Tuesday
Jan122010
I heart my help.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 9:15PM
I don't talk about my employees very much. Mostly because I don't want to embarrass them with my shenanigans, and because they didn't sign up to have their lives and work habits broadcast on the internet when they agreed to come work for me. I can imagine that I would not be particularly pleased if my boss began blogging about me, even if it was to say good things with an occasional funny thing. I would want my life to be private. So I respect their privacy. Except when we're in the studio together, then I'm my normally nosy self.
But I do heart my assistants. They are extremely hard working. I have to remind them to eat and take breaks.This is one of the things they help me with:
To the untrained eye, this may look like a pile of yarn. But to me and my peeps, it looks like Adorn, Wexford, McClellan, Springvale. In that order.
And then Carys, Galenas Chunky, Beckon, and Galenas on the right.
Coming to work here means having to absorb massive quantities of information from day one. We have dozens of types of undyed yarn in the studio, and you have to be able to tell the difference between Springvale and Springvale DK and Springvale Sport.
You need to learn to recognize not just the colorway Liam, but the colorway Liam on Kells Sport vs. Liam on Springvale Sport vs. Liam on Adorn vs. Liam on McClellan vs. the myriad other possible combinations. We're talking thousands of possibilities.
You need to be able to look at a dye color and tell the difference between XYZ manufacturer's fuchsia color and ABC manufacturer's fuchsia color. Needless to say, it takes time to learn everything. I would say it takes a good six months before people start feeling really comfortable.
When the yarn is wet, it's even harder to tell some of them apart. Silk and bamboo have a sheen when dry that isn't there when it's wet. So you have to learn to tell McClellan and Adorn apart (one has bamboo, one doesn't) by looking carefully at the way it's spun. One is slightly flatter than the other. They're nearly the same color and thickness, too.
I leave a list of yarn that needs to be prepped, and the first person to arrive in the morning gets it ready. We soak all of our yarn, spin most of the water out until it's wet but not dripping, and then it gets laid out on a clean white towel on a special table in the studio.
It gets laid out by yarn type -- all of one type together. It makes it faster to find that way, and it results in less tangling than trying to paw through a giant pile of wet undyed yarn.
One of the reasons I heart my helpers is that they learn how I like things and (usually) indulge my idiosyncrasies. Except when it comes to gloves. Sometimes it's weird to overhear muffled conversations from the other room,
"Does it matter what order I lay the yarn out in?"
"I don't think so."
"Does she want it organized by weight? What does DK stand for again?"
"I have no idea -- Dear Knitter? Is that right?"
True thing: Most of the people who work for me don't knit. Or crochet.
I KNOW! I was just thinking the same thing. It's crazy.
They like the job, they just have other hobbies. So they don't always come pre-programmed with yarn and knitting parlance -- it has to be installed upon arrival.
Like the difference between chunky and bulky? Kinda hard to explain. What the heck is worsted? And is sport yarn for sports?
One thing we can all tell you for sure, though: Adorn, Wexford, McClellan, Springvale, Carys, Galenas Chunky, Beckon, Galenas.
But I do heart my assistants. They are extremely hard working. I have to remind them to eat and take breaks.This is one of the things they help me with:
To the untrained eye, this may look like a pile of yarn. But to me and my peeps, it looks like Adorn, Wexford, McClellan, Springvale. In that order.
And then Carys, Galenas Chunky, Beckon, and Galenas on the right.
Coming to work here means having to absorb massive quantities of information from day one. We have dozens of types of undyed yarn in the studio, and you have to be able to tell the difference between Springvale and Springvale DK and Springvale Sport.
You need to learn to recognize not just the colorway Liam, but the colorway Liam on Kells Sport vs. Liam on Springvale Sport vs. Liam on Adorn vs. Liam on McClellan vs. the myriad other possible combinations. We're talking thousands of possibilities.
You need to be able to look at a dye color and tell the difference between XYZ manufacturer's fuchsia color and ABC manufacturer's fuchsia color. Needless to say, it takes time to learn everything. I would say it takes a good six months before people start feeling really comfortable.
When the yarn is wet, it's even harder to tell some of them apart. Silk and bamboo have a sheen when dry that isn't there when it's wet. So you have to learn to tell McClellan and Adorn apart (one has bamboo, one doesn't) by looking carefully at the way it's spun. One is slightly flatter than the other. They're nearly the same color and thickness, too.
I leave a list of yarn that needs to be prepped, and the first person to arrive in the morning gets it ready. We soak all of our yarn, spin most of the water out until it's wet but not dripping, and then it gets laid out on a clean white towel on a special table in the studio.
It gets laid out by yarn type -- all of one type together. It makes it faster to find that way, and it results in less tangling than trying to paw through a giant pile of wet undyed yarn.
One of the reasons I heart my helpers is that they learn how I like things and (usually) indulge my idiosyncrasies. Except when it comes to gloves. Sometimes it's weird to overhear muffled conversations from the other room,
"Does it matter what order I lay the yarn out in?"
"I don't think so."
"Does she want it organized by weight? What does DK stand for again?"
"I have no idea -- Dear Knitter? Is that right?"
True thing: Most of the people who work for me don't knit. Or crochet.
I KNOW! I was just thinking the same thing. It's crazy.
They like the job, they just have other hobbies. So they don't always come pre-programmed with yarn and knitting parlance -- it has to be installed upon arrival.
Like the difference between chunky and bulky? Kinda hard to explain. What the heck is worsted? And is sport yarn for sports?
One thing we can all tell you for sure, though: Adorn, Wexford, McClellan, Springvale, Carys, Galenas Chunky, Beckon, Galenas.
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Reader Comments (6)
Love reading about the process!
Thanks for a little glimpse into your world!
I imagine you do better with non-knitters; if you hired knitters, we would be so caught up in the wonders of the yarn around us, very little work would get done!
Dear Knitter.... hee hee!
Great post! It's exactly what I want to know!
I love that "Dear Knitter" comment! Thanks for sharing a glimpse of your world with us.
Its crazy that you don't have knitters working for you. I'd work for you. In a heartbeat. Its right up my alley. Would you consider moving to Canada?
OMG! I SO want to work for you!!
Wow...it's always amazing to me how many steps there are in the process...thanks for the little glimpse. And a big hand to your assistants!