************
Hi World, we’re Weird&Twisted, a team of two German spinners. It’s been quite a challenge to document our day since we usually don’t work together. We decided to take turns in describing our day, and to split photos, so that’s that taken care of :-) To clarify who is who and to make the whole thing more fun we’ll write in two colours: Weird is green, Twisted is red. In the split photos, you’ll find Weird on the left side, and Twisted on the right.
I usually try to get up at 7, if I didn’t work too late the night before. My husband or I make coffee, take turns in the shower and then he’s off to work. I work at home, so I usually take my coffee and cereal to the computer and start my day checking the shop for orders.
I get up when breakfast is ready. :-) I’m in the extraordinary position of having a husband who gets up before me. (Well, that’s true for working days, because I’m the one who’s got to do breakfast on saturdays and sundays.) We have breakfast, then my beloved husband leaves for work. I stay where I am - I’m self employed and work from home, both a curse and a blessing.
After breakfast I start packaging yarns a customer ordered yesterday. It was Twisted who started designing each envelope individually, Weird&Twisted style - now we always do this.
We used to send along small chocolates and pretty invoices with a personal note of thanks, but due to customs reasons that’s no longer possible. Now we only send the yarn(s), each with a banderole specifying the important information, and business cards. When someone buys many yarns at once, or keeps returning often, we sometimes send along a small thank you - such as some of our handmade stitch markers or even a small skein of yarn.
My general goal is to spin four or five yarns per week, and list as many. In preparation I usually card batts, which means I blend fibre on a drum carder. I often card all the batts for one week in one day, if I can fit that into my schedule, but today I only card one batt. I choose softest merino wool of bright greens, fine merino wool of light pink, and white bamboo flakes.
Well, as I said, I work from home. I switched to a standing desk because it’s way more healthy for my back. If I work on a desk all day, not even yoga can soothe the ache and relax the muscles, so my standing desk is where I’m happy. :)
I’m a Social Media Consultant and Coach, and I have to do lots of different things. On this day, I wrote a proposal and a new blog article. If you want to know more about what I’m doing, feel free to check out my (German) Social Media Blog!
.
I try to get as much done before noon, before my brain is all up and awake and wants me to do aaaaall kinds of stuff but work.
When I’m done carding, I set the batt (that’s the piece of mixed fibres I take off the drum carder) aside for later, and now it’s time for a different kind of work. I currently balance three jobs: the Etsy shop and all that’s involved, a part time job for a market research institute, and (the most important one) writing my thesis. I’ll work on the thesis later, now I have to test some software for the market reasearch institute.
After a few hours of testing, I can finally prepare for spinning! I document the ingredients on file cards, split up the batt into managable pieces, string the beads onto golden thread, fix it to the bobbin, and start spinning.
I have a light lunch, and on most days (as on this one) some rice wafers with chocolate which I’m particularly fond of. Well... and then I start working again. Did I say it’s a blessing AND a curse!?
Every so often, I stop to spin in a flower. This is a little tricky and takes some time and patience, but as with everything, it gets easier with practice :-)
While having some bread and cheese for lunch, I edit some of the photos I took last week. I usually use a photo tent, and I don’t want to set everything up for just one or two yarns, so I have established Friday as my photo day. That way, I can take pictures of all the yarns I spun during one week.
After lunch, I finish the yarn. I wind it off the bobbin using a so called niddy noddy, and then I weigh and measure it. It also needs to be washed to set the twist. It will be ready for photo shooting and shipping after a few days, when it’s completely dry..
Sometimes, we both have coffee together. We get some cake or bake waffles and have a break.
This cake was really yummy!
After our break, I make a detour to the local supermarket and buy groceries, and when I get home I work on my thesis. I study Prehistoric Archaeology, Archaeology of Ancient Near East, and Egyptology at the University of Heidelberg. My thesis is about identity and material culture in prehistory (exact time period to be defined), which is an absolutely intriguing subject.
On I’d say two days a week, I spin. So after my coffee break is over, I grab some fiber, like this wonderful batt I prepared some weeks before. As the drum carder is at Weird’s place, I tend to card a whole bunch of batts at once and stash them at home.
And then I start spinning! Yay!
I seldom finish a yarn in one day. I like to take my time, and I tend to spin a bit finer yarns that can’t be rushed. So the yarn sits on the bobbin and waits for me to finish it another day. :)
I hoped to have enough time for listing a yarn and writing a blog post, but I’m still buried in my books, and looking at the clock I think I will have to postpone anything else until tomorrow.
When I’m really, really good, I have some more time to take pictures. I carry my Ikea “Lack” table over to the window and do the drill: One picture of the whole yarn, one picture of the skein, one where you can see the yarn’s structure, one close up - and one for fun. :) I like taking yarn pics, so if anyone sees a job opening for a full time yarn fotographer, call me! (Just kidding, I like my job. :D )
Sometimes I finish the day with more work. Well, I’m self-employed, so that’s not a bad thing! ;) At about 7 pm, my husband returns from work and we spend the evening together cooking, enjoying the meal and having a good time.
I decide to keep working on the thesis until my husband gets home. Then we’ll cook dinner and enjoy it in front of the TV, watching an episode of Battlestar Galactica. We have already watched the whole series, but it’s been a while and we wanted to start again, wondering what it’s like to watch the beginning when we already know what will happen in the end. Afterwards, we might play a board game, or Lego Batman on the PS3, or he’ll play some PS3 game and I might get the chance to list a yarn, or write that blog post. When we go to bed, my husband often reads to me - what better way to finish the day? :-)
Posts
