saying there was anything wrong with the frenzy that ensued.


      In past years I have brought stuff to sell at the sale myself and done quite well. When I left this morning, Michael said, “be sure and come home with less then you brought”, unfortunately this year I did not get my stuff in order in time. The plan is, as I move into the new craft room I am going to sort through things and set aside the stuff for next year. I of course have to make room for the couple of bags of bargains I got today.  Gee did I really need more purple yarn??  Did you hear it too??  I am positive I heard it calling my name and it was handspun wool and such a good price how could I possibly say no?

These are a few of my bargains I picked up today.

Daisy Ione Ferris Quaderer

Daisy Ione Ferris Quaderer.


     The matriarch of our family. My Grandma Daisy, she touched many, many lives over the years. Today Daisy would have been 102. She died just a few months short of turning 100 years old. She was an inspiration to me in so many ways. She had a hard life, grew up with her sister in a catholic orphanage, when she did move home her stepmother died in her arms, worked to support herself and her family. Through it all she had a wonderful marriage, raised three reasonably well adjusted children, and worked full time. She used to tell me she was a survivor, and that is how you had to get through the day. I have often thought about those words and yes, sometimes that is what gets me through the day!

     She taught me to knit and crochet at age 7. I guess that was the beginning of a life long career, passion and one could even say obsession. She was always working on something, usually a baby blanket. She used the ripple pattern in neutral colors, you know, pink and white and blue or green and yellow striped. I truly believe there was not a baby born in the Duluth or Superior area during the 70’s and 80’s who did not own one of those blankets. Grandma Daisy made a good share of them. I know for a fact that some of them are still out there in bits and pieces, still cherished and loved by their now grown owners.

     From the time I was quite small she would take both my hands in hers and tell me “With these two hands you will make your way in the world.” It did not mean much to me then, but as I grew older it seemed to have quite an impact. When I became a Massage Therapist for my life profession it really struck me that she knew all along what I would be doing. When I started designing patterns and working with fiber it again struck me how much influence she had in my life.

   One year after her death my daughter and I went out and had a tribute to Grandma Daisy day. We decided to get tattoos of a daisy. Cassondra’s has Grandma’s years of life around it. We had been planning exactly what we wanted for about a week and she got up one morning and said “I had a dream and Grandma told me what it is supposed to look like.” So she knew what to do. Mine has the praying hands holding it because religion was a very important part of Daisy’s life and it says “With these two hands” around it. That has been an important statement in my life.