On blogging and such…

So it’s been a little over three years that I started blogging and my whole ChezPlum adventure now. Funny how things have evolved since…

In the beginnings I made some good bloggy-friends, who now have totally disapeared from the blogosphere and I’ve basically never heard from them again. I used to hang out all the time on Crafster then. It was fun, I was amazed at this whole new world I was discovering : online crafting communities, the millions of free patterns, pdf patterns sold online, Etsy … WOW !
Now there’s Ravelry and it’s a totally different community. I hardly ever visit Crafster anymore and Etsy‘s become really big. Instead of trying to discover new things all the time I now try to focus and procrastinate less.. (but it’s so hard ! :-P)
I made lots of other friends, discovered a bunch of fascinating talented fiber artists … Another great change was to make real-life friends that share my passions though our little local SnB group… That’s certainly something I never thought would be possible and is really cool ! Also, I get to speak english all the time with Emily and the others… it’s like I live in france but I have a little bits of the US and the world around. Love it and I feel way less “isolated” now !!

Another thing that I found funny is how my crafting (and thus this blog’s contents) has evolved. From a full-time knitter always looking for the perfect lace pattern I shifted to a part-time crocheter, and then a full-time crocheter … and now I’ve changed again with my newest passion, spinning ! Talk about poor marketing strategy : I keep on changing my target audience !! 😉

Finally, when I started this blog, writing my patterns etc it was really a hobby, a way to meet people and enrich my life a bit besides nappies and full-time mothering. It’s now gotten a little more serious with a range of patterns and a bunch of translations. I had a bit of a peak in my productivity this winter with nearly a pattern per month published… But now I really need to shift my energies as we’re about to launch the project we’ve been working on for nearly a year with my husband. (it’s in french and you can only see the waiting page for now, but I swear it will be great, plus there should be an english version in a near future).
I’m not sure how much pattern writing I’ll still be able to do. You’ve probably already noticed the slack in those areas lately. It’s like I don’t have the core energy to invest in there much anymore. Probably the reason why I’ve taken to spinning so easily as well : No thinking/planning required. Just spinning. (And I also get to hang out with my husband more instead of always being absorbed in yarn and patterns..)

Anyways. Don’t worry I’ll probably still stick around much the same. Maybe just not with as much time and energy into it. And with even less pressure on deadlines/dates for pattern release than before… if that’s ever possible ! 😉

And that yarn above ? This is one of my latest hand-dyed batch, the orange-and-purples one. I love how it came out. Need to spin the second skein, probably the same. A single, kinda-worsted-weight, my favorite yarn to knit/crochet with ! 😀
Now trying to think of the perfect use for it (would probably work well with garter stitch). I’m dreaming of a full range of no-gauge patterns geared especially towards handspun yarns so maybe I’ll try something.

Bonne journ