An "I told you so moment!" Re: Shipping costs.

Sometimes being an Aries, and a bit stubborn, as is my partner in life and in SMO88, also, I have to admit, he is sometimes right!
I got an "I told you so" moment this morning after I got back from taking a parcel ( pair of socks) to the postal outlet to mail.  

Let me back track a bit.  When we first started this little business venture, I went to our local postal outlet and told them the circumstances of what we would be doing, and what we would be mailing occasionally.  It was recommended to me to buy envelopes, first the bubble kind which I tried a few times, and I did not like them.  Then it was recommended to me to buy the cardboard photo envelopes and mail them that way.  So up until this December of 2013 that was my method of shipping sock pairs in Canada and the USA.  In December I got a request to mail out a pair of Men's size 12 socks, and I knew they would not fit comfortably in the either mailer.  I decided to go with just trying the concept of wrapping them in brown paper and mailing that way.  They went quite a bit cheaper and I was happy because of that.  Today I mailed another pair, much smaller size to the USA also, and wrapped and mailed them in brown paper as well.  I was tickled pink to know they went out too, as a small package with no problems and less costly.  I shared this info with MrB upon getting home, and of course his reaction was, "I told you so!"  Yup, he told me so, in the very beginning that I should have mailed the sock pairs that way.  Well I didn't listen to him, I listened to the postal expert!  I am now thinking that the postal people wanted me to buy the envelopes so that they would gain more money from selling their products.  They got 2 years of extra money from me and our customers.  From now on I will be mailing the sock pairs wrapped nicely and neatly in the traditional brown paper.  And I don't have buy brown paper as I save large paper bags that I receive, free of charge when buying products from our local NSLC.  That kind of makes me laugh, but I am doing my good deed by recycling too! Now everyone will be happy, me, MrB (as he has a smile on his face, thinking I told you so) and our customers!  The only party who may not be as happy is Canada Post!  So the moral of this story is, perhaps you should not just take their word for it, and try different options and see which one best suits mailing your product.  See which one best works for YOU!  Now here I am  again, blogging and telling you that there are always little changes along the way to be made to improve your service or improve operations to make things easier for everyone involved. Even for the habitual type people like me, that sometimes buck change, and get the, "I told you so!"  Just smile and carry on...... Oh, and by the way, this change also prompted me to make yet another change on our website.  I am getting so good at tweaking the website and facebook page lately. But you already know that as we have discussed that previously.  It's a good CHILLY WILLY Day here in Nova Scotia, Canada at -10C (14F) so I am going to have something hot to drink, and keep warm indoors, now that my postal errand is complete. 

Proud of Myself!

I am not a techie whiz, by no means, but I am very proud of myself, as I have revamped our website.  And today, I got a notion that I needed to do more.  I get on a roll, and then the creative ideas start to surface and I can not let go of them. After I revamped most of the pages, I had a vision of another page. But for the life of me, I could not figure it out.  I decided to give it another try today, and Vala I did it, and I named it and then later added pictures.  Things like this sometimes exhaust me, but in the end also make you feel good as I have accomplished something new, and have learned something also.  Our Socks Made On 88 website, now has a Gallery Page in which I have called, "Snapshots"  I added the collage option, and the pictures that I have chosen are arranged in a very nice format.  I love them!  My vision has now become a reality. Please check it out (our website) if you want to see the reaps of my frustration and satisfaction!  

By doing my blog, the website, and the facebook page, it keeps me busy, keeping up with updates.  Posting on My Blog, is the most fun!  I just come here, type away, inform, tell our story, and share.
It is something I very much enjoy!  And even though, Socks Made On 88 is at a slight stand still right now, it gives me opportune time to tweak with the techie aspects and make blog entries.  I will be back when I can think of what I should talk about next. You just never know when that will be, it could be tomorrow, it could be the next day, or the next week....but till then, take care, and talk to you again soon.  PS:  MrB is on the mend, but he is sooo wishing he could be knitting/cranking socks instead of watching TV!
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Shout -Out!

The Vice President of the Circular Sock Knitting Machine Society, had asked my permission to use some things from my blog for their Newsletter.  I had said "Yes" and forgotten all about it until I read the issue today.  I really liked the Editor's note, and how she gave me/us a shout out!  Thank you for your kind words!  The whole newsletter was a delight to read...keep up the good work Betty! ( just in case you happen to read my blog entry of today, you can give yourself a big pat on your back.)

This + This = No Cranking for awhile!

This (machine gone for modifications)

Plus, This ( hand-surgery) = No cranking for awhile!  That's the latest update!

"Ribbed Socks"

See you at the market again this coming Saturday, January 18, 2014 (last time before MrB's hand surgery).  We will have a little,  "Show and Tell" preview of some Ribbed Socks. 

Ribbed socks will be added to our product line and display rack, along with our regular hung-hemmed socks. Our primary focus will still be with our regular socks.  But after MrB's hand has healed, look for Ribbed Socks as another option too, spring and beyond...

Right track...

Saturday's market was a good market returning after the Christmas break.  I had decided to change up the SMO88 display a bit by adding a story book.  It was very well received, and in fact I had one customer who said it was her favourite book as a young girl.  She wondered where I got it, and said it was from my stash of my children's books,

as I saved and stashed most of them away.  After my grandson was born I retrieved them from hiding and resurfaced some that were particular interest to me, and "Socks for Supper" by Jack Kent was one of them! This confirms that an idea I get now and again puts us on the right track!

Historic Farmers Market tomorrow!

See you at the Historic Farmers tomorrow!
Saturday, January 11, 2014. 

7am-1pm
And a special surprise we will also be there next week too.
Saturday, January 18, 2014, same times.

It's Puzzling or not?

I continually try to change up our market display.  Sometimes I go with the season, or just try to add a bit of new flavour now and again.  For Saturdays market it was not very puzzling to come up with a couple new ideas.  I am introducing how we can mix and match the sock pairs and sell them like this, if it appeals to the customer.  I have a certain place on our market table to debut this.  Also I am going to put out a storybook that I have to add a little bit of childhood flare.  We do have maybe children stopping by with their parents or other family members.  They may want to sit and read a bit.  And it is a very good story too!  In my picture, you will see a puzzle started, and fire roaring.  This is a typical winter passtime ongoing in our household when we are not busy with other life things and Socks Made On 88.

Kitchenering today

Kitchenering today, does not mean that I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen, but it does mean that I will be grafting toes of socks together!  I love this time, just me, takes me to my never-never-land place and I sit in the bedroom and listen to soaps at the same time.  I am going to post a picture of a pair of socks that need to be kitchenered today.  Although I have others, the colourways are not new to us like this one is.  I must say I really, really like this colourway.  It is Opal Free Nature.  Those of you who follow this blog, know that we use mostly Opal sock yarn for our sock pairs. We are very happy to have a great supplier.

A Stormy Day and a Turtle PJ Bag

Sometimes I throw a little bit of my felt appliqueing passion into the mix on my blog.  It actually has a sock heel that MrB used to practiced a new technique on and was kept and I scrounched it for my turtle project yesterday.  It made a good turtle head for my Turtle PJ Bag that I am working on.  You never know what MrB may crank out and I may claim when its put to the reject bag to eventually unwind and use for derranged sock pairs.  Oh well the next batch of "Derranged" will be minus some green and cream tweed opal left-over yarn.  Here is a picture to share, but the project is no where near finished yet.  I just have it pinned all together as today I have decided to do other things, like kitchener some socks, and get ready for market prep stuff for Saturday. 

Missed SMO88's Birthday!

We were preoccupied with company of my little Grandson after New Year's that I completely forgot about an important birthday.  On January 3rd it was Socks Made On 88's
2nd Birthday!  So Happy Belated Birthday!  Our CSM venture commenced officially on Jan 3. 2012.  We have not looked back, and are having a great time incorporating Socks Made On 88 into our lives.  Myself, MsB and MrB both very much enjoy the time we put into this venture.  Year two was very invigorating for us and SMO88.  Wonder what year 3 will bring?

2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
From 
SOCKS MADE ON 88