General Team Chat for August

[#1]

Hi everyone! Part of being part of a team is to get to know each other so I've started this thread where we can just chat.

Its not for posting new listings (there are separate threads for that) but just so that we can chat.

Anyone interested?

It doesn't have to be about crochet either. It can be about anything at all!

[Former_Member]

DineInStyle - it's not always like this - this is summer! Last winter it was quite snowy and very cold - but a coastal cold, with damp - not at all like the prairie states or central Canada. We used to live in Saskatchewan - and 50 below and blowing - now that's cold. On the other hand it's dry on the prairie, which meant that our 20F and damp felt much the same last winter.
Mind you, we don't really get tornados, or much in the way of mozzies. I prefer it on the cold side - you can always put something else on, but there's a limit to what you can take off.

Off to bed, nos da (good night for those of you with no Welsh).

[Former_Member]

Hi I'm new and sorry i'm breakin a rule by posting here possibly by stating I too had a hard time with the heat wave here in the midwest...I sell crochet hats at farmers markets along with recyled denim stuff. I got comments often enough that it was too hot for hats...yet they were still selling...so crochet away I say..

[Former_Member]

What's this about heatwaves? :-P I live in northern Alberta in Canada and we have had rain all spring, all summer so far. So few nice days, it hasn't felt like it's gotten to summer at all! (Which is a bummer, as it'll be winter not too long from now!)

[Former_Member]

scrappyturtles I'm also crocheting hats right in the middle of this crazy heat! My reasoning is if I don't get started now I won't have any ready by the time cooler weather actually shows up.

Anybody else a supreme procrastinator? I have one project I'm making for a friend that has been 90% complete for probably a year now...I really should finish it, but I keep getting distracted by other projects!

[Former_Member]

I just wanted to pop in and say thanks for the invite to join your team! This is my first Etsy team, so I'm really looking forwards to joining in and finding out what it's all about!

[Former_Member]

Just saying hello , i m carol another newbie again living in wales uk , i personally would like some heat ha ha ........well i m busy with some custom crochet orders so i better get off here , i have a 2 yr old whos drilling a hole in the living room wall with his toy drill mmmmmmm x

[Former_Member]

Welcome to both Yarnscape and PumpkinandPickle ! I'm sure you will soon embrace Etsy teams.

[Togs4tots]

Another newbie here. I live in Louisiana and we have the heat and the humidity which makes it that much worse.
since i am a senior citizen[will have my 75th birthday in less than a month] I do not have kids to send back to school.
My main focus is sewing childrnes clothing in another shop-togs4tots
I do my crochet at night and when we travel. My hands won't let me do more than that.
I used to crochet most all day long but not anymore.
The only good thing I can say about the high pressure that causes this heat is that it usually keeps the hurricanes away from us.
I also am making hats but they are for kids.

[Former_Member]

Crochetgal: It's such a coincidence that your dog just had surgery. This upcoming Tuesday my 11 year old beagle is due to go in for a teeth cleaning (and probably some pulled).

I am a little nervous about the anestesha (sp) because of her age. It's a relief to hear yours is doing fine!

[Former_Member]

I have two etsy shops and I have been working overtime to get my tags updated. it is so time comsuming. I am not even sure if it makes a huge difference, anyone feel the same way? I guess i will wait and see.

[Former_Member]

I went through and added the attributes or whatever they are calling them to all my items (I don't have many listings though, so it didn't take long), I also went through and revamped my titles, especially for my patterns. I love my pattern titles, but quite frankly no one is going to be searching for Chick-a-biddie pattern, so instead I added Toy Bird PDF Crochet Pattern "Chick-a-biddie", that way all the relevant key words are in the listing title, and I still get to tout my cutesy pattern names.
I *have* noticed an increase since doing this, not drastically, but my little shop isn't a heavy seller yet.

[Former_Member]

Is anyone else having trouble checking their "stats" today? My page is coming up but the area that displays the numbers is blank (the boxes up top), although the info at the bottom is still there.

[Former_Member]

Thank you so much for inviting me to join your team. WOW! So many talented people; I am honored! I have been under the weather as of late and am finally getting to work on my shop and list new items.

[Former_Member]

Welcome everyone!

Knitting, yes, my stats weren't working either earlier in the day, they seem to be now.

[Former_Member]

Hello Everyone! I'm Linda from TheRovingSpinners. Heat wave is gone (for today at least). I think tags are important as it pulls in your listing when people use the search engine. The more tags you use, the better the chance of your listing being pulled in on a particular search....but that's just my basic understanding.

My biggest problem...trying to get pictures that truly capture the colour/texture of a listing. Any suggestions??

Happy knitting/crocheting :)

[Former_Member]

my day job is working in a photo lab actually, so I love the picture aspect of all my listings.

I would definitely explore what is called the macro setting on your camera, if you have an older camera it might be harder to find, on the newer cameras it's usually indicated by a flower icon. The macro setting is optimized to capture close ups, so it's fantastic for showing the texture of your piece. Thing with Macro is, DON'T USE FLASH, at that close range the flash will completely wash out your colors and all the details of stitches or fabric will be lost.

Etsy has a few articles on good pictures, and most of them mention natural lighting. Use natural lighting with a filter, don't go out into the midday sun with no shade, again, you'll lose a lot of your details and some of your colors might be affected. Try to use natural light with a filter, either indirectly through a window, or I go outside on a nice bright sunny day and just go into the shade of a tree and shoot. That way you have the advantage of the bright sun without having to worry about glare or whatnot. (this is actually also a good suggestion for portraits, you want nice bright lighting, but no one wants to be squinting into the sun).

Also, there is no shame in editing your pictures! Use photoshop (I actually use picnik.com) to correct colors on your computer. My camera and my computer DO NOT match, so I usually have to 'fix' the exposure or saturation levels of the picture to be closer to real life.

[Former_Member]

gosh that was wordy! I hope it was at least helpful! lol

[Former_Member]

I just joined the team today, invited by my daughter (KnittingNY). I'm a crocheter, fairly new to Etsy and still in the process of building up my inventory and settling in. I'm 61 and live in a small town in western NY. This seems like a great team, I'm happy to be a part of it. :) Karen

[knittylittlesecret]

Ok, I have to admit that typing out "crocheter" makes me laugh because it's far too close to crotchety. I both knit and crochet (I prefer crochet but knitting is easier because I don't have to pay attention to what I'm doing).

Anyway. I wholeheartedly LOVE the macro setting for everything. If you go into best buy you can get a really good point and click for 200$ and they generally have an amazing Macro setting. HP has really good cameras. It's good for getting close up on your yarn/knitting/crocheting.

Also, for any sort of photo alteration, sometimes, no matter how hard you try, your photos may turn out to be a washed out colour. Maybe a cloud passed by, maybe it was too bright, maybe the flash automatically came on. Regardless, editing the colour is okay (unless you're entering photos into a contest which clearly states no photo editing).

Welcome, Karen!!

[Craftyforyou]

Crochetgal I hope your doggy is doing well. I took my Grandson to see the Smurf movie today nice and cool in the theatre. I usually sit outside after walking the doggies drink my tea and meditate then water my plants and veggies. The past two mornings it has been too hot even at 6.30am I wish it would rain. Enjoy the evening.

[Former_Member]

Hello hello! Its great to be in another yarn-crazed group again! Thanks for the invite (whomever the creator is!)

Karen Abegglen

[Former_Member]

dineInStyle, I wouldn't worry about your beagle at all with the teeth cleaning. This is the 2nd time that mine has had hers done and she's doing fine.

Welcome to DaisyADay crochet!

And BallofYarn, I've not seen you around in ages!

Thanks everyone for your prayers for my Sacha dog. 'Wooof' from her as well!

[Former_Member]

Welcome to all of the new members!! I am so glad you could join us!

I am a relatively new shop as well, so the whole ordeal with relevancy has thrown me through a loop and I am trying to "swim back to shore"! haha

The only thing I can see, to make my postings better, would be to add the new attributes they have marked as "optional" before the tags. To answer previous questions--I can't say if it helped or not.

We're just waiting for the right buyer to come along. Happy sales!

[Former_Member]

Sacha is doing much better today. She's almost back to her old self.

As for relevancy, I've found that if I put the words that describe WHAT is being sold right at the beginning of the title, that my buyers find me much easier.

A quick 'heads up' for my team mates. I will be putting many of my yarns on sale at 50% off probably around Labour day weekend so if you are looking for some great buys, you might just want to take a peek. If there is anything that you are interested in before the sale just convo me and remind me that you saw the post on the team thread. Right now its only the SWTC yarns and some of the ICE yarns that will be on special but I'm sure that more will be added over the next week.
The list is here
http://www.etsy.com/shop/crochetgal/search?search_query=sns&search_submit=&search_type=user_shop_ttt...

[knittylittlesecret]

Oh my god, seriously, Crochetgal, where did you get all the ladder yarn from? Are you the reason I can't find it in any stores? ha ha ha just kidding
I've been carefully hoarding my ladder yarns for several years because I just LOVE them but I can never find them in the stores anymore.