Speaking of reading... I got back from vacation a week and a half ago, and on my vacation I started and finished a new novel. I honestly can't remember the last "free-reading" book I started and finished. I used to be an avid reader. I still love it, just not enough time anymore. When I was in middle school, we were supposed to keep a reading log to write down everything we read, in order to figure out how much kids were reading. I hardly ever wrote down even 75% of the books I read, because I would read them so fast and forget to write them down before moving on to the next, and when I had to pass it in I couldn't remember all the names. (I don't read as fast as my brother though - he read Harry Potter 5 in about 18 hours!)
The book I read was The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. Because I've been trained to look at the style of writing, the qualities, and what I would change, I didn't really like some of the actual writing. There was something I couldn't quite put my finger on that didn't fit right, felt weird. My cousin had started reading it, and even though she's not a writer, she got the same feeling and couldn't get past the first couple chapters. I liked the characters though, and my interest in knitting and small business kept me reading :) There were a couple characters that said or thought "OMIGOD!" (spelled like that, and with capitals) and every time, I thought it was out of place and out of character. The 12 year old girl wasn't even one of the people that said it! But, the writer knows more about the characters, so maybe she knows something she didn't share (I have a tendency to do that... There's so much I know about what's happening, that I forget the readers don't know too >.<).
The characters over all were very good, and there was quite a few but she managed to make me care about almost every one of them, which is hard to do for a writer! So in general, I would say it's a good book and worth the read :) I will say though, that I was disappointed in the lack of writing about actual knitting. Between chapters it has little pieces titled in knitting terms but it more relates the terms to real life. One section that had a couple lines of pattern, which I read to my mom (knitter for longer than I've been alive) and she said she'd never seen it termed like it was (k2t for knit 2 together instead of k2tog - I've always seen and used k2tog, but I haven't used as many patterns as she had). It seemed kind of like Kate Jacobs had never knitted before... I would have liked to see more about actual knitting.
I read a bunch of quotes outloud to my mom that I thought were funny, or ridiculous. One quote stuck in my head though, something Georgia (the yarn shop owner) says to Cat.
As a small business owner, this quote obviously means something to me, and especially as a handmade small business. Right now I'm in the middle of making setting up and inventory document. It is a pain in my you-know-what! It involves counting EVERY bead, charm, tag, head pin, clasp, etc. Putting them in the Excel document I've set up with a stock code I create, a description, how many I have, how much they cost, and where I got them from. I'm trying to set them up to use a feature that will help in pricing and figuring out my exact costs and profits. Alongside this, I'm trying to update my website. That involves taking new pictures of my bead options, charms, pendants, stamping tags, etc. that people can choose from, cropping them, collaging them, an labeling them with codes. Then, I have to edit all my old listings, and make new ones for my new products. I also have to make new listings for every category of charm so it's easy to find what you want (though now I'm debating on consolidating some if I can). Many items have slight price changes with add ons, and each one has to be listed separately, since I'm not using my own website with HTML. And since I work at a day job about 40 hours a week, by the time I get home and we figure out dinner and eat... I have an hour or so to work on all this! So it's a very slow process, and makes me wish I could afford an assistant! So this quote came at the perfect time for me - reminded me that there's a reason I do all this, and I shouldn't quit :) Once I get my inventory system set up, it will take less time to manage it and keep it updated, which I keep reminding myself (and ignoring the fact that I haven't yet figured out how to keep track of less numerical items like fabric and yarn).
So I've decided to do something special with this blog post... If you read it, I would like you to comment. Comment something about the post, the book, what you would like to read, etc... Just not "comment," "done," or something like that. Comment with a quality comment and you'll get a $10 gift certificate to kreative studios :) (You must also be a fan of the page to get a gift certificate!)
Hope you enjoyed the post!
