2014 was a big year for me. A new brand, lots of new designs and I finally graduated from my PhD!
The year started with the release of Helmet Head - a quick crochet hat in Bespoke, a Baa Ram Ewe book celebrating the Tour de France coming to Yorkshire.
I then released the matching Handlebar Hands and Cadence Cowl patterns. I love wearing all these together as a set.
Kali then featured in the Spring/Summer 2014 issue of Knitty. I love seeing the projects appear for this design and the colour combos people are choosing.
I had a pair of long fingerless mittens, Alexandria Gauntlets, in the Quick and Easy Crochet Summer 2014 issue that accompanied issue 35 of Knit Now magazine. The pattern will soon be available to download for these with a short version as well as the long.
My cuckoo had been around for a year already but he also finally made it to being a downloadable pattern this year.
Finally, for Yorkshire day I released a Yorkshire White Rose and a Garden Rose Corsage pattern.
Then there was the rebranding and development of this new website. I am still in love with my new logo and the website is much easier to add content to. Hopefully that means it will get more use. One of my resolutions is to blog more regularly this year.
My other resolutions are to release my first collection of patterns. The first instalment (of two) should be released in Spring 2015, so I have my work cut out for the next few months. The second part will be released in September 2015. I cannot wait to show off the designs I have been working on for the past months. Keeping everything secret is hard work!
My last resolution is to update my existing patterns to the new AlderSign layout. So far Owly Bookmark is the only pattern to be updated but more will be coming soon.
This was one of the first patterns I ever released and it has been on my todo list for a long time to rewrite these patterns to make them clearer. Updating to the new layout was a good excuse to start. This pattern is free so go ahead and download and take a peek! All my patterns will slowly be updated and if you have purchased a download of one of these already you should automatically be informed when the update is available.
2015 has also seen the introduction of new VAT laws on digital downloads. After looking at all the options I have decided to register for VAT myself. This allows me to pay the VAT on the designs I sell to the EU through whichever platform I choose to sell on. It also enables me to offer Ravelry promotions and offers to all my customers where as the other options would mean EU (but not UK) customers would not be able to take advantage of these. This is something that is very important to me as I value my customers everywhere. I have no plans to increase the price of patterns based upon paying the VAT. I am considering a more streamlined pricing structure for my patterns, and each pattern will only be changed when it is updated, so there is plenty of time to purchase patterns at the current price.
Lastly I wish you a very happy and healthy new year to you and yours. I'm hoping for a productive one!