Miscellaneous

Sheesh! I thought I had gotten better about posting (in my head, I come up with a new blog post every day, but somehow they only get published every couple of weeks) and now I've let another 8 days go by. There are about a bazillion things I want to talk about, but I'll choose just a few and list them (ramble on) in semi-random order...

1. As of March 1st, I'll be raising the prices on my Knit Picks patterns from $1.99 to $5 for Gemma and the Kimono Wrap Cardigan and $4 for Cloudy Sunday and Mirabor. Before you guys think I'm just trying to make a quick buck (if a quick buck can be made knitwear-designing), let me explain. When I first published those patterns with Knit Picks' awesome Independent Designer Program, all of the patterns on their site were priced at $1.99. There was some discussion on the interwebs about this low pricing and whether or not it undervalued the work of the designer, etc. etc. I personally believed that it was nice to have some less expensive patterns out there and as far as compensation as a designer goes, the traffic I got by having patterns in their program more than made up for the fact that the patterns themselves were priced a little under market. But now Knit Picks has changed their pricing structure and allows the designers to choose from prices between $1.99 and $5.99 and it got me thinking. There are some people who design knitting patterns for a living and they generally charge between $5 and $7.50. I am a Project Scheduler for a living. What if all of a sudden a bunch of people decided that Project Scheduling was SO much fun (um, yeah right) that they would do it for 25-40% of the current going rate for a Project Scheduler? Bad news for me. So I'm raising prices on these patterns not because I want your money, but because it's closer to the current market price. And the new prices are still somewhat low, so I truly hope this isn't off-putting to anyone.

Remember, this doesn't take effect until March 1st, so you still have a couple of weeks to get Gemma, the Kimono Wrap Cardi, Cloudy Sunday, and Mirabor for $1.99!

2. In response to an inquiry from a yarn shop, I have set up a quick wholesale option for Lilas and Peponi. This is more like a license to print multiple copies of the patterns because you still only get the digital file (versus printed copies). The way it works is if you are a shop that would like to purchase Lilas or Peponi at wholesale to sell to your customers and don't mind printing out your own copies, you purchase the pattern through Ravelry as usual, add 10 or more in the quantity field, then enter "wholesale" as the coupon code. 50% of the pattern price will automatically be discounted. I will update the pattern pages with better instructions, but thought I'd mention it now as a quick fyi.

3. Nesting has taken over my life. I have organized and/or cleaned everything I could get my hands on in the past two weeks and, therefore, have hardly knit a stitch. And unfortunately, the nursery is still not ready.

4. But before that, I knit my baby a Solar System mobile! So geeky, right? Once assembled, I will be sure to post it asap.

5. This is what I look like now:


(Please note that this was taken just after getting home from work so I was feeling a) exhausted and b) really not cute).

6. My due date is 4 weeks from tomorrow. I keep hearing that first children often come late rather than early, but I was early, my husband was early, and most of my friends have been early as well...so we really need to get cracking on that nursery.

7. Seriously, someone get me away from the rocky road ice cream. It is all I want to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm not...but I would if I didn't think it would have consequences.

8. My knitting gals and I will be going to the Stitches West marketplace this Sunday around lunch time. If you spot me, please come say hi! I'll be the big pregnant lady waddling around with (likely) a huge bag of newly purchased Tess' Designer Yarn.

That's it for now. Happy Friday!