Ravelry and other Procrastinations

It’s been a while since I’ve last posted any knitting (or other) updates here.  My goal this year was to post updates at least monthly, but that’s kind of out the window now, and here is why:

It all started in October, when one of my friends from the horn ensemble I play with asked me to cat sit for him, which involved me spending cat time at their house.  Because there is only so much time I can spend patting and playing with the furry guys, I stopped by the library to pick up some reads and happened across The KnitGrrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear (which you can find on Amazon). 

 I imagined that the book would be mostly about the logistics of how to start designing (gauges, mathematics, sizing, etc.) which would be helpful to me, as I had been contemplating how to start doing some designing.  I’ve got really good knitting skills, and am good with numbers, and, not being employed full time, I have lots of time which I could devote to design work.  However, the KnitGrrrl Guide is actually more about the business end of design.  There are sections on where and how you can sell your patterns, shipping codes for Etsy sellers, recommendations for design software (or cheap alternatives), general advice for legal issues like copyright, and interviews with successful designers.  The book is also organized very clearly, so if there’s just one subject you want to address, you can find it easily.  There is also a section on media and advertising, with the biggest piece of advice (that I came away with) being to create a Ravelry account, friend people and join groups to create a design-base.

 I had avoided Ravelry, mostly because I didn’t want to start another account (there are already so many social media outlets out there that I felt like I didn’t need another one) but at the book’s advice, I signed up and joined a couple groups including a designer’s group and a testing group.  Since then, I’ve been busy working on test-knit projects, finding new patterns and yarns and new knitting people (instead of updating here).  So far, everyone that I’ve talked with and knitted for has been really pleasant and inspiring!  And I have done absolutely no new design-work.  Go figure!

Be ready for more project updates soon!  If you can't wait though, check my project page on Ravelry (ID: Vivaciousknitter).