Administration Mode

These are the items from my second collection, Deuces Wild. They were waiting to be photographed so they could be placed in the shop and on the website. There is a similar pile of the items from my newest collection, Feels. They are downstairs waiting for their time in the spotlight.

I am entering administration mode. I have two processes in owning a shop: the first is the creative mode when I get to do all that knitting and crocheting. Once that happens, I go into admin mode. That time behind the scenes doing what it takes to get all those items into the public view.

Goes something like this: photograph items, make videos, edit photos, bag and tag items to store in the cedar chest, inventory items, prepare website pages, prepare newsletter release to private/mailing list, prepare social media posts,format patterns, prepare Etsy listings, do yarn reviews (if needed). Not necessarily in that order. But all that has to happen and it goes relatively quick. Ad mode will last maybe a couple of days. It is a necessity of business but it also has a spiritual need for me. It gives me knitting down time.

I won’t be in front of the television during this time and I won’t have needles or hooks in hand. My focus will change from one thing to another thing and that means part of my brain gets a rest. Though I won’t be knitting or crocheting, I am already getting excited because this down time includes picking the yarns for my next collection. This is a part of the business I don’t get to enjoy that much. Before, when I did this just for fun, I could relish the selecting of a yarn. But now, yarn is sometimes selected because an order has been placed and there’s no choice. At this stage, I can select what I think will work. I will be working with two yarns I haven’t knit with before. That makes me smile.

By the time administration mode is done, I’ll be ready to knit again. I will want to get out of this part of my head. So it all works out for the best. Which is a good thing. I love the knitting thing too much to allow it to be a burden. It is still the work of my soul.