I have been juggling a lot of projects lately, half of them secret and half stuff I can talk about. One of them is a massive overhaul of updating my older patterns to my new pattern format. For several years I've been doing my pattern layout in Microsoft Word and really having a hard time with it. Word just does not like having photos added to documents, and forget about text wrapping. I know it is possible to do, but machines just don't seem to like me. So a couple months ago I bought Microsoft Publisher and have been happily making a nicer pattern layout that is consistent and much easier to read. Now the hard (or maybe just time consuming) part is going back to all my older patterns and updating the format. With a few years of pattern writing experience under my belt, I am realizing that my older patterns need a bit of tweaking. Clearer, more concise language, better charts, updated photos, etc. I want to provide you (dear Knitters) the best patterns than I can make. So this has been a much bigger undertaking than I initially anticipated, but I think it is worth the effort. Today I shot new photos of my Argyle Cabled Beret. Over the years I've designed lots of hats, but this one remains one of my favorites. Is it the color, the texture, the shape? I'm not sure. Something about it makes it one of my go-to hats that I grab on my way out the door. I love designing cables and this one echoes the argyle pattern normally found on sweaters and socks. The slouchy shape is fun to wear and doesn't crush my hair too much.
Another thing going on is a book I have been reading, Market Yourself by Tara Swiger. I will admit that I know nothing about marketing. In the various jobs I've had, I have been a behind the scenes part of designing and it was always up to a sales person to go out and sell it. Now with designing knitting patterns I am a one-woman-show and I am in charge of everything from design to marketing and customer service. After reading several chapters of Market Yourself I have tried to visualize my audience. Who are you? What is it that you like about my patterns? I really just try to design stuff that I love to wear and hope that other people out there will love it too. When I see projects of my patterns pop up on Ravelry I am usually surprised that they are from knitters of all ages from different countries around the world. We'll see what other ideas this book has for me. It is very interesting so far, and a challenge to fill out all the worksheets to help you
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