On Sunday I posted this quick snap of myself wearing a fanny pack and a hat on Instagram and was delighted at the enthusiasm everyone displayed towards A) my fanny pack of course and B) my Seaboard Sweater! I published this pattern in October of 2018 and had kits available on my website for ages after that. Last year when we were gearing up for our move and re-evaluating how to keep our business manageable throughout, we ditched the Seaboard Sweater kits because they were no longer feeling fresh to me. Fast forward to almost a year later and, you know what they say! Absence makes the heart grow fonder and I have found a new passion for this sweater pattern and the accompanying kits, so they’re back!
It’s actually really fun to see an older design get a boost of love like this. The hard truth is that the majority of pattern sales happen in the first week of a pattern release. That’s been true for me and I’ve heard it echoed by countless designers over the years. There is so much pressure to constantly be releasing new patterns to get that boost in sales and no matter how awesome a design is and what a timeless, classic piece it is, people move on to the next “hot right now” pattern very quickly. I’ve made it a bit of a personal mission of mine to try and highlight older patterns and remind people that there is equal value to be found in older patterns as well.
And this is what I love about being a small business owner. The ability to pivot all the time! Because my business is so small, it’s literally just me and Chris, we are super flexible. I had absolutely no intentions of bringing back the Seaboard Sweater kits this week. I got up on Sunday and my 3 year old put on a navy and white striped dress, so naturally she requested that I wear a navy and white striped dress as well. Sadly I don’t have one so we settled on this navy and white striped sweater as a good substitute. We were heading out to the park and I liked my outfit so I took a picture and shared it. I was surprised by the amount of requests I received for kits and so, bing bang boom! the kits are back!
I often think that life would be more straightforward if I planned out our work in advance. I see so many dyers on Instagram talking about their plan for their entire year and I’m like “whoa! I don’t even have a plan for this week!” Everybody’s working style is different and try as I might I’m just not a planner. I actually think that maintaining the flexibility to do whatever we’re moved to do creatively at any given moment is my own way of feeling in control. I do not work particularly well with deadlines, I am 100% committed to maintaining the joy in my creative practice (which happens to be my job) and for me that means going with the flow. I think that this commitment to keeping things fresh and riding the waves of inspiration as they come is one of the reasons why running this tiny yarn business is still as fun and exciting for me 14 years in as it was when I first started out. Actually, I think things have only gotten better!
So, do it your way. If you’re a planner, plan! If you’re not, that’s ok too! If you’re a small business and were feeling overwhelmed because you’re living and parenting and working through a pandemic and then you decided to move and had to cut back on some things because you were going to have a breakdown and then a year later you feel like you want to bring that sweater kit back, do it! I am all about the pivot.