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Friday 26 February 2021

Never Another Groovy

Wednesday was sunny and warm so it was a total surprise to wake up to snow on Thursday. I'd slept in and was moving stiffly slow when the phone rang. It was my massage therapist wanting to know if I had a suitable vehicle for getting to her remote clinic. I said I thought it would be okay by 11:30 when I had to leave and she replied but your appointment is at nine. Hmm... suddenly in fast forward. 

I did make it safely up and safely down, including crawling around the police, tow truck, and cars in the ditch on one particularly bad corner, and arrived home with my plans all mixed up. Instead of heading into the studio, I decided to put everything back in the closets now that the painting was finished, clean house, do the laundry, and hang up a few pictures so I could have today, tomorrow, and Sunday to spend in the studio. It means I don't have as much to share as I'd like and that's just the way it is. I do have a clean house and a free weekend. YES YES!





Along with the two painting chores, I had also wanted to finish the purple leather bag shown in the last post and the Groovy shawl by the end of this week. I have decided never another Groovy. It starts out good and then gets endlessly boring and it's just not my kind of shape. The last one I knit was a gift for a friend who could carry it off but this one is way too huge for me. 





My blocking board is quite large and I had to fold the scarf back on itself one and a half times and pin it right over the edge just to get it spread out enough. When I sat down to tie in the ends and get a finished picture for this post, I started to think about whether it was worth it or not and now...






... it is back in balls. Here's how the data looked. Making it included 5 balls of grey, two balls of grey tweed, two balls of dark grey tweed, and one ball of hand-dyed green for a total of $114.87 with taxes for the yarn. It was knit at a speed of 24 grams per hour and weighs 541 grams which equals 22.5 hours. At $20 per hour, the labour charge is $450.00 with a total cost of $564.87. 

Why do I know that? I started keeping track of this kind of data recently because I'm intending to have an exhibit in the near future and I don't know if I want to sell the pieces or not. Just in case, I'm collecting the data now since I can't go back and get it later. 

What I find particularly interesting is that last year I bought second hand a designer pullover that I had previously seen in a boutique retailing at $450.00. It was made from acrylic yarn and not the wool blends I used and was one of many while this shawl is - was - a one and only. I've been asking around to find out what various hourly rates are and my drywaller charges $75, my massage therapist $100, and the construction crew $50. I also know of cleaning at $30 and counseling at $115 and that the minimum wage in BC is $15.20. I do not believe that one set of skills is worth less than another and I know that someone somewhere could pay $564.87 for a shawl however, it's not a someone who lives here and I don't know where there is which leaves that age old dilemma of how to get paid a decent salary for our creative labour.

Right now, knitting is entertainment for me so leaving out the labour charges and evaluating the price of the yarn alone, $114.87 is too much invested in a shawl I won't wear. I'd rather make it into something else. 


 


Another thing I've been evaluating is the flow of my studio. As much as I like how the turquoise cabinet looks, I am having it moved downstairs to the dining room and replacing it with the Kappang dresser from Ikea. When I'm working, every surface has a designated use and there is nowhere to put the pattern pieces, remnants, and other bits that gather while making something. I feel like I'm constantly shuffling them around and tripping over them, which frustrates me and that makes working harder than it needs to be. In my previous studio, I had another countertop to put them on. I didn't realize how much I used it. 

The dresser is - obviously - much shorter than the cabinet but slightly wider. It'll take some more organizing trying to figure out what to put where but eventually I'd like more "over" storage so I will watch for the top of a china cabinet at the thrift store that could be painted and attached somehow. The dresser should arrive next week and once it's together and in place, I can see what else might be needed especially now that the renovations are winding down and I'm going to have more studio time.  

Do you ever undo projects and make them into something else?

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful
- a clean house and a play weekend


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