Pick of the Week

Today I’m going back in time almost exactly 10 years ago. Has it been that long already? Crazy. I had been a shop owner for only one year and Jenny Bakriges was the first spinning teacher I hosted. Having her was a great introduction to hosting teachers.

At this point I was teaching a weekly beginning spinning class. Jenny was super encouraging to me. She gave me lots of tips and I gained a new Friend. I believe this was also the weekend that I met Kat for the first time too!

A few years after this Jenny Published her spinning/knitting/dying book with Schoolhouse Press.

You know, when you take on something like hiring a teacher it can be a little scary. There are daily rates and travel and lodging costs that must be paid no matter how many people decide to show up. I decided right at the beginning of hiring teachers that I wasn’t going to cancel them. I had two reasons for that. First was because the teacher had blocked out those dates on her/his calendar and possibly had turned other people down after we were booked and I didn’t want them to lose that income. Second was because I was hiring teachers I wanted to learn from and I figured at the very least I would be getting a private lesson. It worked out 99% of the time. And it was awesome.

I’m thinking about this right now because of the retreat I’m planning (see yesterday’s post) and all of the upfront, unrecoverable costs and the little nervous feeling I have. But I’m looking back at all the years of taking risks and things working out just fine. The people came, we had a great time together. I met some remarkable teachers and am proud to call many of them my friend now. I also met some remarkable students and many of them are also friends right now too.

So that quickening of my heartbeat is a combination of nerves and excitement – more excitement I think.

Just a little reminder that my first newsletters will be going out in less than two weeks. You won’t regret signing up to get them. There is a form right on this page for the general newsletter and a link in Wednesday’s post if you want to get the weaving newsletter and take part in the upcoming spin/weave along.