Resolutions and Plans

I've been browsing other craft blogs, where there are a lot of plans and resolutions for 2017. Although some years I've done this, for the last few years I just make my crafty list of plans on a piece of paper, and pin it up for only me to look us.

As for crafty plans for 2016 - well as you might imagine, some things on the list I did, and some I did not get to. 

Sock knitting was on the list, and I did do a lot of this. I don't think I can call myself a novice sock knitter any more. There is something eminently satisfying about knitting a pair of socks.

I also published a new baby garment pattern, Tundra Baby Top. Fortunately friends and family have been good at producing some new babies to keep me motivated with the baby garments.

I was really pleased with my teddy bear patterns. They were an enormous amount of work, and although they have hardly sold, did turn out exactly as I pictured them in my head. 

I have knitted quite a lot of cars for Etsy customers, but not got around to some new vehicle patterns which I have been thinking about for some time.  

I have also published two new animal patterns. Also, fewer than my plans.




 









I have blogged less, which was a deliberate decision. A few years ago I was posting blogs about everything I did. My daughter would say, "let's make cakes", and before you knew it I would be there photographing the whole thing for this blog. I have really tried to stop that, as it sort of takes the fun out of things. So this blog has become a bit more knitting focused, and less family. They are still here, but as teenagers spend a lot more time in their bedrooms. Perhaps I should start featuring hair and make-up tips? (Only people who know me in person will realize how funny that is.)

So for 2017 I still plan to come up with some new knitting patterns. It seems harder to come up with fresh ideas, but I still have a few in the pipeline. I do feel more confident with my pattern writing. There is still the usual dilemma of either going for the slightly bizarre (Why did no one want to knit my mermaid's purse?), or the more obvious (teddy for example), but then being up against large numbers of teddy bear patterns. 

New Year - Resolutions and Plans

Happy New Year!

I hope 2014 brings you lots of creative joy.

I have made a few Ginx Craft New Year's resolutions. Maybe resolutions is not quite the right word, and perhaps I should just say rough plans.

I made a similar list (not online but jotted in a notebook) last year at this time. Unfortunately I can't find that list from 2013, so I guess my first resolution is to be a bit better organised.

I do remember most of what was on that list, and know there are some things that I never even got going on. They will just get moved on to the 2014 list. 

I still have (shock horror!) not knitted an adult size pair of socks. 

Socks I am planning to knit

And I would still like to learn to crochet. I did make an attempt back in the summer, and ended up with a tight little ball of nothing. But I have also not given up on this either.

I also had a list of ideas for knitting pattern designs, and did complete many of these.  Even in this area I had some hits, and some misses. But pattern design is what I want to concentrate on in 2014. 

So there are going to be more patterns, and less or almost no, churning out knits for craft fairs. (This decision was helped by the evening when I sat for what seemed hours in a school hall, only to get home and found I had sold more online from my Etsy shop in that time.)

My other resolution was to try and get across other computer platforms. (Is that even the right word?) I have set up a Ginx Craft facebook page, which I feel at least gives my friends and family the choice on whether they want to follow my crafting, and has attracted some new followers. I have also got to grips with Pinterest in a small way, but Twitter is something I haven't yet tried, but will perhaps be on the 2014 to do list. I feel I am more visual that wordy, and will tweeting leave any time left to actually make anything. 

My other area where I have mixed success is online sales of products. On Etsy I have done quite well. I prefer to only sell things that I have already made. And although my overall sales are low, this suits me as I love being creative and don't want knitting to become a chore. I am extremely happy with my 100% positive feedback on Etsy. In the middle of the year I thought I would dip my toe in Folksy, but my little shop there remained almost unviewed, and with no sales. I think I should have looked harder into promoting it. But as most of my products are unique one-offs, it worried me having two shops online. What if I put a unique item in both shops, and they both sold on the same day? So in 2014 I am going to just run my Etsy shop, and still with the tricky considerations of postage costs and pricing, am going to try and concentrate on even more quirky, unique makes.

Other things I have really enjoyed this year is my continued interest in photography. So I hope to switch off the auto button a bit more in 2014, and get to grips with some of the more technical aspects. I would love to do a photography course .... So I going to continue to try to have my camera with me at all times, take loads of photos, but then be discerning about the ones I keep, and even more so with the ones posted on my blog.

In 2014 I also hope to work more on sewing and embroidery, and what happened to the kid's craft section of my blog. I guess my own children have just grown up quite a lot. My daughter and I are toying with the idea of a tween fashion section.

But for me the fun thing about crafting, and blogging about crafting, is that you don't know exactly where you are going. A year ago I had no idea that I was going to spend so much time in 2013 knitting fairies and tiny icon dolls. So despite my rough plan jottings for 2014, I don't really know what direction Ginx Craft will go this year. "Such fun ...."