New Pricing 2025

Price Reduction 2025

February 6, 2025

If you’re here, you’ve heard that we are lowering our prices :)

It does seem counterintuitive, when costs are going up, but here is my rationale (it may seem like a lot of info, but I’m committed to total transparency here);

THE WHY

1. I want our yarn to be more accessible to Canadians. There is a big push right now to buy, and to support Canadian, on both sides of the border (which we deeply appreciate by the way, and I’m pretty sure I speak for all Canadian small businesses when I say that!). I feel that, if I’m asking Canadians to support me, I need to support the effort from my end too, particularly as we anticipate an economic downturn and reduced buying power.

2. I want our yarn to continue to be accessible for our US customers as well. Our US customer base make up about 75% of our annual sales. This is partly because of our dollar value; US customers are getting an automatic 30% discount (more these days, as I write this our dollar is at .68 cents), and partly because the US is a bigger market. However, that will change if tariffs arrive. And that tariff may go up if our government retaliates in kind.

3. We are very little, it’s just Tito and I running the show, which means we can pivot at need to best serve the needs of the community and keep our business afloat. One has to be flexible these days!

I hope that makes my reasoning clear :) I am simply adjusting my model so we can all continue to get what makes us happy! Let’s answer some of the questions I’ve gotten since we made our announcement, shall we?

How can you afford to change your margins?

The short answer is, we can’t. But we can produce more yarn than we currently do. The same overhead costs, divided over more skeins, means a lower price per skein. So we have decided to take on the extra hours, and are hoping that our customers will respond by sending us the extra volume. As long as the sales are there, the numbers can work. If we lower our costs and the sales don’t come in, we will have to re-assess things. It will be a little hard at first, but we have weathered hard before, and we are nothing if not dedicated.

Your fulfillment time is already super long, how will you handle this?

We agree, it is super long. So my solution is threefold; I will work longer hours, yes, but I also hope this pricing model will provide adequate cash-flow for the company, which means I can stock raw materials more readily, and even overstock when possible, thus allowing me to maximize my painting time. Hopefully this mitigates some of the supply chain uncertainty we may be facing. Finally, I will divide what I dye between order fulfillment and ready-to-ship inventory, which will result in a percentage of orders (ideally 50/50) that can be fulfilled quickly.

I hope that answers the main concerns I’ve heard so far. It’s an experiment, if it works, it has to work for everyone, across the border, and it has to work for us. It’s a little counterintuitive, but I believe it’s the right move. Here’s hoping :)

New Pricing - Skeins

New Pricing - Sweaters

New Pricing - Tonals and Kits (And there's extra yardage on tonals now!)

Other Stuff Ear Candy :)

I'm an insomniac, but sometimes the right audiobook helps. This week it's "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan being read by LeVar Burton and I absolutely recommend it. The book is one of my all-time favourites (I know the show by heart) so listening to it doesn't require a ton of my attention. For what it's worth, Carl Sagan, also posessed a soporific voice, so it's a fair call.

I'm a complete Carl Sagan Geek. I love everything he's ever written. I've asked myself "What would Carl Sagan do?" (to be fair I've also asked "What would the crew from Top Gear do?" when I'm feeling irritable. Probably they'd blow something up, but I digress.). My geeky holodeck poker game includes Carl Sagan and Jean-Luc Picard. Oh, and the crew from Top Gear 🤣 🤣 🤣

If you've never read the original book, go straight out and buy a copy. It's science and poetry and wonder all expressed by a brilliant, compassionate astronomer.

Other Stuff - Mind Candy :

This week I'm reading "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards. One of my goals recently has been to return to drawing. Despite all of my other artistic leanings, I've never felt that I was strong in that department.

I love the approach of the book. It begins with the reasonable enough assertion that if one can learn to read, one can learn to draw. They are equally valid, and valuable means of communication. Because drawing (and perhaps other "right brain" endeavors in the books thesis) falls into the category of intuitive, non-rational thinking, it tends to be derided as less useful. Finally, in the opening chapters she notes that there is a kind of gate-keeping preventing people from drawing that doesn't exist in reading; an ephemeral and subjective thing called "Talent".

I've been drawing at least once a day for a few weeks, and I can honestly say the general trend is upwards. It truly is just like any other muscle, work it, and the neural pathways shall come. So, don't let anyone tell you that you can't draw :) Pick up the book and give it a go.

I'm not done yet, but so far it's 5 stars =D