Happy New Year to everyone!
2018 promises to be a great year, but it’s also a time for me to sit and think about which direction I’d like my blog to go, and me for that matter!
I know I wrote a similar post this time last year, and I made the decision that all those projects that I’d made but not yet written up would be “shelved indefinitely” well probably until I got around to writing them up! I know I can’t be the only one that deals with endless computer issues when trying to write a blog, but my word they are stopping my creative juices from flowing in the “blog type world”
Take for example Tuesday morning – I got up early before the children woke up to write a blog post about the winter. Yes you haven’t seen it yet as I ran into endless technical difficulties. Now I’m not the most computer abled, the blue one is currently coding websites aged 10, but I’m not the worst. I can write things in word, I can use excel, I can upload patterns to Ravelry, I can book holidays online (the most important thing) – so I think I can hold my own!
But for some reason my iPhone 6, refuses to upload to my iMac. After a lot of tries, I worked out that only one of the four USB cables will connect to photos on the iMac, the result being that I import the many thousands of photos on my phone to photos, which then after I’ve closed down google and restarted it (yes – really), I can then open my blog in wordpress, and start the process of uploading photos.
Now this sounds great, but I can only select 10 photos at a time or it crashes, and those 10 photos take about 30 minutes to upload (it’s been known to take longer), and I can’t leave that screen…….. ends up being dog walk time!
So I come home and try to write and add photos, but then some photos (if I’ve used the posh camera) are too big to be displayed, so I need to go in and resize them.
But Tuesday even the one wire that worked wouldn’t work. So I closed everything down and started it up again.? Technical assistance arrived in the form of my husband who said “Is it plugged in?” well of course it is……. oh no, the blue one had unplugged it for his GoPro to charge!
I digress completely, but I think you can get an idea of my pain!
I started this blog just under 3 years ago, and have been completely overwhelmed by the amount of people that visit it – and having a best blogging buddy (aka penpal the other side of the world!) .? Albeit, they tend to come for the shark pattern, the mermaid pattern, and the brim options for the Russian Hat…. but they still come and visit my little part of the internet.
As I type this over 500K, thats FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND people have visited my blog.? I’m absolutely amazed and very thankful to each and every visitor.
So, why am I writing this, where do I want my blog to go?
Thats the problem – I really don’t know.
I’ve changed my headings recently (I don’t know if anyone noticed?).? I’ve now got Craft and Travel added. I love all crafts not just crochet…… although the majority is crochet, as I’m sure you’ve gathered by now.? And Travel, well, I’m sure I’ve been born not to live in the UK full time (I moved to France straight after graduating University for 18 months), and I love my time in the sun, or exploring a new city.
What should I really be typing about, and why do people visit me here?? I thought I’d have a look at my favourite bloggers, and see why I go there.
Take for example the brilliant Lucy at Attic 24. She manages to master a great balance of her day to day life and crochet posts and anyone whos anyone reads her blog in the crochet world.? Free patterns galore and lots of CALs (Crochet -a-longs)
Then there’s Onedogwoof – amazing photos, and patterns and all crochet related and a lovely chatty style.? Some free patterns, some free on the blog but then paid for in a nice format.
Sarah from Repeatcrafterme – a brilliant sharer of her crochet – so many ideas, so many projects, and her blog has evolved from crockpots, and crochet to solely crochet – and all free patterns! So maybe we can change direction in what we start as thinking we’d be and what we actually end up being?
Another blogger I can’t wait for him to publish a post is Matt from boyandbunting. He’s written travel posts (Japan looked amazing I can’t wait to go back), crochet posts, and craft posts and lifestyle posts – a good mix of everything, and amazing photos.
He’s just written a great article in issue 66 of Simply Crochet. He said “I realised that I was always trying to produce work that I thought the readers of my blog were going to enjoy. I was constantly worrying that I hadn’t posted frequently enough or offered then a new pattern in a while.” These two sentences resonate a lot with me, as do his next words “an overwhelming feeling to show my “perfect” crafty life”. And yes that pressure is there I think for all of us bloggers.
I do have a crafty life, but its far from perfect. If you take my last 24 hours, I’ve tried to crochet the border on the circle blanket I’m making, its the school holidays so I’ve got no chance.
As soon as I’ve sat down the pink one has appeared with a ‘project’ I just need to help her with, or she wants to make – this has been a crochet sleeping bag for a miniature Lego dragon (called Chestnut) she’s taken a shine too, and a friendship bracelet that she HAS to make then and there for a school friend (even though she won’t see them for 2 days).
While the blue one, whos just started collecting coins is telling me in great detail about the 50ps in his collection………….. The crochet waited.
And sometimes the crochet waits a long time to be finished.? The other projects you see on Instagram, will be worked on, and probably finished.? But they don’t end up being blogged about.? It could be I haven’t got any good photos, and its been a dreary dull day in the UK so I’ve got no chance of taking any (and then I invariably move on to something else).? Or it might be technical difficulties – I’ve already mentioned, and they are far too common.
I still love crochet, and spend every minute I can crocheting something, researching a design or teaching crochet to people, but maybe my Instragram will focus more on crochet, and this blog can be a bit of everything that I’m doing, likes walks on the beach,
or fun in the snow?? Or the stupid Afghan lurcher, also know as Monty (Luna the exmoor lurcher isn’t stupid!)
We’re doing Open gardens again this year, for charity, so I’ll be out weeding more than usual, I can’t wait for the tulips to come back…… winter is so dull!? So expect a few more gardening posts as we get ready for the big day (17th June 2018)
I’m a secret foodie – I’ve been to the most amazing restaurants this year as part of birthday celebrations, but I haven’t blogged about it – even though I’ve taken hundreds of photos of the dinners…. because I did think it would ‘fit’ with what I’ve been writing about lately.
This was from the Fat Duck – Heston Blumenthal – a once in a life time meal.
But I do really want to share some of the amazing meals we’ve had, as I think good cooking is amazing, and a craft in itself – so expect a Fine Dining tab to appear soon!
So the decision, having put everything into words and thought about this overnight (well all week – I wrote this on Tuesday night and it’s now Friday!).
I think I’m not going to be a “crochet only” type of blog.? I want to share my travels, my amazing meals, my crafty adventures, and sometimes what the little people and I get up to with you (as they come out with some absolute gems that I don’t want to forget!).
So this year you will still get lots of crochet, I’ll still ‘try’ and post once a week, but it could be on anything really, as I do a lot more than just crochet.
As I say this….. I’m off to try and finish the circle blanket!
Lets hope this year is a good one,