Rambling

I am feeling a little disjointed these days. I spent 5 days in Boston over Memorial Day Weekend at the American College of Nurse Midwives Annual Meeting. There I was immersed in all things “women’s health care”. At home I am trying to start a business, knit and spin for pleasure and production, clean, cook ……… you get the idea. The majority of my time is spent working in Women’s Health. My job is demanding with long hours but it has been my life for several decades. I love what I do – - -  caring for women and watching families develop. I am, however, in the waning years of my career. It is time to reevaluate and make decisions about what I want to do.

At home I am able to play. I love my garden (although it needs a lot of attention at this time of year), I knit and spin as much as I can. I have a family room full of fresh alpaca fleeces waiting to be skirted and sent to what ever destination they are meant for (mill, show, sale).  Like everyone reading this, I want more hours in the day. David and I love to go out to eat, we love Nascar, baseball, we would like to travel more, we enjoy having friends over for food and drink. Where do people find the time they need to do everything they want (and have) to do? I do have a housekeeper who comes once a week which does give me more time (something I know most women do not have), but there is still day to day household things that need to be done. I drive almost an hour to work which is a big chunk of time. I just don’t know how to fit in everything.

I have been working on my Landscape Shawl again, and the Modern Log Cabin Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting. I still have not blocked the Montego Bay Scarf or finished the Laguna Blouse. I will get to them, especially the blouse that I could be wearing soon. There are so many more things I want to knit.

I have been busy adding new product to my website (www.nightingalefiber.com) and exploring new products to carry. It is a work in progress and the potential is great. I am also figuring out my marketing strategy. Should I also do fairs and craft shows this summer and fall? Where else can I have a presence? What products do knitters and spinners most want? What unique products can I offer? It is fun, but also a little scary. What if the cost of doing business is greater than the return? Well, I think I am pretty resourceful and will figure it out – but I am not about to quit my day job!

I am going to fill my wine glass, pick up my knitting and watch a race!

“Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us. We need hours of aimless wandering, or spates of time sitting on park benches, observing the mysterious world of ants and the canopy of treetops.” Maya Angelou

 

Peace

Cynthia

Birth of a baby and a business!

Here is the first birth story:

L. was scheduled for induction of labor for a medical condition in pregnancy called Cholestatis. This was her second baby. She was admitted the evening before to receive cervidil, a cervical ripening agent. When I came on in the morning, she was comfortable, contracting irregularly and mildly. Her cervix was favorable and pitocin was started.

Labor was slow to get started. L walked the halls with her husband. Her 5 sisters, mother and MIL were anxiously waiting in her room.  She had told me in the morning she did not want an epidural or any medication. In the early afternoon, she was getting more uncomfortable. She had progressed to 5-6 cms, her bag of water was still intact. With some encouragement, she decided to get into the tub. In the tub she was very relaxed. At around 3 pm she was feeling more pressure but no real urge to push.

I offered to check her while still in the tub, but she wanted to get out. After sitting on the toilet for a few minutes, she began having a strong, irresistableurge to push. She walked to the bed and got on her hands and knees (withher head toward the bottom of the bed). She was pushing with each contractions and leaking a little clear fluid. L. birthed a baby boy at 3:37 pm. The baby was dried a little and passed through her legs to her waiting hands. The cord was short, so while baby lying on the bed between her legs, her husband cut the cord. She picked up her baby and lay down on the bed (in the right direction).

L. had no tears needing to be repaired. Her baby nursed right away. He weighed 7-4.

L. was great to watch in labor. When she was in the tub she instinctivelylay with her ears covered by the water. This position blocks out the noiseand activity in the room, allowing women to just be within themselves. The other thing L. did without prompting, was get into the bed on her hands and knees. It is a great position to give birth in because the perineum is automatically relaxed and the pelvis is open to it’s max (in fact, this is a position used when there is shoulder dystocia to maximize the room needed to deliver the baby).

And now for the second birth story:

Last year I started thinking about starting some kind of fiber related business. I had access to alpaca fleece and had roving made at a mill in Maine. I began buying yarn wholesale from The Alpaca Yarn Company and designing small items (hats, scarfs, mitts) to go with the yarn. Last fall, I set up at several Christmas/Craft fairs to sell the yarn, roving, patterns and kits. I also knit a few items I hoped people would be interested in. The fairs were okay, not extremely profitable.

In the meantime, David and I were discussing our future with alpacas. He looks at real estate frequently to see if there is a piece of property to start a small farm. But it seemed that dream is a long way off, so we started thinking about what to do with the fleeces we are able to purchase. I sent some to the mill to be spun into yarn, I had them mixed 50-50 with merino wool to make a more stable and colorful yarn. Now what?

I started an Etsy shop. Very excited to sell a couple of items right away. It was right before Christmas. Nothing since. Etsy is an amazing place where lots of creative people are very successful. I am not sure the secret. Is it what they are selling? Is it marketing? There is a lot of hand dyed yarns, stitch markers, project bags that sell well. My kits (alpaca hats and mitts) don’t sell in the spring, no surprise there.

In February, we went to Fiber to Fashion in Las Vegas (an annual event sponsored by the Alpaca Owners and Breeders organization to promote the fiber side of the business) to see what people were doing with the fiber. There were vendors selling beautiful alpaca clothing, mostly made in Peru and with fairly high price tags. A few vendors caught our eye. First was Paca Pouches. This company was started by two women who are buying alpaca fleeces around the country, having then washed, spun and then woven into great blankets – all in the United States. The second is a mill in New Mexico, Royal Fiber Spinnery. This couple is also buying fleeces from around the country (there is also a co-op option too) and producing yarns for wholesale. Marilyn dyes these yarns to produce a product beyond the natural colors. Her palette is beautiful.

We came home from Las Vegas with a plan. On the 15th of May, that plan came to fruition:

 

Announcing the opening of our

On-line store

 

www.Nightingalefibers.com

 

We carry a collection of fine yarns and fibers, carefully chosen for the hand knitter and spinner. Our focus is alpaca, but we are proud to also offer yarns containing other fibers from small companies and New England farms. When available, we will also carry products from independent fiber artists and local craftspeople.

 

 The business is definitely in the early stage (I wanted to write fetal stage). I am still adding product I have in my inventory and still looking for new vendors, farmers and artists to feature in the shop. I hope to see the store offer a unique collection of items and to grow over time.

I plan to blog a little more frequently now to chronicle the life of the new business and to share the ups and downs. I also plan to knit small items from the yarns I feature to be able to give a review of them (and to also decide if I will continue to carry them).

I hope you will all come for the ride with me ……… and bring your friends.

“Only those who risk going too far can possible find out how far they can go.” T.S. Eliot

Peace

Cynthia

Shearing Day – It must be spring

Shearing day is a fun but very exhausting one. It takes several people. The shearer, of course. The other jobs that have to be done include haltering and bringing in the animals, helping put the animal on the mat (which is a gentle, well orchestrated procedure), manning the ropes, bagging and labeling the fleece, vaccinations, nail trimming and oral health. Then the mat has to be swept and sometimes wiped down between animals. We had seven people today and sheared 23 alpacas in 4 1/2 hours.

Here are some pictures:

                              

 

 

 

This is Jitterbug (the one getting a spa treatment in previous post). The alpacas look so much smaller when shorn. Now to prepare the bags of fiber in my basement for the mill . . . . .

Weather today is very spring like. Cold with a frost this morning, got to mid 50s, I think. Grass is greening up, forsythia bush is in bloom, daffodils are up and about to open. I have had a little time to survey the winter damage in the gardens, lots of mole damage, some water damage (brook) and the deer visited this winter eating a couple of shrubs and leaving piles of poop around. Fish are doing well, I did lose one this winter but the others look happy and healthy. I think I will do a thorough cleaning of the pond this summer. Usually I change some of the water and scoop out debris on the bottom. But I think I will drain it and scrub the lining. That will be a big job but the pond is now 4 years old so it is due.

I have not blocked the scarf yet. I am still slowly working on the blouse. And I started a Modern Log Cabin blanket fro Mason Dixon Knitting. The squares go fast but I think it is going to be a long term, pick up here and there project. I did not realize the first square was so big so I know if will take me awhile. I am using The Alpaca Yarn Company Classic Alpaca. It is a soft, squishy yarn, I think the blanket will be great.

Stay tune for BIG news.

“Action is the foundational key to success.” Pablo Picasso

Shanti

Cynthia