Ghosts, Set-in Sleeves, and Social Media
Ghosts, Set-in Sleeves, and Social Media
Just kinda a wee catch up I guess!
It feels sort of funny getting into this today! It feels like a really long time since I have written to you all. Today I’m going to write about what Rose and I have been doing with work and what we’ve been enjoying- I guess kind of a straightforward one? I have been a little out of the writing mood, and we just got turned for a big exciting funding application yesterday, but it feels nice to share what’s been going on. I hope you find something useful or fun here! Enjoy!
Nice Stuff Spotlight
Ghosts on the BBC has been our lunchtime watching every day and we are really really into it. I grew up loving the Horrible Histories TV show, and it’s super fun getting to watch another show made by the same group now as an adult. Rose and I are a little bit obsessed with the addition of Lolly Adefope as Kitty (but also just Lolly in general, she’s the best).
I think the show is just so funny and sweet and I love how it deals with death, and the way the ghosts are just such a different vibe than anything else I’ve seen, I’ve totally fallen in love with all the characters and I’m gonna be gutted when we finish it!
Rose and I took a trip to The Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate last weekend since they were kind enough to offer me guest tickets! It was a really lovely experience in many ways and a bit stressful in some others. It’s not 100% our scene and it was really busy and wild but I absolutely LOVED the chance to see the Hand and Lock Prize, Fine Art Textile Award, and Quilter’s Guild Archive shows. I’ve included some snapshots of my personal highlights, I felt really inspired by these pieces to make more textile art. I also spoke to a QG volunteer who let me know that their archive in York has a massive collection that people can book visits to! I’m really curious to go!
I also got to meet the lovely Nerissa Pratt of the Bargello Edit and Lauren Tedstone who I have now realised is an amazing sewist who was a quarter finalist on the Sewing Bee no less! I was drawn to them because of their beaut clothes made of fabrics that Nerissa designed and was selling! (and probably is still selling, have a wee look!) I think for me that making connections with people is usually my highlight of stuff like this and the way it was so busy and I’m a bit shy about approaching people usually made it a little hard, but Lauren and Nerissa were so friendly and such a great vibe it really made my day :)
In the Studio Lately
Rose and I have been really working quite hard on pattern writing lately. The big challenge has been learning to write set-in sleeves for a cardigan we will be launching in March. To be honest, it’s somehow so much easier than I ever thought it would be, and simultaneously what’s taken us the most time to tweak!
We used the book Top Down: Reimagining Set-in Sleeve Design to learn it, which you can purchase digitally on ravelry, for the most part we used the sleeve instructions as written. I’m never sure how many technical details folks are interested in, so I won’t labour the point, but because of the way the pattern is graded, and how the armholes are worked in our pattern we took a slightly different tactic than the book. I actually ended up sampling the armhole FIVE TIMES before I was happy with it and ready to do the grading bits!
Yesterday I finished formatting the first draft (it’s gonna be called the Can-Do Cardigan!) and cast on my first formal sample. I usually make a sample using the formatted pattern before sending it to my tech editor so I can catch any really obvious mistakes, I’m hoping to replace a red cardigan I lost in a taxi last year that my lovely styling client Sofie Hagen gave me ❤️ (if you haven’t checked out their comedy, or their book about fatness, you should!)
Businessy Thoughts
As this year is coming close to an end, I’ve been reflecting on how things have gone. In Jan, I had pledged to myself to give myself a chance to explore doing the patterns I want to see in the world, not just ones I imagine people wanting. The fruits of that were the Jeepers Jersey, Bygone Blouse, and Jackpot Jersey, which are my favourite garments I’ve ever made and the ones I actually wear the most!
To be honest with you though, they have absolutely flopped compared to lots of my past patterns! I think a few things are at play there, and I am still SO proud of them, but overall I’m feeling slightly discouraged. So basically I thought I’d try and share what we have been attempting to do to manage that, in case anyone else is in a similar position!
The main thing Rose has been encouraging me to do is just keep posting on social media and focusing more on ‘marketing’. I often feel quite embarrassed about the constant self promotion and making videos feels really vulnerable, but it has made a really noticeable difference integrating more video content into our process. I’ve noticed that it’s worth not overthinking it toooo much. For every super well edited, thought-through video I post, I have been trying to also throw out one or two quick n dirty ones.
This has actually been working really well! We don’t really have any strong conclusions, but I think it’s a nice way to learn what your community enjoys hearing about and responding to, not just grinding away with a sort of ‘marketing’ perspective, yeknow? I think it’s tempting with *the algorithm* ever present to forget that the original joy of social media is just sharing what you make with excitement, pleasure, and relationship building at the heart of it I guess. I don’t want to adopt a sort of businesslike, cynical, attitude toward it. I think the way forward for me is to adopt more intentionality around it, rather than like ‘growth strategy’ or like ‘sales conversions’ maybe just setting aside space for that version of our creativity?
It’s nice for our working relationship for me to work on getting comfortable in front of the camera with Rose, and for her to start feeling more confident directing me or suggesting wild edits or sound effects, she’s so funny and brilliant and I think that because it was just me for so long, and she’s only part-time, and I’m still kinda the ‘face’, its a process figuring out how her voice can come through! We honestly just have so much fun together and it makes it so much less embarrassing for me to have her there hyping me up and being goofy and having great ideas ❤️
OH! One last final final plug
Please please consider signing up to my Duplicate stitch embroidery/swiss darning class at the Central Scottish School of Craft next week on the 2nd- it will be really great! I’ve been practising so much to get ready for it and I’d love if it sold out for them! You can bring along something you want to embroider but we will be providing wee knitted squares for you to work on! You can make designs like the one below without needing to know how to knit, its truly amazing! I can’t wait to teach it.
Anyway, I hope there might be something there that’s interesting or useful! I really appreciate you all following along! We will be sending a call for testers for the Can-Do Cardigan in the next newsletter, see you sooooooon
Love
From
Lydia
I loved Ghosts! I’ve finished all the UK ones, so have moved onto the US version. Some of the historical characters wouldn’t work there for obvious reasons, but they have subbed others in.after a couple of episodes I’m not convinced it’ll be as good, but I’m trying to give it a go. X