Are we gonna let the elevator bring us down?

Le sigh!  You guys...I am back on the shelf!  I got way too excited about that big box of yarn I showed you last week.  Its a bit bulky and thick to work with and I should have taken more breaks...and anyway I hurt my arm pretty bad again.  What I really should do is talk to my doctor about it, but I feel like when I bring up negative side effects from non essential activities I always just get told "stop doing that" and I don't want to!  I know some avid crocheters have switched to using their mouse with their left hand to ease strain, I may give that a try...it seems weird!  I'm hoping with enough time I can still continue to do my usual type of projects and going forward maybe I just can't with heavy bulky yarn.  We shall see.

In the meantime I've been doing a lot of thinking about marketing and branding.  I've been inspired by people who create an idea, a brand, an image and don't waver from it, which ultimately makes their business stronger.  I was reading an article about Prince and how he would get a vision in his head and he would not stop until he made it a reality.  He didn't care if others couldn't see it. I'm no Prince...who is?!  But I think there are take aways from that. I tend to get caught up in trying to do a mix of what I want with what I think other people will want...and I'm shown time and time again that I have no idea what people will want.  I don't anticipate that I will ever take this from hobby to full time job, so I wonder, why do I bother worrying about what might have mass appeal?  I have a job, I do this for fun, why not make what I want and see if I can find a way to get it in front of other people like me who might also want it.  Its got me making a lot of mental changes to the direction I thought I would go with my fall items, and its still early enough to do that. 

I've also considered trying to put together a craft show that is more for the "weirdos."  Around here, and maybe in most cities, it seems people who go to craft fairs just want to buy things that say KC on them, or have our sports teams, or have other random and generic sayings on them.  I'm not bitter about those things, but I see so many people who make really cool things that don't fall into those categories struggling at craft fairs!  I'm wondering: How can we get our things in front of people who would be interested in them, but might not think to go to a regular craft fair or art show. 

Now, to keep this post from being all tell and no show...here's something I made a couple of weeks ago!

Because I get migraines I had the fluorescent lights over my desk disabled, but I also don't like to sit in the dark.  I found this super cute lamp, but knew I could make it even cuter! I had all of this yarn on hand that sort of matched the color on the base, so I worked up this granny square style shade cover!  I found that switching to a regular lamp and having the cozy on there really warms up my whole space.  It doesn't feel so much like a boring old cube anymore!