#i get them in the discount bins at Walmart or used on eBay for cheap but scoob we got new

[handweavers]

Is there a loom/weaving kit you recommend for beginners? I’d like to start weaving but don’t know what might be good and you seem like the person to ask! Thank you for your time!

hi!! i recommend starting with a cardboard loom, they're super functional and accessible to most people bc you can make it out of any cardboard you have lying around. this is a good tutorial on making + warping one. if you find you like it you can then invest in better equipment like a frame loom and eventually a rigid heddle loom. the former is pretty inexpensive and can be DIY'd as well, the latter is more expensive and will run you at least a few hundred dollars (which is why i still don't have one lol). this is a good tutorial for making your own frame loom. you can also hammer thin nails into a wooden picture frame and use the nails as pegs.

as for weaving supplies, all you really need to get started is yarn, something to beat the weft down like a fork or a comb, and a tapestry needle to weave in your ends. the rest (shuttles, heddles, bobbins, etc.) can come in time. yarn can be expensive, but check your local craft store and yarn shops discount or clearance bins, look for sales, check websites like ebay and FB marketplace for yarn lots (a bunch of unused skeins of yarn that people don't need anymore and will sell for cheap) and you can find wool roving and similar things there as well.

the main thing to keep in mind is you want your warp string (the vertical yarn used to prepare your loom for weaving) to be strong and not stretchy, which is why a lot of people use cotton yarn. you can also use wool or acrylic just get a yarn that feels very sturdy because your weft (horizontal yarn you weave with) needs a solid foundation. if your warp stretches it'll distort your weaving and make it incredibly difficult to weave. you can pick any colour, experiment, use the same warp yarn as your weft, use contrasting colours, just use a plain white warp string, etc. its up to you! I started with crochet cotton because it's strong and thin and a ball is like $4 at walmart and lasts a long time.

people also sell yarn kits for weaving in beautiful colours and textures and really incredible fiber packs on etsy, they sell weaving loom kits and beginners kits there too, but they're typically expensive and unnecessarily so, especially when starting out but just as a rule in general you don't need to spend $$$ to make something beautiful. don't feel like you *have* to invest in these things to be able to weave and make something you like. my first weavings i used yarn i had lying around and a cardboard loom, and i still have a couple of them hanging around my house.

best of luck!!

[nickgerlich]

Many Happy Returns

Ever since e-commerce started gaining traction in the 1990s, one of the biggest worries of its efficacy has been difficulties with returns. It’s one thing to buy a book or movie online, because there is no risk of it not fitting. But clothing and shoes are a different story.

Last year a record $761 billion in merchandise purchased in stores and online was returned. Returns data for online purchases are not readily available, but one report indicates that 20% of online purchases are returned, compared to only 9% of in-store purchases.

While returns to the store can easily find their way to the rack again, the path is not so clear for online purchases. It has caused many to wonder what exactly happens to all of those returns, especially at Amazon.

Amazon has done a superb job helping overcome shopper fears regarding the ease of returns. It is possible to bring these items to Kohl’s, Whole Foods, or UPS Stores and just drop them off. No need to package them. Just bring your return document printed from the Amazon site. They’ll take care of the rest. Kohl’s will even give you a coupon to shop in its own stores, since you already happen to be there (smart move, Kohl’s!).

It’s what happens after you drop them off that has some people concerned, because there is worry these unwanted items may be finding their way to the landfill.

Making matters worse is the trend among some shoppers to practice what is called “wardrobing,” whereby the customer buys several of the same garment, but in different sizes. Much like bringing an armful to the fitting room, these consumers are using their homes to find the right size of the garment they want, and then returning the rest. Further wrinkling the clothes is Amazon’s own Wardrobe program, with consumers able to order up to seven items under the premise that they are merely trying them on, and returning what they don’t like or can’t wear.

But will those garments ever be sold again, or sent off to an early disposal? E-commerce vendors like Amazon have unwittingly solved a problem by creating a new one.

It affects Amazon and its third-party vendors alike, and someone has to make the call of whether it is worth the time and expense to repackage and restock something, sell it in the discount bin that Amazon offers, allow Amazon to bundle pallet loads to be sold off pot luck to resellers on the cheap, send it to the landfill, or burn it.

Wait. Whaaat?

Yes. If ever there were a fancy euphemism to smoke-screen what’s really going on, it is “energy recovery.” It means that returns and otherwise deemed unsellable items are incinerated to create heat, electricity, or fuel. It’s a crematory for all the stuff you sent back.

While Amazon swears it is no longer sending things to the landfill, and is working toward doing zero energy recovery, it still has the thorny issue of what to do with all that stuff. It is no small problem.

Perhaps the most viable solution, albeit one that still involves a serious loss for Amazon and its third-party sellers, involves creating pallet loads of random goods that resellers can buy, not knowing exactly what they are getting. There may be some gems amid the trash, but then again, maybe not.

If the price is right and the potential gain large enough, resellers may be willing to take that chance. They will then list these items on eBay, CraigsList, and Facebook Marketplace. It’s a strategy that has already been used by others who scavenge the discount aisle at Walmart, buying the complete stock of items they think they can turn for a tidy profit.

It’s a crazy mixed-up world in which we find ourselves, but somehow I think this last option is the best. We’re going to see ever more reseller salvage stores popping up online selling one-offs they sourced from a random pallet. It’s a pretty unglamorous and undignified way for branded merchandising to finally find a home, but sometimes we must pick the lesser of evils.

And if it allows crafty entrepreneurs to carve out a living as the catfish of the online economy--you know, bottom feeders--so be it. It beats burning and burying. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has more important fish to fry (and bridges to remove). One man’s problem becomes another’s opportunity, and there’s plenty of room to gain traction with this one.

Dr “If The Shoe Fits“ Gerlich

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