Preparation

Earlier this year I knew I would have a bunch of classes to teach with not a lot of time in between. In addition, because I had sold the shop, I no longer had unlimited access to all of the fleeces I would ever want.

Both of these things meant that I would need to get a little more organized as far as class materials than I had been in the past.

First I did an inventory of what fleeces and prepared fibers were left so I could figure out what I needed to find, order and purchase.

Next I listed all of the classes that were coming up and filled in how much of each different fiber I would need for each class. of course I needed to base this on full classes so that I wouldn’t run short.

I came up with this Excel spreadsheet to keep track of it all:

It’s 67 rows long and 26 columns and it does all the things I need. I had Lousmith, king of Excel, talk me through some of the more difficult formulas. It’s actually pretty basic but I can look at it and see if I have enough clean fleece, enough roving or enough top for any one of the classes coming up.

Now that the fall is coming there will be shearing and I can look at this spreadsheet and see what I used most and what things I need to stock up on for classes that may happen in 2015 before the spring shearings start.

Little by little I am becoming more organized. Now to get to work on straightening the studio…AGAIN!