Blogging- 8 months on

Hiya,

I cannot believe I have been blogging regularly for just over 8 months! I was thinking of doing a 6 month round-up soon but when I actually did the sums it has been 8 months! Wow, I'm impressed by my perseverance. I'm also ashamed to say that I have about the same number of posts unpublished as published. Some are just titles with a couple of random thoughts or ideas. Others are ones that I really ought to get published ASAP! So, as is typical with procrastinators, I start a new post rather than finish off older ones. 

When I started blogging back in July I wasn't really aware of the huge number of fantastic blogs there were out there. This is partly due to being a PhD student with a very hectic schedule (and I wasn't so prone to procrastination then), and I don't think you know much about the game unless you are part of it, especially where craft blogs are concerned. I followed Attic24 and a couple of other crochet-based blogs but that was it. I am now overwhelmed with choice and read a whole host of different blogs on a wide range of topics (usually craft-related still though).

I thought it would be interesting to go back to my first ever blog post back in July. I had just graduated with a PhD in cancer research and I was really struggling to get the job considered to be the next job 'up the ladder' so to speak.  I was working part-time in a cafe and doing an awful (well not really awful) lot of crochet and knitting. I had started designing my own patterns and wanted to use my blog to document this and also share my designs. 

Things have changed a lot in these last 8 months. Firstly I designed many patterns but only shared two, my crochet strawberry bunting and my teeny weeny crochet bunting, both available under the 'patterns' tab. This isn't me being selfish, this is just me being terrible at writing things down! Most of these patterns are just floating around in my head still and I really need to get them down before they float away. 

I also felt a lot of pressure to post new items a couple of times a week. I realise now that this is just not realistic, and it resulted in a bad bout of RSI, preventing me from crocheting for over a month, which to be honest I still haven't totally recovered from. This has probably had the biggest impact on my blogging. For one I couldn't knit or crochet and secondly I couldn't type! Recovery has been slow but I'm getting there- I just have to be very careful (more about this next week!)

Come Christmas I still hadn't got my coveted job, however, the more I thought about it the more I realised I didn't actually want that job in the first place. In January it was a case of either focus on science of focus on setting up my own crochet business. I chose crochet whilst I seriously considered my options. I also focussed more on blogging and actually managed to post 3 times a week for a while- it is still a bit up and down but I am blogging much more regularly.

So, what have I been doing more recently?

1- I got a sewing machine! Most of January's posts involve sewing. 
2- I have been selling my crochet at a market and am loving it!
3- I have officially started teaching crochet. This is one of the things I am most proud of and have been working really hard on. Despite an initial struggle to advertise my classes they are doing really well.

So, where does this leave my blog? How am I going to focus my blog? Will I focus it at all? 

What I would like to do is incorporate some regular features. I already have a 'Work In Progress Wednesday' feature which is focussed on 'me time projects'. These are projects I have taken on purely for the sake of enjoyment, that challenge me and make me learn new skills. I would also like to have a monthly interview feature (if you would be interested in being interviewed or writing a piece for my blog please get in touch!). I would also like to share some of my first-hand knowledge of setting up a crochet business, both the highs and the lows. Until now I never considered that I could impart any useful information to anyone, and that others would always know better than me. I think this has always been a confidence issue of mine but if I can go from studying cancer to teaching crochet totally off my own back then I think this last 8 months has taught me a lot. I now also have an interview for a job that I truly believe could be a life-long career (at least for now!).

I will leave you with some of my favourite bloggy pictures- one for each month. Thanks for reading. I really really really appreciate your comments and thought, and being part of this blogging community. 

JULY 2013

AUGUST 2013

SEPTEMBER 2013

OCTOBER 2013

NOVEMBER 2013

DECEMBER 2013

Blimey I didn't even post!

JANUARY 2014

FEBRUARY 2014

MARCH 2014