End of the Line

A few months ago I posted a photo of the box of painted warps to be done. Today this is all there is in the box.

Today I wove 3 scarves, and just now beamed the 3rd last warp.

I have really enjoyed making these scarves, in spite of having to wrestle them onto the loom but it is time to move on. In a way it's kind of scary because the painted warp scarves have been popular. I've made dozens and sold many of them. In fact it was kind of shocking when I packed up at Studio Fair at how few scarves in this series were left.

Which is good! Don't get me wrong. But it's a bit of a gamble discontinuing a line that has sold well when there is no clear candidate for the next good selling item.

On the other hand, I learned my lesson when we were earning our only income by making textiles for the table. Even though I had seen the writing on the wall, I continued to make placemats, runners and napkins until well after the market for them had collapsed.

At which point I was left with no income because I hadn't taken the time to do product development and come up with something new for the market.

When I first started making scarves from Tencel and bamboo, there weren't a lot of other weavers using those fibres. Now there are many.

My goal is to weave these last three warps (there is one on the loom, remember) before One of a Kind in Vancouver so that I will have a good range of scarves for people to choose from. There are 8 more painted warps which will be made into shawls, also - I hope! - in time for OOAK.

And then I'm moving on. Not sure what direction yet, but that's part of the fun.

Currently reading Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong