new year, new goals

2008 was a good year for Huckleberry Knits and me. I found a good balance between working on my business and doing other fun things with my free time. I secured my first wholesale account, did my first group order, and sold at my first fiber festival. Streamlined my dyeing production, including setting up a dye studio and buying some new equipment.

So I'm feeling pretty good as I head into the new year. I'm in a place now where I can expand a bit. In 2009, I'd like to:

1) Set up another wholesale account. I won't be working on this till June or so, as I have some large orders coming up with my current retailer and I want to focus on those first.

2) Look into doing a yarn club. Ideally, I would go into this with at least one other dyer. I think that makes it more appealing for customers, as well as giving me more flexibility in scheduling my dyeing time.

3) Work with a designer or two to develop patterns for my yarn.

4) Sell at another fiber festival. I'm looking at OFFF--reasonable vendor fees, nice atmosphere.

And I have a few personal knitting goals, too:

1) Knit at least one item each month for either me or mine. My kiddo has been asking for either slippers or socks, and I've got a whole bunch of things I want to make for myself.

2) Knit down at least 50% of my stash before I buy any new yarn. The one exception is finding yarn to make a Rogue. I've had the pattern for a year, and have been wanting to knit it for much longer than that, so it's time to make it.

3) Learn how to spin. Last year, when I first tried to learn, I ended up overdoing it (in combination with knitting too much) and strained my neck and shoulder so badly that I couldn't knit for six weeks. I don't want to do that again, but I would like to learn. Maybe if I take a class, they can show me some ways to work around my tendonitis so I don't hurt myself again.