Shop Ideas?

A while ago I blogged about possibly starting an Etsy shop. I've still been playing with the idea in my head...it would be fun to try to make a few pennies from fiber arts, and the risk of monetary loss with an etsy shop is pretty low, so if I'm going to start a "business", it's a good way to begin. Plus there's the fact that the chances of my moving soon are ever-increasing, and when I do move I probably won't have work right away, so this seems like a good way to occupy my time.

The drawbacks, as I see them, are small but real: Mainly, I'm not sure my work is really good enough to sell. I've produced a few things recently that I feel confident about, but other times things just don't go right. I'd hate to sell someone something and have them be disappointed by it. Beyond that, there's my fear that I'll become overwhelmed by life and not be as on top of things as a good etsy seller should be.

That being said, I'm leaning towards taking the plunge. But I'm a bit stuck on naming my shop. I played with the idea of continuing sports-themed colours like I did in the summer, and being the "Sporting Spinner" or some such. But sometimes I dye a colour that I just can't connect to sports. And I'm also considering selling fiber, not just handspun, so maybe I don't want spinner in the name?

Then I thought about picking out some local geographic name and going with that. But given how unsettled I am, location-wise, that doesn't seem like a good choice. I mean, if we move to K-W, I could be "Waterloo Wools" or something. But that's not a definite, still!

So...I'm open to ideas and feedback if you have any!

Also, I'm going to share a few of my recent creations:
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"Football Season", Targhee 2-ply, about 550 yds to 4 oz. It's heavy laceweight/light fingering. The fiber would make yummy socks, but the thinner parts of the yarn might not be the greatest for socks.

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"School Spirit", 2 oz. of Superwash wool dyed in my high school colours!

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"Girl Thing", 4 oz. of merino-tussah in purples, pinks, and blues

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"Seattle", 4 oz. of alpaca, fingering weight. This was my handspun for the Spunky Eclectic swap. The fiber was not dyed by me, but from a Michigan dyer/alpaca breeder. It was one of the yarns I've been most proud of in my spinning so far, though!

Comments

Kate said…
Your spinning is beautiful. But no shop name ideas, I'm afraid. I'm rubbish at naming things. It took three days for me to name the youngest small person after he was born. *blushes* :-)

Oh, just want to add that you shouldn't put yourself down about your work, though! *pokes*
Anonymous said…
I suck at names, too.

I think your work is gorgeous, and definitely worthy of being sold. <3 The best thing about an Etsy shop is that you can put items up for sale (or not!) depending on how much time you have to make them... there's very little pressure to keep a giant shopful.
Cinders said…
Having an Etsy shop is tremendous fun. Your stuff looks good enough to sell. Theres only one way to find out. cant help on the names. I just use the name of one of my cats Cinders. But I dont name all the yarns after kitty things

Good luck if you do come on board
knitty_kat said…
hhhmmm . . .why not do something that includes some letters of your name & hubby's? Or what the name of Sporty Spice girl? You could name it Sporty fibres instead? LOL

Good luck! I think you'll make it work
Your stuff is lovely and would do well on Etsy. Unfortunately no shop name ideas but in reply to your comment on my vanilla making, check eBay. I've purchased vanilla beans there several times and have gotten excellent products for a fraction of the price of those little tubes in the super market. Good luck!