I am looking to tweak some things about how the Blue Brick operates, to adjust for some really big, relatively recent challenges. Tito and I are mom’s main caregivers. This wasn’t a surprise, we planned for this time when we all moved in together last year, but her health has taken a downturn since the last stroke, and the challenges around mobility and pain management are pretty intense.

It’s taken a lot of time away from The Blue Brick, for which I apologize and feel awful. I know that many of you (bless your hearts) will say “Family first, yarn can wait” but that simply cannot work long term, because The Blue Brick is the only source of income for our home and it needs to be a robust, healthy company for us to get by.

The second challenge has been the tariffs. Again, I know many folks will point out that we are, technically, currently, covered under the CUSMA agreement, and customers should not pay extra money to receive our yarns. And they would be right. However, market uncertainty has still resulted in greatly reduced sales, a natural consequence of all this instability. There has been some confusing and conflicting messaging out there, which means lots of people aren’t sure what’s going to happen.

Our supply chain has also become much more expensive, and much more unpredictable in terms of availability. Sometimes we’ve been told that stellina, say, or red dye, cannot be had for love nor money. Nor kidneys (believe me, I’ve tried).

Finally, social media isn’t what it used to be. Visibility is down. engagement is down. Bot accounts, false information and accounts that have been hacked for onlyfans proliferate (I, too, was surprised when my favourite “Baby zoo animals” feed became a sea of scantily clad bums). It can no longer be our main source of outreach.

What am I doing to fix this?

Never fear, I am not wailing in the corner and tearing at mine garments. Nor taking up a drinking habit. Both have been tempting, don’t get me wrong, but it’s times like this that I’m grateful to be a lifelong Karate student. Some days (rarely) it means enlightenment. Many days it’s the therapeutic benefit of getting out of my own head to be of service to others. And sometimes it’s just the cathartic value of punching, kicking and screaming for an hour, aka a controlled temper tantrum.

1. Stabilize my supply chain by pre-purchasing in bulk if possible, and warehousing it all here at the house so I’m never short on the yarn, dye and chemicals I need to do the job. This will mean discontinuing some bases (TBD). I’ll do my best to retain everyone’s favourites and keep a range of pricing so our yarn is always accessible. This should, in turn, speed up fulfillment which will be critical.
2. Building out a separate office Here at the house, but separated from everyone else. During these times Tito knows he’s mom’s primary person, and I get a few hours, uninterrupted, to focus on the non-dyeing side of the business. Including customer service, shipping and website maintenance.
3. Diversifying sales. Many folks do not want to wait for weeks to receive a pre order item. I’m going to generate and maintain a beautiful inventory section of ready-to-ship items. I’ll bring in the occasional specialty base, or spinning braid. I’m going to try to find somewhere to fire my ceramics and bring them back to market. Maybe I’ll make resin jewelry, or turn nostepinne again. We are so much more than yarn.
4. Diversifying communications For so long, it’s been social media driven. But all things Meta are now suspect, and I think that’s driving a lot of people to get their daily feeds elsewhere. I’ll get active on Bluesky and TikTok, and I’ve re-started this blog. I’d love everyone to go to our website and sign up for the newsletter if they’re so inclined. Sign up for updates from this blog if you want. I promise, sometimes I’m funny. The biggest commodity out there now is our attention. Let’s control where it gets spent instead of being force-fed things that make us sad. This one is a challenge. I don’t know where to find the time to be constantly working on outreach. I don’t have the kind of life where I can focus exclusively on high quality content creation or teach my dogs how to juggle for likes. But my audience is out there, and I need to meet them where they are.
5. Focusing more on fiber arts myself. There was a time when I wove, and knit, and designed, and crocheted and spun. When I was actively producing FOs and talking about the great things that I was doing. These things, the enjoyable part of the business, are the first casualties when time becomes scarce, but they’re critical. They’re literally the bridge between what I make and what my customers want to do. To visualize, to get inspired, I need to rediscover the artisan within myself.

I’m no business expert ;) this is a journey. But I’m an artist. I’m a teacher and a maker. I’m passionate and earnest (and I have super healthy kidneys if you’re interested). I will adapt this business to the new zeitgeist and I hope you’re all joining me on the journey. I remain so grateful for all the people who love what I make, who support us, and who allow me to make my living bringing beauty into the world.

I’ll end with pretty pictures of what’s currently on for pre order :) Check it out if the colours call to you!

Dried Lavender

Kim’s Barn

Flint

Aster

Autumnal

And a hell of a selection of Blues

Stay cool. Be ungovernable.
S.