2018 has started for a while now. This blog post has been on my mind since the beginning of January, but I delayed its writing for quite a long time… procrastination, a little bit… fear, most of all… It’s always hard to announce changes, but, some times, you just have to dive in…
For the last 3 years, I set myself some goals (personal and professionnal). This year was now exception, but I also decided to choose one key word (well, actually, two, one personal, one profesional, but let’s talk about my pro one).This key word emphasize my profesionnal goals and will guide me in my reflections and choices through the year… Like a lighthouse ! It is a way for me to keep in mind, as the monthes will pass by, the essential…
For 2018, I choose EXPERIMENT ! Why ?
To stop being fearfull
I have zero education linked to knitting or other fiber crafts. By education, I am a forest engineer, nothing connected to yarn and fiber. I self-taught everything I know about yarn, knitting, sewing, fiber arts… Since I created my small entreprise (in 2013), I have that little voice in my head telling me I’m a fraud, that I don’t know everything, that I have no diploma, that I have no right to create, share, sell… Have you ever heard about the imposter phenomenon ? I think I can say I’m right in the middle of it…
To stop hearing that voice (or at least not caring anymore about it), to stop fearing it and the possible judgement of people, I decided to dive in deep : to learn, you have to do it, work it, try it… And that’s what I’m going to do ! We will see what will come out of it !
To try new crafts, new techniques…
I want to continue to explore fiber crafts, without restricting myself to knitting only. Don’t fear it, I love knitting and it is my favorite activity, but I need and want to vary my crafts, to explore new techniques and see where they bring me… I want to spin, weave, embroider, knit always (but maybe in another way ?)… Yarn, fibers will still be the heart of my activity, but I want to push my boundaries and try new things…
Some ideas might not work, some might stay hobbies for my holidays, but others might inspire me to go further, fulfill myself… Who knows ?
To create new products
There will be new knitting patterns this year. I have some ideas, scribbled in my notebooks and some might already have jumped on my needles… I hope you will like them !
But, keeping with the previous point, if I try new techniques and crafts, maybe some new products will appear in my shop ?
I have a lot of ideas : small series of weavings for the home, new project bags, shawl pins, wooly jewelry… some of those ideas will be realised by myslef. For some others, I want to create partnership with cratfmen I know and appreciate…
I don’t know what I will be able to achieve this year, but I’m trying to keep in mind that I don’t have to limit myself, that I can try everything !
To meet and share with others
Workshops to teach and share
This is something really new for me. This year, I overcome my shyness and imposter syptom : I teach workshops !!!
For now, I already begun to teach weaving and macrame to kids in a community youth club, for a really great project about yarn crafts, supported by the association Une Figue dans le Poirier. We will realise a collective work that we will present for the World wide knitting in public day !!! I will tell you more about it, I promise.
On top of that, I taught a weaving workshop for adults n january, and I think I can say the people there liked it. As for myself, I sure really appreciated to exchange about a craft I really like ! I have another weaving workshop soon, for families, and I’m really looking forward to it !
Yarn festivals to meet you
When you work alone, from home, and you sell on the internet, it feels so great to go to an event and meet people just as passionnate as you are about yarn and fibers…
This year, I will expose my work at 2 new yarn festivals :
Cette année, je participerai aussi à deux nouveaux festivals autour de la laine : Channel threads (Le Fil de la Manche), on April 28th-29th, in Normandy and Les Estivales de la Laine, on Jjuly 14th-15th, in the Alpes de Hautes-Provence…
If you go to one of them, don’t hesitate to come and say hi, I will be really pleased to discuss with you !
To work my online profile
For some times now, I have been feeling unsatisfied with how (or what) I share with you only. I don’t really know what is bothering me, but I know I need to change a few things. I don’t know what exactly will change, but I am considering diffrent leads…
My website
My website is the only place on the whole internet that I control entirely, where I can do exactly what I want, how i want it… I really want to give it the central piece in how I share with you, to take more time for it, with quality content…
This year, I will go through a big clean up in my archives, but I will also continue to update it (more frequantly hopefully), with my knittings and other fiber projects, but not only… I also want to share with you other aspects of our life and other things : interviews, rituels, inspiring moments, our everyday life, the renovation of our home, how we transform our garden in a permanent cultural system, new tutorials…
I have ideas, the most difficult parts will be to defeat my fear of the keyboard and to be able to put the words online !
Social networks
I am not really using my Facebook page. I should change that, but I don’t know how… Should i use it jsut to share other contents (blog and instagram posts ? Should i sahre specific content ?
On the other hand, Instagram is my most used social media, but I have mixed feelings… It is time consuming some days, and those algorythms, publicities and suggested accounts spoil the fun… Clearly, I want to continue to share with you on Instagram, but I also feel a need to change a few things.
One can use Instagram two different ways : to share snapshots of life, captured live, but you can also use it for inspiration, by creating beautiful pictures and one-of-a-kins world… For myself, in the first case, considering the quality of my phone camera, it gives not so ggod pictures and often, I don’t quite like the result. On the other hand, I don’t want to present you a perfect grid, with only perfectly set up images…
I am divided between me wanting to share my everyday life (with pictures not so great and not so inspiring) and me wanting to present you an inspiring grid with nice pictures of better quality… Let’s be honest ! We don’t share everything on Instagram. It doesn’t mean I want you to fantasize about my perfect life (because it is not perfect) but I prefer to share beautiful and inspiring pictures of good instants of our life rather than porr pictures showing the mess, the screams and every other small troubles from life…
I will need to find a balance between everyday life and inspiring grid, and I know it will not be easy to achieve… Maybe the stories will help me a little ???
my year of colour 2017
Other leads
I am also thinking about other ways to share things with you : newsletter, podcast, videos… I am questionning myslef a lot about what I could provide you with, waht might inspire you, help you, make you excited, give you the push to try a new thing… I am reflecting a lot about it, and I don’t know exactly what I will do, but when I will know, I will tell you all about it !
What about you ? Do you have goals for 2018 ? Do you choose key word(s) ?
Have you any suggestions about the content I could offer you ? What brings you here ?
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