Here’s the breakdown of results:

Top request by far was for more art batts. This is a good thing, as I have plans to fulfill your needs!
Besides Box of Crayons batts, I’ll be adding a couple of repeat colorways/styles. Yay!

The next results were a four-way tie! The people have spoken and the people want more
hand-dyed roving and top
spindles
creative yarns featuring texture
and online classes.
We can do this! Hand-dyed roving/top is already in the works; I have a line on spindles that will knock your hand-knit socks off; textured yarns are already a big part of what we do and will continue to be a main focus; and online classes? Oh yeah. That’s something I’ve been DYING to do. This is all good stuff!

Next up was creative yarns featuring add-ins, which I started selling in December – huzzah! – then loose dyed fibers like my popular Rock Locks.

The weakest showing was for luxury fibers and traditional yarn styles, which is cool, as that’s not really something we focus on here. That means, from a business point of view, that we’re reaching the right people for what we do. Yay! And loose raw fibers didn’t get a single vote – duly noted.

Okay, so what does this all mean?

Well, as I noted above, it means *huge sigh of relief* that Rob and I are connecting with the right people for the things we do and want to do. Y’all highlighted that perfectly with your poll choices!
It also means that we now have a clear set of goals for 2012. Some of these additions are already in the works, and others are brewing in my brainpan and should see fruition very soon. [like the online classes - I just needed to know that there really was a market for them! I've been asked before, but there's nothing like a concrete vote of confidence.]

I’d like to extend a HUGE thanks to everyone who voted or contacted me to let me know what you thought. Your help allows us to grow Threeravens in the best directions for YOU and us. <3

*necklace pictured is available here:

I have many plans for 2012, and although I probably will not implement *all* of them, it will be fun to try and see how many I succeed at creating. You might notice that I’ve got some new spins [see what I did there?] on my look and style. It’s still Threeravens and Xiane and Rob, but we’re now even a bit more HI THERE about who we are and what we do.

…I mean, in case there was any doubt, that is.

And because this is a year of CHANGE and FUN, I have a poll for you! Yep, I want to hear what you’d like to see from Rob and I in this upcoming year, because your opinions matter to us. It’s a multiple choice poll, so please pick all the choices that appeal to you. I welcome comments about things I didn’t think to suggest, as well.

We could not do this without YOU. Thank you from the bottom of our little rock’n'roll hearts.

You don’t have to do anything at checkout, the shipping’s already been removed from the cart. I still have some holiday yarns available, too!

MERRY HAPPY!

Just in case you missed it, my very first day of my “world-famous” [hurr] spinning class hosted by Lovelyarns in lovely Hampden, Baltimore, MD, happens this Sunday, November 13th. I am excited! Here’s a little background:

I will teach using basic top-whorl drop spindles and provide a spindle, fiber, and detailed instructions/book recommendations/website references for students to take home. I spend time educating the students about the general history of spinning, and I explain the differences in fibers and preparation [and I bring a ton of various fibers as visual/textural reference]. I cover different styles of spindles wheels, and a bit about yarn construction – then I get the students spinning. I’ll introduce plying and explain how to skein, measure, and set the twist in yarn. Students will leave with yarn that they can knit or crochet!

Class cost is $60, and covers all materials – including a student spindle and plenty of fiber to take home – as well as detailed instructions and helpful links for continued home study.

More here: http://www.lovelyarns.com/novdecsched.html
Lovelyarns is located at 846 W. 36th Street Baltimore, MD 21211 – call (410) 662 – YARN (9276) to register for this class or my other upcoming classes!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45169565/ns/nightly_news/t/faribault-blanket-mill-revival-restores-us-jobs/#.Trd6FvQnqC0 THIS is the most amazing story. Two men invest locally by purchasing the woolen mill that was on its way to Pakistan… and reopened it in town, offering jobs – and hope.

Source: ravelry.com via dreamversion on Pinterest

https://market.android.com/details?id=us.ravulo.projects – Ravulous is a knitting / crochet project browser app for users of Ravelry.com. Log in with a Ravelry account on your phone or tablet, and you can view and edit your projects. Show off all your knitting photos to your friends while you’re out and about, or just admire your own handiwork from the comfort of the sofa!

http://sublimestitching.com/wovenlabels Designed for embroidery projects and offered by the world-famous Sublime Stitching, these are still perfect for that HUGE, complicated knitting or crochet project. [and they're cute, too!]

Seventeen Evergreen – Polarity Song from Lucky Number Music on Vimeo.

http://lornaslaces.blogspot.com/2011/11/yarn-marches-on-washington.html Laura Zander of Jimmy Beans Wool has been invited to Washington D.C. as a guest of the White House Business Council. Can you imagine?

http://shaunarichardson.com/home/ Shauna Richardson, Crochetdermist. [seriously, you NEED to look at her work.]

I am still of course, in love with Genevieve – my purple Ashford Kiwi wheel – but as much as I love her, and she’s been a great help to my business… I have to admit that her traditional treadle action is killing my knees. Particularly my right knee, which came into this spinning thing with a handicap of being borked from years of dancing.

Enter my dear pal Ady Bee and her shop KnittinK Yarn. She and I were having a discussion a while back about spinning, my knee, and my wheel. She recommended SpinOlution Spinning Wheels for their unique treadling action, as well as their overall awesomeness.

After some back-and-forth chatter about price, space, and what exactly bothered my knee, we settled on a SpinOlution Mach II wheel.

Spinolution Mach II wheel and yarns

So… obviously, I had the delivery of my wheel today. *grin*

My first impressions:

• it is quite easy to assemble
• it is much heavier than the Kiwi
• it is made incredibly well and makes sense to work with
• it has almost no learning curve – I sat down and was spinning right away
• getting the bobbins on and off: a dream, it’s so easy.

It stands a touch taller than the Kiwi, but is much wider side-to-side. However, it has a thinner profile and will sit much closer to a wall when stored. [like that ever happens]
As I’ve mentioned, the treadling is different. Instead of my knees being engaged as my feet go heel-toe on the treadles, on the SpinOlution there is more of a side-to-side rocking feel. It is completely easy on my joints, and in fact, Squeegee Cat can sit on my lap while I spin quite comfortably. With the Kiwi, he gets jostled up and down!

There are five-count-them-five ratios to choose from; for the non-spinners out there, that means I have a five-speed wheel, like a racing car. I even have toe brakes, in case I get carried away!

And there’s one more awesome thing… a HUGE flyer/bobbin assembly [with the optin to get an even BIGGER one] that has an open orifice. What that means, my non-spinning loves, is that I can pretty much put anything into my yarn that I can dream of using. And that opens YOU up to request the weirdest yarns possible. If I can get it into a yarn, I will. Highly textured and bulky yarns, here we come!

I am sooooooo excited! I’ve already cranked out two yarns in that many hours!

BIG thanks to Rob L for bringing my dream to fruition. ♥

Please hop over there to give it a read: http://www.unanimouscraft.com/blog/summit-awesome-last-day-sniffle

I feel like it’s the last day all over again… my last blog post about Summit Of Awesome is now up at Unanimous Craft. *sniffle*

I just wanna take a second to once again thank Unanimous Craft and Rosalie Gale for allowing me to go to Summit of Awesome and write about it for the blog – what an awesome deal! – and to Hello Craft for putting such a fantastic conference together. I would recommend them to anyone and everyone. ♥

More reporting to come!

Summit of Awesome 2011 Class Photo

Look how happy and inspired we all look! I miss Summit of Awesome already.
Want to see more photos from the three days, including some of my own? Head on over to the Summit of Awesome 2011 Flickr Pool!