Success

These are the days that make it worth all the hard work. I finished off the poncho I'd spent a week working on. I look back and think, it really wasn't that bad. It feels like it's taking forever in the process, but when you're finished, you're proud of your completed project and realize that it really wasn't that bad. Now, if I can just get things to sell. That would release the last bit of frustration.

I anticipated only about 8-10 hours of work to get the poncho finished, but I was wrong. It took me 4 days total. Still, not bad. Now, if I'm honest with myself, I probably spent a good 24-36 hours on it. Maybe not even that much. I think the one thing that needs to be implemented, is focusing on a time sheet system so I can accurately track my hours. If you are making a business from the things you make at home, I highly suggest implementing such a system. Of some kind. These are things you have to take into consideration when pricing your items and establishing how much your making for each item. You have to consider the cost of materials and the other part of the equation is how much time you are spending in creating the item. Honestly, after paying for materials and setting a reasonable price, I have found that many crafters are only making a few dollars per hour in their endeavors. The best way to figure out what you're making and how to price items, you need to keep track of what you're spending in materials and how many hours you're spending in creating each item.

So, I've decided I'm going to do better at tracking my hours. I've found that sales and pricing isn't an exact art like it seems to be in the executive world. Spending all the time I have in the business world, I've learned that things aren't as cut and dry or cutthroat in the creative, homemade business world. It's much more difficult, yet more laid back.

Well... the point behind this blog is that success in completing an item is great. To make things better, I need to keep track of the time I spend in making items I plan on marketing. I kept thinking that while I was making the poncho too. And the good thing with keeping track of actual time spent on working on a particular item, lets you know how much time it will take to make another one if and when an order is placed and you don't have one already made.

So... here's a picture of the finished product. Finished Poncho. Don't forget to check other items or order this item at my store: AZ Always Creations. Check regularly because new items are always being offered.

Next project: Pichachu hat. I'm sure there will be at least one blog describing this journey. It will be my first time knitting in the round. I've got a great book to guide me and anything I don't understand, well, there's always Youtube tutorials to show me how it's done instead of just reading and trying to follow pictures.

Happy Knitting!