Year Four Recap
Another year has passed and my shop turns 4! This year definitely had some highlights even though I was away for most of it. I had to make some choices to adjust the shop to my life. As a result, I changed my business around that. Nonetheless, there are still some cool things that happened for LOVESHORE.
Wrote Crochet Patterns (Jan.-Feb.)
The start of the year had my collaboration will Ribblr in full swing. I was catching up with writing patterns for my crochet cardigan designs and those took some work. I made a post about it with the list of patterns I wrote for Ribblr and Etsy. I made a separate Etsy shop just for digital pattern PDFs to avoid confusion. I started getting into Procreate and learned how to draw with my Apple pencil and iPad.
My First Sponsorship (Mar.)
Last year I manifested a sponsorship and I finally got one! Hobbii is a yarn company based in the U.K. that reached out to me to participate in their Hobbii Spring Fling campaign using their Hobbii Twister yarn in "Cactus Flower". I had a whole desert flower theme I wanted to go for. The crochet design consisted of lace texture with intricate floral patterns. I wanted this design to give a hint at what I plan my next collection's design to consist of. The lace long slit skirt paired with the crop top made for a desert concept.
I wish I could do a whole campaign photoshoot for this but I simply did not have time. So I had to shelve my ideas for later when I have the budget, time and energy to do it. However, I was able to shoot a Youtube vlog on how I came up with this design (I posted it a month later after the campaign was done).
I got to experience what it's like to be an influencer and vlogger. It's definitely a learning curve with how to create content and this got me to evaluate the direction of my business. Being gifted free yarn? Heck yeah, that's the dream and I got so much yarn in my inventory. I feel grateful with how far I came.
Launched my YouTube Channel (Apr.-Aug.)
I've been wanting to get into filming Youtube tutorials for a long time but did not know where to start. I spent about 1-2 months learning how to video edit on FinalCut Pro. I also used Procreate to learn how to draw some designs into the video. I was in a full video editing mode. It was all self-taught from Youtube tutorials. The toughest part was getting all the audios that aren't copyrighted to be used in my videos. I had videos I've been filming prior that I spent spring and summer editing.
My first video is a tutorial on how to make a sunflower granny square bucket hat which I wrote a free pattern for on Ribblr. I attached my Youtube tutorial to the pattern. What I didn't expect was how many views I was racking in. Learning to create content for Youtube is a different beast and I am still learning as I go. I have to consider many different aspects about content. How long should it be? What will I be showcasing? Is the content engaging and entertaining? I had to consider all these factors when editing a video.
Participated in a Friend's Film Project (Aug.)
My friends contacted me to participate in filming their indie movie "Autumn Leaves" which took a span of 3 days to film. I was in charge of the costume and design department. They wanted to feature an exclusive crochet cardigan design in the film so I went to creating this cardigan. I designed the cardigan using hdc stitches and made it color block. It was simple, chic, and overall fits the vibe of the film. The cardigan took me about a week to create and I was ready to style it in the film. We got together, just a group of friends all using their skills to create a film about love and loss. It was a fun experience. Tiring but fun.
If you want to donate to the GoFundMe for this film project, please do so in the link: https://gofund.me/37374892. We want to be able to fund this movie to submit to film festivals.
Once I finished participating in this project, I took a hiatus to finish the last portion of tax school. I've been learning from tax school for months and it was burning me out. This year has been a huge learning experience. I had to pick up so many different skills. I learned to video edit for Youtube, draw on Procreate, write crochet patterns to sell, and tax school. I decided to pursue tax school since I already have a Bachelors degree in Accounting and wanted to get licensed as a tax preparer. I learned a lot about business, which I will be sharing insight and knowledge about in another blog post.
I was following a strict learning schedule and I was determined to finish it before October. I wanted to be free around the holiday season before this all took a huge toll on my mental health. There was a lot of personal life responsibilities I had to take care of and it became mentally and emotionally exhausting. Rest is important and I was not getting any rest for a long time. Once I finished school, I finally got my rest.
Another Yarn Sponsorship from Hobbii (Oct.)
What a way to get back into crochet after a long time! Hobbii reached out to me again to participate in their new yarn line collection called Hobbii Friends. I got the Hobbii Friends Extra Fine Merino Wool in the colors of the rainbow and I was excited to use it. To get back into the groove of crocheting again, I decided to start easy by designing a scarf and matching hat. I started to plan my holiday crochet content around this time. Sadly, I was still in rest mode and didn't prepare any Halloween designs. However, next year I hope to create content for the holidays that I am satisfied with. The only holiday I made sure to prepare for was Christmas.
Holiday Mini Collection (Nov.-Dec.)
I was excited to get back into making content for crochet. Usually, I would be preparing for holiday season orders every year. But this time, I knew I didn't have the mental preparation to be dealing with the rush of orders like I have in the past few years. I was still recovering from burnout. So I slowed down and just focus on making content. Posting again was more important. Besides, pattern-making became more of a priority for me since it didn't require too much physical effort.
I designed a Christmas cardigan, which I have been wanting to do for a long time. I never got to design a Christmas crochet cardigan/sweater because I would be busy crocheting orders for the holidays in the past. I went to take some photos at the Broad Museum. The Holly Jolly crochet cardigan pattern is available on my Ribblr and Etsy shop.
I also created some Christmas designs that were free on my Ribblr shop for the month of December. This includes the Plaid Crochet Scarf and Beanie and the Let It Snow Crochet Scarf and Beanie. These patterns are free for the month of December since it's giving season.
The great part about being in the crochet community is not only releasing patterns, but also trying out other patterns. There's so many patterns available out there and the exchange of skills/knowledge reminds me of how world trading is. Everyone from all over the world sharing patterns on how they crochet or knit a project. It's just the coolest thing about living in our technology and time.
Seeing people create my patterns make me so happy and fulfilled my purpose with crochet. Getting to share my creative ideas and having others recreate a crochet project that makes them proud and happy about what they create fulfills my soul's purpose. Crocheting helped me during low mental health days and its the best pick-me-up hobby to have. When I throw myself into a hobby (like crochet), I find myself being able to regulate my emotions and mind better. I also find myself happier.
If you ever struggle with self-esteem and need a confidence booster, pick up a hobby. When you create something, accomplish a small goal/task and show it to the world, it brings in a little joy to your life. If I could inspire people to make one small choice in their life that brings in a little sparkle of joy then I have fulfilled my soul's purpose. Crochet does exactly that. 🥰
Thank you for supporting my designs, patterns, and letting me share some wisdom on how to improve any area of life. This year was all about learning and embarking on growth in skills and education. Before I can teach others, I have to be a student myself. I learned so much along the way and I can't wait to share those insights and wisdom with you. Without spoiling much, I have been working on what the next concept/collection will be. I am very excited to share and talk about this new era soon.
