Hooked to the Web
By Laura DL Bracken
Are you thinking about starting your own online business, but have gotten into the rut of telling yourself
"I'm not good with computers" or "My idea is not good enough"? You may find yourself identifying with Jim Price
in the article below.
Jim Price claims he's a "low-tech guy" who whittles crochet hooks and auctions them on his blog in order to fund a porch for his Deadman Creek cabin in Ferry County, Washington. "Low tech. Low money," Price says, chuckling.
Price, a self-effacing, retired patent agent, began whittling when he was in grade school. In the years since then, he has custom carved hair sticks for women, hook handles, maple buttons, towel racks, quilt racks, and wall hangings.
"We were little kids when we lived up there," says Price, and Sandy "doesn't get back too often, so I try to send her a piece of something from the farm every now and then. I knew that she crocheted, and I wondered if I could make [a crochet hook] from the old apple tree out there on the property."
Initially, Price began making hooks from dried apple tree branches and giving them away. Then, one day his son, Lance, mentioned he could list the hooks for sale on Craig's List. After finding a forum for crafts, Price began socializing with other "hookers", who, in turn, directed him to Crochetville, another forum-based website that discusses all things crochet.
It was while he was socializing on Crochetville that someone suggested he have a blog. "I thought that [a blog] was some kind of wetlands or something." Price says laughing. "I just blew it off."
His new friends didn't. A couple of members from the forum put together a blogging site just for Price. Called "Jimbo's Front Porch", the site allows Price to show off his newly built cabin and porch, which "doesn't have a roof yet", as well as auction his one-of-a-kind, ergonomic hooks.
"I decided to do auctions because I was too chicken to put a price on [my hooks]," Price says.
Although the opening bid for a hand carved hook usually starts around $15, Price says that it's not unusual to get $50 for one. Dried little apple tree branches have now provided hooks to buyers in Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Iceland, Australia, Singapore, Morocco, England, Canada, and the United States.
Price has also carved custom crochet hooks for people who may have tendonitis or arthritis. He says customers email him a picture of their hands holding a crochet hook, and Price makes the hook fit their hands. He's learned that there are a "bunch of grip styles" out there.
But those different grip styles didn't stop him from trying an online experiment. On his blog, Price says he had an idea "tossing around in my twisted head": a traveling hook. He wanted to make a hook and see how far it would travel around the world. He would craft a hook and send it to someone who would crochet a square. Hookers would send their squares to a central collector at Crochetville and the hook on to another crocheter. Ultimately, the squares would be joined together to form a wall hanging, and both the hook and the wall hanging would be auctioned off.
Hookers who read Price's blog were excited about the idea, which is in its second incarnation. Price says that the first traveling hook got lost or was forgotten. But the latest hook, which began making its rounds in June, will travel to 23 different states, make a detour to Canada, and be used by more than 38 Crochetville members.
Not all of the hooks are from the old apple tree anymore. Price uses a variety of woods including rosewood, tulipwood, maple, hazelnut, redwood, crabapple, cedar, as well as other little dried branches of brambles and "crick wood" he finds while walking his property.
And it is those 30 acres that keeps him whittling away at the crochet hooks. "The object was to sell these things to make the porch," he says. "I'm in a partnership with the ranch, and the old apple tree helped me do that."
Laura DL Bracken is the owner and founder of Design Spike, the custom web design company located in Spokane, Washington.
Jim Price claims he's a "low-tech guy" who whittles crochet hooks and auctions them on his blog in order to fund a porch for his Deadman Creek cabin in Ferry County, Washington. "Low tech. Low money," Price says, chuckling.
Price, a self-effacing, retired patent agent, began whittling when he was in grade school. In the years since then, he has custom carved hair sticks for women, hook handles, maple buttons, towel racks, quilt racks, and wall hangings.
"We were little kids when we lived up there," says Price, and Sandy "doesn't get back too often, so I try to send her a piece of something from the farm every now and then. I knew that she crocheted, and I wondered if I could make [a crochet hook] from the old apple tree out there on the property."
Initially, Price began making hooks from dried apple tree branches and giving them away. Then, one day his son, Lance, mentioned he could list the hooks for sale on Craig's List. After finding a forum for crafts, Price began socializing with other "hookers", who, in turn, directed him to Crochetville, another forum-based website that discusses all things crochet.
It was while he was socializing on Crochetville that someone suggested he have a blog. "I thought that [a blog] was some kind of wetlands or something." Price says laughing. "I just blew it off."
His new friends didn't. A couple of members from the forum put together a blogging site just for Price. Called "Jimbo's Front Porch", the site allows Price to show off his newly built cabin and porch, which "doesn't have a roof yet", as well as auction his one-of-a-kind, ergonomic hooks.
"I decided to do auctions because I was too chicken to put a price on [my hooks]," Price says.
Although the opening bid for a hand carved hook usually starts around $15, Price says that it's not unusual to get $50 for one. Dried little apple tree branches have now provided hooks to buyers in Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Iceland, Australia, Singapore, Morocco, England, Canada, and the United States.
Price has also carved custom crochet hooks for people who may have tendonitis or arthritis. He says customers email him a picture of their hands holding a crochet hook, and Price makes the hook fit their hands. He's learned that there are a "bunch of grip styles" out there.
But those different grip styles didn't stop him from trying an online experiment. On his blog, Price says he had an idea "tossing around in my twisted head": a traveling hook. He wanted to make a hook and see how far it would travel around the world. He would craft a hook and send it to someone who would crochet a square. Hookers would send their squares to a central collector at Crochetville and the hook on to another crocheter. Ultimately, the squares would be joined together to form a wall hanging, and both the hook and the wall hanging would be auctioned off.
Hookers who read Price's blog were excited about the idea, which is in its second incarnation. Price says that the first traveling hook got lost or was forgotten. But the latest hook, which began making its rounds in June, will travel to 23 different states, make a detour to Canada, and be used by more than 38 Crochetville members.
Not all of the hooks are from the old apple tree anymore. Price uses a variety of woods including rosewood, tulipwood, maple, hazelnut, redwood, crabapple, cedar, as well as other little dried branches of brambles and "crick wood" he finds while walking his property.
And it is those 30 acres that keeps him whittling away at the crochet hooks. "The object was to sell these things to make the porch," he says. "I'm in a partnership with the ranch, and the old apple tree helped me do that."
Laura DL Bracken is the owner and founder of Design Spike, the custom web design company located in Spokane, Washington.
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