What’s in store for 2024?

Wow! How are we already a full month into 2024? I had planned to sit down and write this post at the very beginning of the month, but I couldn’t seem to put my goals for the year into words…or at least I wasn’t ready to put them on the internet. Then, I kept putting it off. Finally, I realized I was putting it off, at least in part, because making goals can sometimes be scary, especially when you post them on a blog for others to read. What if I *gasp* fail?! Everyone will know!

But, as a certified health and wellness coach (did you know I was a certified health and wellness coach?), goals are our bread and butter. We teach clients how to select and make a long term goal, so you know in what direction you are headed. Then, break that down into smaller chunks. What is the thing you can do this week that will help move the needle towards the larger goal? Not “I need to go from 0 to 60 this week”, but “how can I take a few steps towards the finish line?” In this case, focusing on slow but steady progress often gets you to your desired goal in the long term. (Also, side note: Don’t think of failures as a bad thing! They are learning opportunities, even if what you learned was how something didn’t work.)

And with that in mind, I sat down and outlined my over-arching plans for the year, giving myself something to build goals from, and you an idea of what to expect from me in the upcoming months.

1. Pattern Designing

Being a creative, but also super detail oriented, pattern designing is a creative outlet that I absolutely adore. So, first and foremost, I want to bring more of my pattern ideas to fruition, and offer at least a few of them free here on the blog. I’m shooting for about 10 or so new designs this year total (both free and paid), branching out into some new pattern categories such as home decor and garments! (Want to know when these new patterns are released? Sign-up for my email list so you never miss a new pattern…or a pattern sale!)

But in addition to new patterns, I want to take some time looking back over my already published patterns. When I started, I had no idea what I was doing, but decided to jump all in and figure it out as I went. Since then, I have grown a lot as a designer and as such, I want to take a look at my old patterns and re-vamp them, taking into account all I know now to make them better and more consistent with the brand I am growing. Additionally, I want all of the special stitches and techniques I use in my patterns to have links to posts here on my blog with more in-depth instructions, photos, and videos so you never feel lost or unsure about what you are doing.

2. Business Growth

I opened my Etsy shop in February 2021 and designed my first pattern in April of that year. Over the last (almost) 3 years, I’ve basically just been winging it, haha. So this year I want to legally legitimize my business and be more intentional with the things I am learning and implementing and content I am creating.

For the blog, this includes being more active and bringing you more content such as stitch tutorials, how-tos, recommendations, and product reviews. I also want to get more comfortable with video creation, helping to reach more viewers on Instagram and develop a YouTube channel to support the things I post here on the blog. Not everyone learns by reading and sometimes photos aren’t enough to really see what is happening to understand the concept being taught. Lastly, I plan on signing up for my first market this year. I love the atmosphere of festivals and fairs and cannot wait to get out there and interact with people interested in purchasing my makes, while educating the world about crochet. Which leads me into my last overarching theme of the year – community.

3. Community

Besides interacting with people at markets, I also want to interact with more of you (check me out on Instagram, where I am most active)! I want to help break down some walls to make designing or selling your makes feel more accessible and inclusive. A thing I’ve noticed a lot about the crochet community, is that there is a lot of imposter syndrome and misconceptions around designing and selling makes, but it’s also not really talked about. People often feel that they “aren’t good enough” or are intimidated by the process, and get caught up in the “comparison game” (I know I do). So I hope to break down the process some and empower those who wish to take the leap into designing or selling. There is room for all of us and all of our ideas in this world!

And if that isn’t you and you aren’t interested in designing or selling, I think there is still a lot that is interesting and can be learned through learning the design process, like how to better understand construction, or sizing, or how to rework something to work best for your body shape. And if you are just here for the free patterns, I get that too. 🙂

While some of these plans I’ll be able to get started on within the next few weeks (hello, new patterns and blog posts), others will obviously take some time. But at least now I know where I am going and I hope you want to follow along (if so, hit that subscribe button at the bottom of the page). Happy stitching!