My dining room this morning.
Foreground - last of the green shawls being fringe twisted.
On chair - shawls ready for wet finishing.
In bucket - four shawls to be fringe twisted.
On bucket - stack of table runners needing to have their tags attached and pricing affixed.
What is just out of sight on the blue chair is a stack of knitted shawls that need to be blocked.
Waiting in the wings - my chequebook to be reconciled to my bank statement, stack of bills waiting for cheques to be written. Then a trip to the bank to pay them.
In the studio - well, lots more, because I'm still trying to weave more for craft fairs. But also a box of homework to be packed up and mailed. And, oh yeah, mark to be submitted to the college - next on my list, I guess.
One of the reasons I keep track of how long it takes me to do tasks is so that I can allocate my time in order to get everything done that needs doing.
The creation of textiles is labour intensive. It takes time. Lots of it. Right now I only have so much energy so I have to conserve what energy I do have in order to focus on the things that require being done on a priority basis.
Weaving (designing, preparing warps, dressing the loom, actual shuttle throwing) is just the first in a long list of steps.
Dry finishing. In the case of shawls and scarves, fringe twisting.
Wet finishing. Getting things through the washer/dryer (or done by hand, as appropriate). Then further dry finishing such as hemming. And then a 'final' press. For the twisted fringes, a final trimming of the fringes.
Last but certainly not least, tagging with legally appropriate cleaning instructions and fibre content. And pricing.
I work in batches because once I have my work station set up it's just a whole lot easier to get all of that bit done before I clear the decks for the next task. So this morning I finished fringe twisting the green shawls, then cleared the table so I can deal with banking.
The end of September marks the end of the third financial quarter of the year. I have to report any GST (goods and services tax) collected and paid out. I also need to review my finances because I have been carrying debt (travel and show fees) and need to make sure I can pay the current crop of bills. But in order to report the GST I have to finish entering my financial records into my ledger, balance it and figure out the figures to submit. Not my favourite job.
So I keep track of what needs doing and try to keep the work flow logical. And timely.
3 comments:
And good choices of weight to keep it all in perspective!
Those who forget history are bound to repeat it....?
Have you considered a battery powered fringe twister? Would save you lots and lots of time.
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