Chat Thread

[#1]

Here you go. Private and all.

[BuytheHook]

That's what I thought too. I wanted to wait til Nov., but I have some Christmas inventory up. I will work on a fall on.

Thanks

[KnitAndCrochetPalace]

So glad you are safe and had no damage Debra. Hope it decides not to loop around again.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Hi Ladies,
All is clear here and the weather is beautiful. The good thing about a hurricane is that dry and cool air usually follows.

We spent yesterday putting back all the outside furniture. Most of our hurricane shutters are accordion style so you just close them. On the front we have metal panels that you have to screw into a bar. We were going to leave them up but it's so dark in the house with them on that we started taking them down as well. The storm might loop around but it will be mild.

I think damage to south florida was minimal but northern Florida got the brunt of it.

Etsy is really pushing the holidays but I would wait till after Halloween to put up the banner. I think that last year I closed the week after Thanksgiving since I had reached maximum order capacity for the holidays. A lot of shops close early due to high order volume.

Have a good weekend!

[Former_Member]

Glad to hear that you are safe and sound Debra. How's the rest of the family doing?

I didn't get to see much last night about Matthew because I fell asleep but it looks like you got just the outer bands of it.

Saw the GI doc yesterday and he's not sure what's going on with my gut. Nice thing is that he looked at all of the previous tests before seeing me so he had some idea as to what was going on. He suspects that it may be my gall bladder but isn't 100% sure so is ordering a gall bladder scan and possibly a colonoscopy.

Hopefully when they get the GI probs and the blood sugar probs all sorted out then I can get back to having some sort of 'normal' life and the swelling in my body will go down. So far I've gained about 15 lbs since I was in the hospital back in early September.

Monday I see my opthamologist to get a new script for my glasses. Hurrah!!!

[HowCuteAreYou]

Crochetgal ~ My family all did well during the storm. We were very lucky and the eye stayed far enough off shore that we got bands of wind and rain. Probably 55 miles an hour was the most we got but 55 mile hour winds are pretty scary. We opened the door at one point to walk Jimmy, it was in between bands, the moment another one came through it became insane!

My son had a little damage to his townhouse which he just happened to have sold last week. He will have to do some repair work but nothing major, just a little bent soffit metal. His new house had no damage, no loss of power and he is roughly 2 blocks from the beach in the Melbourne area. Had the storm come ashore in that area, as predicted, it would be a whole different story.

Are you experiencing gall bladder pain? Neal had his removed while I was pregnant with our daughter. The pain was very intense from his gall bladder. My daughter has gall bladder issues and she is often in extreme pain. But at her age they don't want to do elective surgery and want to make better choices with food. i.e. no fried, greasy or spicy foods.

I sure hope they sort this out for you. Fifteen pounds isn't huge but it's uncomfortable to gain that much weight.

Neal just removed the last of the hurricane shutters and there is light in my house again!! YAY!!! I hate those shutters, it's like being in a cargo hold.

Have a good rest of the weekend. We are a little pooped from all the hurricane hype and prep it takes to be ready.

[Former_Member]

Sounds like walking Jimmy was quite the experience! Good thing he's a larger dog as a smaller one would have been blown away.

Good to hear that your son weathered the storm well. All we see here are reports of the horrendous damage that the storm left in its wake.

No, I'm not experiencing gall bladder pain but the docs are investigating it anyway. We don't eat greasy foods and rarely fry anything but both of us love the spices. I think they are just trying to rule out everything as this has been going on since the transplant. The pain isn't always there either - it comes and goes - but with no real pattern.

I've got to get some work done on some photos here before my next batch of yarn arrives.

This is the Canadian Thanksgiving so we did a turkey with all the fixings yesterday (I cheated and purchased a pressed turkey roll) and it was delicious. Leftovers for a couple of days.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Crochetgal ~ I haven't seen any signs of damage besides a downed tree and I heard the Deerfield Pier, near me, had damage. The news always exploits and overdoes everything. During the storm we only listened to local news since the national news was hyping the storm like crazy.
What happens when the storm is not really bad and it get's overhyped the next time a hurricane comes through people don't heed the warnings.

Jimmy loved the wind, he was having the best time. Neal had a hard time bringing him in.

I guess your doctors have to go down the checklist. Good idea to rule out all possibilities.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!! Much better time of year to celebrate.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are too close to each other and makes for an exhausting time of year. I had family over last week and I made Butterball turkey breast roasts. Those were really good and juicy. No one eats the dark meat and a big turkey takes up the whole oven.

Good luck with the photos! Took me several hours to get my new orange cuffed booties photographed. The orange is such a saturated color that it was throwing everything off.

I have one pair of booties that are very popular. I made a whole bunch of ready to ship and boom....nothing!! Etsy has been very weird for me lately. An item I don't sell that much of is suddenly selling and my most popular items are getting nothing. I know Etsy is doing some kind of testing and I have no idea if it's affecting what is viewed.

Have a good rest of the day ladies!!

[KnitAndCrochetPalace]

Hi team! If you were making handmade crocheted or knitted coasters would you put your personal label on each coaster or only one of the set? Or as a buyer, which would you prefer?

[HowCuteAreYou]

Sue Ellen ~ I don't put labels on any of my items. I include a care tag with my information and how to care for the item. I think on a coaster I might not want a tag because you can flip them and use them on either side so a tag would probably be cut off.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Sue Ellen ~ I make facial rounds, don't sell many at all but I do have them packaged with a belly band. It's a kraft paper that is wrapped around them with my shop name. I also use the belly band for my boxed sets.
This might be a good option for your coasters.

Below is the listing with the bellyband on the facial pads.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/61192417/eco-friendly-facial-pads-baby-wipes?ref=shop_home_active_2

I get the bands from a shop here on Etsy and I believe it's about $13.00 for 100 bands. Not sure if they shop will do smaller amounts.

[KnitAndCrochetPalace]

That's a great idea Debra. I had thought about that before for washclothes and scrubbies I've had listed. Didn't think about it for the coasters...duh!!!

[KnitAndCrochetPalace]

Debra, I just found a shop that sells 100 of them for $8.00. They are 12 inches long.

[hooknsaw]

Hi everyone! Wow, I've been mia for a while! I was busy with a couple of custom orders and family.

Debra, good to hear the hurricane didn't impact your area as bad as predicted! I had hurricane drama (yes, in NM) with my Dad freaking out over my sister in Jacksonville. Many back and forth text messages and phone calls. I was sick to see how badly the hurricane has impacted the Carolinas.

I have noticed a shift with search and more dog breeds are showing in our stats and not as many other terms (such as crochet scarf or knit scarf). Why does etsy start this stuff right before holiday shopping season?

Sue Ellen, when we sell our coasters I just tag the whole order. I wrap ribbon around the coasters that sold with a care tag. I think wearables need to be tagged individually, but I don't know about housewares.

Crochetgal, I hope you are feeling as well as you can!!! You are in our thoughts and prayers! Happy Thanksgiving! Lol, no turkey in our house ...ever! I was planning Thanksgiving with the kids this weekend (which is always the Wednesday prior) and the kids have all voted for chicken white chile. As it is my birthday also, the chile dinner will be perfect. Hugs to you!

I hope everyone else is well and has a great week!

[HowCuteAreYou]

Sue Ellen ~ Here is the shop I use. I think the belly band gives a really nice professional look. The size you mentioned is what I use and I believe they were $8.00 plus customizing them. Not sure though, I have to check my invoice.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/time2split

Lisa ~ Happy Birthday and best wishes to you!!

I can understand your Dad's concern about your sister, especially if he was watching national news which wasn't helping the situation. Jacksonville, especially the coastal area, got hit hard but the Carolina's are bad. We dodged a bullet in my area. It was as if it never happened. Hope your sister is okay.

Something is up with Etsy. My most popular search term is no longer even showing up in stats and my most popular item is barely being viewed. I have a bunch of ready to ship and suddenly I can't sell them.
And, this week something I rarely sell is now selling. WHAT?!

Like you said, why around the holidays when we are all stocked up and ready to sell to they do this?

I had a scare yesterday when all of a sudden my shop was totally gone and the weird little three armed sweater appeared. Apparently tons of shops on Etsy were suddenly gone but reappeared within an hour.

Off to work. Have a great day ladies!!

[HowCuteAreYou]

I left Sarah a message but haven't heard back from her. I hope she is doing ok. Both of her shops are gone and just her profile is up. Maybe she is getting creative and will be back soon.

[hooknsaw]

I hope Sarah is okay. Kitty hasn't been on in a while either. I hope her new job and house are going well!

Debra, my Dad watched CNN for 5 hours straight (while he was at dialysis) and worked himself up watching the hurricane reports. My sister is fine and she said the hurricane was more of a tropical storm in their area.

Crochet scarf or knit scarf have always been our most popular search terms and nothing for days now with either. I'm also noticing if we don't list or renew 3 - 4 items a day our views tank. I think etsy still considers the shopping season to be from mid November to mid December. When the Holiday season seems to start sooner each year. Walmart and Lowe's started putting up Christmas stuff 3 weeks ago.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Lisa ~ We watched a bit of CNN but we were experiencing nothing more than a windy day and according to CNN it was the biggest storm in 11 years with potentially large death toll along the Florida coast. We turned on the local news and it was much more realistic and helpful. No one was trying to scare the sh*t of our us, just trying to get us through what could be a rough night and couple of days if power went out.

Glad you sister experienced nothing more than a tropical storm, same as south Florida.

My most popular search term has been Grandparent Pregnancy Reveal. This week it's down at the bottom, I have no clue what's going on. I do know that the competition for pregnancy reveals has grown immensely.
It started out with about 3 shops offering announcements and now there are pages and pages of items and so many booties that I have stopped even bothering to check on competition.

Well, never say never.....A friend of my daughter ask me for a tiny little lovey, only 10x10, for her son. I worked one up in under 20 minutes and thought it was the cutest little thing. I made another one and listed it in my shop. So, I am back making teeny blankets. Maybe they will sell, maybe not but I am only offering them as they are made.

Melissa was busy with work and halloween orders and I am hoping we hear from Sarah soon. Miss them both and all of the ladies who have been MIA! Check in girls!!!

[SandyCoastalDesigns]

I have been MIA for awhile, but I really don't have much to contribute to your conversations either. I've been going through a lot of personal problems here and left my other half over 3 months ago. I have found temporary living arrangements and don't feel like I can move any further til our selling season is over. I am looking to buy a travel trailer this spring to call my home and travel north during the spring through fall and return to Florida for the winter. Just a retainer for a divorce lawyer would cost me almost $4000 and that would come out of my travel trailer funds, so I am not pursuing that right now. It's a catch 22 here in Florida as my travel trailer will become marital property to be divided in half in a divorce.....I need it to live in and if I file for divorce first I probably can't afford to buy one. So I am going to cross my fingers and get it and if he was to file first, I'll get rid of it and live in a tent if I have to!!!!!!
Fun time going on here, just trying to keep my outlook on life up. I had a good September and now........ I feel like I'm invisible. But not much I can do and hope it will all work out in the future 3 months to come as it usually does.
Okay...... Aren't you glad I don't post on here often.........

[hooknsaw]

Debra, the CNN reports explains my Dad's panic! When I first started the dog scarves, there was very little available and now there are tons of all types of scarves with dogs ... and cheap!

Our sales are actually up, but revenue is down, so more pot holders have been selling and less scarves. Then again, we are not in scarf season yet and we have sold a few this past week.

I'll have to check out your micro blanket!

Sandy, I hope all works out for you with as little stress as possible! Can you file the paperwork yourself? My divorce cost me over 14,000. and took over 18 months to finalize. But looking back on it ... worth every penny!

Have a great evening everyone. I have the dentist again tomorrow, yuck!

[HowCuteAreYou]

Good Morning~

Sandy ~ So sorry for what you are going through. Divorce is costly, as Lisa said, worth every penny. Too bad that you are fearful of making a purchase since it can become part of the settlement.

Lisa suggested you file on your own, is that possible? If you are able to do that then maybe you can take it to a mediator for the settlement part.
A mediator is a lot less money than an attorney.

However it plays out I wish you good luck and happiness.

You mentioned a travel trailer. I have been watching the HGTV series on tiny homes and they have some wonderful little houses that are on wheels. For one person they are fantastic.

If you just need to stop by the chat to vent or hear some encouragement please do so.

I think October has been a strange month on Etsy for a lot of shops. Mine is sporadic with good views some days and low the next. It's getting cold up north very quickly so crocheted accessories will start selling.

Lisa ~ I haven't seen any scarves like yours anywhere. My brother, who has an Etsy shop, and I were talking about Etsy and it is flooded in a lot of areas. His area is wood working. When he first started out he was one of a few shops selling reclaimed wood floating shelves and now Etsy is totally saturated with them. His bird houses have been copied so many times and for so much less money. Good ideas are always copied.

Good luck at the dentist. Do you have much more to go?

I have a b/day celebration today for a girlfriend who is turning 60. She's the last in the group to turn 60. I need younger, hipper friends!!

[SandyCoastalDesigns]

Lisa, I inquired at legal aid in Sarasota and they said that they couldn't help me cause he was going to contest the division of property. They only handle non contested divorces and have a free class for do it yourselfers. So that is when I talked to a lawyer. That was a year ago this November. The suv that I drive is titled in his name so that is what I was trying to get. But I left with the suv and all my belongings the first week of July and he recently gave me the paperwork to get the plates renewed. At this point, I feel that he gave me the suv, and I am going ahead with my plans. I will renew the plates for another 2 yrs (the max allowed).
FYI, I weighed all my yarn and finished inventory so that I could account for the extra weight in the trailer. The total came to 400# +/-. So there will be 400#, 2 small dogs and me hitting the the road this spring.

Crochetgal, Thanks for the favorites on some of my items. Hopefully some of your followers will take notice. I got to say goodbye to my son and his girlfriend last weekend when I evacuated to the other coast. He is now residing in Buckeye, AZ and will be working with Stevens out of San Diego. He's a truck driver.

Everyone, sorry for the pity party yesterday but I have no place to let this all out (except in my own head). We have been together since 1975. But the drinking just got to be more than I wanted to handle at this stage of my life. Without my Etsy shop I would never have been able to even consider leaving.

[hooknsaw]

Debra, I know what you mean with your brothers shop. I clicked on a few of the industrial decor in the past, thinking they were his ... nope.
There aren't any scarves like mine, but there are a lot of scarves with dog breeds now.
We are still having sporadic sales. Nothing for a few days and then a bunch at the same time.

Dentist went well. I went in for a cleaning and the tech found one more cracked tooth, which the dentist fixed immediately. Slowly but surely my mouth is getting back to normal. I still keep getting burns on the roof of my mouth and the dentist now thinks it is a food allergy and told me to stop eating anything acidic.

Sandy, hugs to you, I know how awful a contested divorce can get. Luckily when I left I grabbed all of our legal documents and that kept my ex from signing everything away to other people. It took a long time to settle, but I came out of it better than if I had stayed (mentally, physically and financially).
I did have to file a new restraining order against the ex last year and I am hoping that was the last time.

400 lbs is a LOT of yarn! I have a lot of inventory right now and keep reminding myself to NOT buy more yarn! I have to stock so many colors for my designs that it is a challenge keeping it somewhat organized.
With Don doing the knitting, we make more yarn / project piles, faster now!

How are you liking your addi? Don has worn out a couple of them but skacel is really nice about sending replacement parts or machines for free:).

Have a great day ladies ... I've procrastinated long enough and need to finish a set of pot holders!

[HowCuteAreYou]

Sandy~ You are going through a rough patch but you will come out of this feeling great and like a weight has lifted off your shoulders. You and your husband and been together a long time so it's not easy but life is short and you have to do what you have to do. Hitting the road with yarn and dogs sounds like a slice of heaven! Would make a good follow along documentary! :)

Lisa ~I've been deactivating a lot of listings that just are selling and have up my most popular items. I know more listings brings in more views but it's a crap shoot lately.

Darn to the mouth burns. There is no getting away from mouth pain so I hope that clears up from you.

I am done for the week and am going to try and relax. I worked till midnight last night and crawled into bed thinking I am really going to sleep well, by 3am I was still lying awake and couldn't fall asleep.
I will be cat napping today.

[BuytheHook]

I know haven't posted for a while. I just thought I pop in and say hi.

Not much going on now. Working on a few things, and trying to get a few things made for the holidays.

I plan on changing the banner by end of month. Every store I go into has Christmas and Holiday merchandise out.

I am out for now. Have a great day, everyone.

[hooknsaw]

Good morning!
I hope everyone has a great week!
Debra, etsy is still playing with search ... we have no consistency to our search term views within etsy. Sales are good so I won't complain.
I hope you got some rest over the weekend, how is your shoulder? Did it heal completely?
btw, your mini blankets are adorable!

Lucille, we are having a heat wave right now, and it seems ridiculous (to me) walking into stores that are decked out with Holiday items and the temps are in the 80's!

Mary Alice and Crochetgal, I hope you are doing well!

Sandy, I hope you are well!

We have a busy week with appointments and I have several orders to fill, so I will chat when I can.