Lately I've been getting lots of questions lately through the awesome Contact Us button on the right.
One of the cardinal rules of the classroom environment (forgive me, the teacher in me will never go away) is that if you have a question, ask it, because chances are good someone else wants to know exactly the same thing. Today, I will answer some of your questions for the benefit of all.
So there.
You can't stop me.
Q: Where are you located?
A: Our studio is in beautiful Duluth, MN. Duluth is right at the tip of Lake Superior, and you can see the Aerial Lift Bridge from the sidewalk outside the studio. The little sliver of blue on this map is part of Lake Superior. That little dot of red is Duluth. The big red area in southern Minnesota are the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Minnesota is right in the middle of North America.
Q: Isn't it really cold there?
A: Sometimes. Right now it's about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 Celsius). In the summer, it's mostly warm with a few hot days here and there.
Q: Do you have a retail store?
A: We don't have a brick and mortar retail store. We have an online retail store that I'm more than happy to have you visit. We do, however, have many awesome retailers that I hope you'll patronize.
Q: Can I come visit your studio on XYZ date?
A: We're working on it. Someday I would like to be able to give tours, but right now we're really focused on making yummy yarn and sending it out to you. I'm also training new employees and helping my own family adjust to our cross-country move. If people stop by all the time, that interrupts our ability to fill other people's orders. But I know you're interested, and I appreciate your interest.
I've thought about an open house or studio tour, but honestly, I think you'd be disappointed. There would be a lot of me walking around saying things like, "And... this is my desk. And... here's our mini-refrigerator for our lunches. And... this is our coat rack. And... here are the bathroooms. And... this is the packing table. Sadly, I am not the Willy Wonka of yarn. I have no chocolate/yarn river, I have no Oompa Loompas, and there are no fizzy lifting drinks that will help you float above the studio. There's no magic involved, just some artistry, some chemistry, and a lot of hard (fun) work.
Q: Why doesn't XYZ retailer carry your yarn? I really like XYZ retailer.
A: There are several possible explanations as to why XYZ retailer doesn't have our things.
- They don't have the shelf space (yarn shops tend to be small places, and they only have so much room)
- They already sell another brand of hand dyed yarn and don't need any more
- They haven't approached us indicating their interest
The best way to get our yarn into your favorite retailer is to ask them to carry our yarn. Yarn shop owners are very interested in what their customers want to buy, and asking goes a long way.
Q: Why don't you sell your yarn through Amazon/Michael's/ACMoore/Hobby Lobby/other chain craft store?
A: Because we're a small business and like working with other small businesses. We can't create yarn fast enough to fill a 200,000 skein order. There's no automation in any of our processes. Every single thing, from putting ties on the yarn to putting the label on the yarn, is done by hand and is done with love.
Q: When will there be a Three Irish Girls retreat? I want to learn to dye/visit with my 3IG friends/pet 3IG yarn.
A: That sounds super fun! Who wants to plan one?
Q: Can you pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease make me a skein of Sea Anemone/Starry Starry Night?
A: Y'all, these skeins are a lot of work. I would have to charge accordingly. You might faint at the price. But never say never.
Q: How do you take your yarn pictures?
A: I am no photography expert, but years of trial and error have taught me a few things. Buy a decent camera (I have a Nikon). Buy good lenses (these matter more than the camera, IMO). I like my Nikkor 35mm 1:1.8G lens the best for yarn pictures. Be sure you have decent lighting (I like diffused natural light) and a neutral background that doesn't distract. (Fuzz/lint/dirt/dead grass/cat hair/food crumbs don't improve your pictures.) Crop out distracting elements from the background. Disable the flash. Give the yarn a stern talking to and tell it to behave itself or else.
Q: Can you come to my yarn shop/do a trunk show/speak at my knitting group/come to XYZ event?
A: Thank you for thinking of me. :D Feel free to use the contact me button on the right, and we'll see if we can work something out!
Does that help answer some of your questions? If you have more, feel free to email or leave them here in the comments, and I'll do my best to answer in a future post!
See, that wasn't so bad after all!
Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 10:09AM 
