Reflections

Ah, it's the day before a new year yet once again.  This one especially seems to have come quickly.  I mean, really, where did 2010 go?!  We were digging out of a Snowpacolypse at about this same time last year, and here in DC, we were on the verge of another one (just dodged it, and our thoughts are with our friends on the Northeast corridor who did not!).

Of course, it's hard not to get reflective during this time of year.  What did I accomplish this past year?  What didn't quite get done?  What am I going to try to do in the upcoming year?  I've been trying to figure this out all this past week while it's been quiet at home and work, and I think I'll share some of my thoughts with you so that, next year, I can come back to this post to double check myself :-)  Also, hopefully, it will help you think this through for yourself and help you set some goals for 2011.

Goal setting does seem to be the first step.  Setting goals is important because you need something to try to achieve and to measure your success by.  And, when I say success, I mean whatever you decide you want it to mean.  It does NOT have to be a money thing (so unfortunate that a lot of people measure success by the amount of money you make) -- it's about what will make you feel like you have taken some steps forward.  You'll want your goal to be something that can be achieved but that will make you stretch a bit.  For example, one of my goals for the upcoming year is to have 1000 followers, either here, on Facebook or Twitter, or through whatever channels followers want to connect with me.  And, I really want to make a connection with people and get feedback from them, so another goal is to actively participate in at least 5 social media/forums (I've been laying back, reading about others, and enjoying the conversations and thoughts, but as they say in NY "you gotta be in it to win it!").  I also want to do a lot more article writing and publishing this coming year, but haven't yet fully nailed down the specifics (that's the other thing -- you need to be specific about your goals, once again so that you can figure out whether you succeeded in accomplishing them).

So, I leave you today with wishes for a Happy and Healthy 2011!!  And start working on your own list of specific goals you want to accomplish in the new year :-)

A Good Review!

So excited to find out that The Crocheter's Design Companion got a 4-star review from AllFreeCrochet.com:  http://www.allfreecrochet.com/Crochet-Reviews/The-Crocheters-Design-Companion and they are going to be having a free giveaway of a copy of the book in about a month or two, so I will definitely keep you all posted about that.

Other than that, hard to believe it's only 5 days til Christmas!  I'm almost done with the holiday cards, and we're taking it easy on the shopping this year.  There's talk of a little snow, but nothing like what we had last year around this time (the first of Snowmaggedon!)  So hard to believe a year has passed so fast....

I will try to post again before Christmas and New Year's, but let me just send right now a Happy and Healthy 2011 wish to you all!!

Martha Stewart is a Copy Cat ;-)

Actually, I should be saying "what took her so long?!"  Her Whole Living Challenge today is to take up knitting for relaxation purposes:  http://community.wholeliving.com/profiles/blogs/todays-challenge-knit-1-purl-1?xsc=eml_chl_2010_12_15.  Well, we could have told her that (and did!) long ago.  I wrote an article about the health and wellness benefits of meditation over 2 1/2 years ago, citing Dr. Benson's work into the Relaxation Response.  I've done research specifically into knitting and crochet as forms of meditation and spoke about that during my interview on BlogTalkRadio (see the button to the left).  Not that I'm bitter or anything ;-)  Anyway, I'm glad Martha is getting out the word!

Oh Happy Saturday

Yes, I am still in my sweats, trying to create order out of chaos!  The mittens pattern should be up soon, and the fabulous Maiah took some wonderful pictures of the Scalloped Baby Hat and the mittens, so here they are:

Oh, and you'll see a new button to the left for blogcatalog.  I just joined, and it's a great directory of blogs in all sorts of catagories.

Now, I think it might be time for a nap :-)

Social Media

I've been doing a lot of crocheting lately and began to feel that I needed to shift back to some marketing and computer work.  I've had some Google ads running to increase exposure (it's been costing about $1.50 a day) and a coupon code for Ravelry (HOLDAY, use by 12/15/10 :-), but an article in Entrepreneur magazine has me thinking more about how to leverage social media (I haven't gotten all the way through it yet, so I'll be posting more when I learn more).  Again, the issue seems to be time.  I love interacting on Facebook and Ravelry, joining groups and forums (fora?), but it can be time consuming, and I'm hoping to pick up some efficiency tips.  Seems like one of the keys might be making use of the new directories and consolidators that are popping up.  Also, I came across a free template for a Social Media News Release that provides a way to pull together all of your information --  http://www.shiftcomm.com/downloads/smprtemplate.pdf

Of course, now I need to do something that's worth having a news release about!  Oh, which reminds me, I thought I had this great idea for a book on all the different crochet techniques, and sure enough, there's one coming out at the end of December.  But, hey, I could still do my own version...

Australia!

I was in Barnes & Noble the other day, looking for the latest issue of Inside Crochet magazine (yes, I've been getting both the electronic and hard copies -- it's an extravagance that I just can't help!), and I came across this wonderful Australian magazine called Yarn.  It's got knit, felt, crochet, and spin in it.  Mmmm, I would just love to go to Australia someday, it just looks like such a beautiful country filled with fun and interesting people.  I've had a few customers from Australia, and I just love thinking about how people halfway around the globe are making a pattern of mine!  It's only right that I return the goodwill :-)  I went to check out the magazine's website also, and it looks like you can buy PDF downloads of patterns as well as subscriptions to this and other publications -- http://www.artwearpublications.com.au/index.php 

There's an article in there as well about the History of Wool that I'm looking forward to reading, but for now, I am finishing up the mittens, getting ready for my Amigurumi class tomorrow, and figuring out which of the seemingly hundred projects I've got going that I'm going to go to next :-)

I've also got a long list of websites to check out regarding ways to leverage social media and the internet by small businesses, so I'm sure I'll be posting on that soon too.  But, a mitten thumb awaits me, so later my friends!