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Our Maker Life – Calgary 2019
What. A. Weekend. There is so much that goes on over this event weekend and there are so many people involved. The organizing team, plus some locals, like Chantal of Knitatude, provided a great base for meeting tons of people and having lots of opportunities to interact. I wish I had more pictures, and I wish the pictures I do have were better. Apparently my camera hates artificial light, especially in selfie mode. As Our Maker Life approached, I found I was getting nervous. Would it be as good as I’d hoped? Would I like the people I was meeting? Would I be able to get out of my shell…
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What I Learned in 1 Year of Blogging
I really like hard facts, so to start off, Knittle and Pearl by the numbers, one year after my first Instagram and blog posts. 215 Instagram posts 929 Instagram followers 42 blog posts – including 4 free patterns (incidentally 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything) I wanted to start a blog because I had a desire to have some kind of stake in the knitting/fiber arts world. Most of my friends who knit have actual businesses around their knitting, either selling finished items or as a knitwear designer. I had once explored the idea of selling things at markets and determined that wasn’t something I was…
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When Your Maker Motivation Goes on Vacation
A couple times a year I finish a project and then suddenly don’t want to start another. Or am paralyzed by “which project to start next?” This typically occurs after Christmas, and then at some point in the spring. Both these times make sense. After Christmas I’ve probably just busted my butt to finish making presents. And in the spring, especially for many areas of North America, the transition of seasons is highly questionable. So the point at which you could or should switch from the warmer, cozier hats and sweaters to the lighter, cotton-y shawls or t-shirts can be a tough call to make. And if you don’t know…
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5 Ways to Help a Maker for Free
The knitting/crocheting/fiber arts community is generally quite supportive of its members. There’s a lot of help given among potential competitors, and even a lot of cross promotion, just because of an appreciation for another’s work. I’ve written before about the potential benefits to you of Supporting a Fellow Maker. But aside from taking the money and time to buy and make a pattern, or a buy a product from them, there are many other ways you can support makers. Many makers are running a business. And if you’re familiar with Sewrella or other prominent bloggers, you may be aware that just selling a finished item on Etsy or at a…
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Pattern Testing the Easy Eyelet Yoke Sweater
After mostly working with acrylic yarn for 2 months, and all those projects being knit flat, it was an absolute DREAM to be working with the mostly natural fibers of Lion Brand Chainette (affiliate link)and in the round for this sweater. And the Easy Eyelet Yoke sweater is SO pretty! You know how I can tell it’s really pretty? Some of the wip pictures I took are my 2 most liked pictures on Instagram. So what’s a yoke sweater? It’s a top down sweater that increases evenly the whole way around rather than in specific places like a raglan. That’s how you get this classic, perfectly round picture. If you’ve…
