So You Want to Work at Hill Country Weavers, Eh?

If you're at all like me in the Knit Fantasy Department, you have days when you wander into the shop, look at (and touch) all that glorious fiber, and think, "I HATE MY DAY JOB! I WANT TO WORK HERE!!"

I can't tell you how many times I've entertained this daydream-- to work in my Number One Happy Place. In fact, I've been lucky-- Suzanne found me this nice little spot on the Internet so I can be part of the fun without ruining the displays. Isn't she smart? It's not that I would purposefully wreck the place, of course. But as I learned on a recent behind-the-scenes tour of how it comes to pass that things look so darn good all the time, I discovered that in no way could I make the cut of in-store help. This is because I am directly descended from Pig-Pen-- you know, Charlie Brown's pal. I'm not a mess on purpose, it's just in my genes.

[TWINS SEPARATED AT BIRTH?!]

Maybe you never stopped to think about just how unmessy Suzanne is. Maybe, since she runs such a tight ship, you're just accustomed to things being in order and just take it for granted. As it turns out, there are some important Rules of Organization that inform the organization of a constantly growing inventory of products that, if not tended to, can get very out of order very fast.

So what's the magic that makes it happen? Well, I'd like to present some Do's and Don'ts photos here, sort of like Glamour Magazine has that section of Do's and Don'ts-- you know, the pictures of fashion criminals with censor bars over their faces? Here, for example, are some Definite Don'ts:

For the record, the Don'ts occur when an excited customer goes rooting around looking for just the right skein. Totally understandable. However, it's up to the staff to zip around and, as quickly as possible, restore order, and keep things in the Do's Zone. To get that job done, they must remember, for example, that colors must be organized vertically and never horizontally. (Perish the thought!) And, of course, balls and skeins must be meticulously ordered. Oh, and every skein has a "butt" side and a "tag" side-- tags must be hidden, with butts facing out. Here, then, are some photos from the Do's Department:

[Note: Technically, yes, the above pic has a couple of horizontal skeins, but this is due to not-enough-for-a-full-column.]

Of course, when the cat is away, the mice will play, as the saying goes. So once in a great while-- rare times when Suzanne disappears to, say, go to Market, those she leaves behind might just have to have a little fun editing her To Do List. I happened to get my hands on a copy of a recently altered list, which I will now share with you. (Shhh, don't tell Suzanne!) I leave it to you to figure out what's real and what's not.