I really am a Garumfy Old Fart. Just ask Bobbie or one of the FK seamstresses. At times I can be a real pain to live and work with.

It stems from my nature as a nit-picky Engineer on one hand and from being an introverted loner on the other. I have never been happier than when I was totally alone, in the middle of an ocean, on a boat I had built myself. Nobody I had to talk to and no one else to blame if I sank and died but myself.

Then there is the dichotomy of my also being a closet actor and teacher. Ask anyone who has seen me in the 1st Peoples Gallery of the Royal BC Museum giving my weekly talk on Carved Poles.

Now I find myself with a very public business. Dealing with customers on a daily basis. I'm also addicted to this world we call X Marks. As any of you who have visited the shop can attest, I can come across as a supremely confidant, brash, Ego maniac.
This is just my way of handling my crushing fear that you won't like the kilts I make. So I use the "It's better to be a live lion" rule.

This all comes out in my writings here. I write like an Engineer. In short, clipped sentences. But I have such a need to pass on some of the things I have learned to those who ask. So when someone asks a question I sometimes jump right in and start teaching. This has caused some to cuss me up and down and others to believe that I have slighted them.

Heck, I don't care where a kilt is made. I don't make my kilts in Scotland and most of my kilts aren't made from Wool or Tartan. What's the difference?
And, I'm on the record saying that I believe that Acrylic, if properly spun and woven, has the capability of rivaling Wool even better than P/V.

Now, I will probably never buy an Acrylic Kilt. But that is simply because I have no need for one. I can make my own. That doesn't mean I dislike them.

This ends up with me answering a question about how to determine fabric content or fabric weight because I'm frustrated that those who I believe should be answering the question are not more forthcoming with the answer.

So, in the future, I think I will refrain from sticking my nose in any threads if that thread has anything to do with another person or companies product. If they want to keep the mystic of secrecy alive that's their business.

Also, I'm finding that my answers to questions are sometimes taken wrong. It is because I answer as an Engineer with as many facts, as much detail, and as clearly as I can. But I'm hampered by the fact that I can't write well.
So what I think is a direct answer, to a direct question, about a general subject, comes across as criticism of a specific product.

So, If I could have some help from the members here. If you want a direct answer from me to a question about something of a general nature about kilts you can ask, but please direct the question to me personally. That way I can answer without inadvertently stepping on someone's toes.

If I have offended anyone, I sincerely apologize.

If I have come across as negative about any other product or company please accept this as a public apology to you and your product and my promise to respect you and your product fully in the future.

It is not, nor has it ever been, my intent to denigrate or offend.

I'm now going to slink off this soap-box, stick my nose back under my sewing machine, and try to get some kilts made before I have to shut down for a week to move the shop to it's new home.