Let’s start at the Very Beginning…

Kudos to you if you’re now humming the Sound of Music Soundtrack! The Knitting Journal is a constant work in progress, to be updated on a regular basis. This post is from DAY ONE of working on this business full time. If you’re interested in seeing how this all got going, this is the place to start!

5/6/2024

It’s Monday morning.

I’m sitting in front of the computer, coffee and canine coworkers at hand. I’m looking out at the same pretty neighborhood, watching the same kids catch the same bus and the same daily sprinkler schedule one neighbor hopes will bolster their yard against the coming scorching summer. Just another day in the life of a remote worker, right?

Nope! Last Thursday was my last day as a medical coder for a rural hospital system. It started as an in-house position and transitioned to a remote position that I took with me when I made a big personal move. It was a great job for me for a particular season of my life, and I’m so grateful for my time with the people there and for the many things I learned in that position.

Today, however, is Day One in the Big New Adventure of starting my own business.

The seeds of this business were planted about 15 years ago when I started publishing knitting patterns on Ravelry. I remember being so enchanted with the whole process of producing the pattern, getting it ready to share with the knitting community, and messaging with my online friend who was kind enough to serve as a technical editor for me, “Do you think anyone would actually pay for this?!” It turned out that people would!

Perhaps the seeds were planted when I worked for a time as the Education Coordinator at a local yarn shop and had the opportunity to help a yarn shop owner from pre-opening days use an Education Program as a core element in building a community and generating revenue. I learned that yarn shop owners never have enough time or capital to do all the things they want and need to do to make their shop all they want it to be, and sometimes can use a little help finding efficient ways to maximize both. Though real-life experience, I found that there are some surprising ways education programs can be a yarn shop owner’s best friend when it comes to making big steps that have lasting benefits and don’t require a big outlay of funds.

Or, maybe these seeds are really long sleepers and were planted when I started home schooling my kiddos 300 years ago. Because of my own particular brand of nerdiness, my children’s education was very story-centered. Most textbooks were accompanied by a pile of classic literature, and I supplemented their formal curriculum with my own “required reading” lists and our regular read aloud times in the evenings that would sometimes last for hours when we got especially involved in a favorite series. We talked about books and characters and ethics and worldviews all the time, and now I find myself wanting to create tools that help other kids learn to love those stories and have similar life-shaping conversations with the adults in their lives.

In addition, during those home-schooling years, I had the opportunity to create a Beast to Blanket class for a group of children in our home school organization that introduced them to the little-known arts of spinning, dyeing, and knitting. I combined the skills I’d learned in all the activities above and elsewhere and presented them in a 10-week format suitable for a school setting. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and moving back to the area where I originally taught the class, and someone from the same group (but new to it since I was part of it) asked if I’d consider teaching it again, as it gets brought up often as a past favorite. I’m booked to teach it this Spring, after I modify it slightly for a younger group.

So, what exactly is this new business?

Great question! As I was describing what I wanted to do to a friend, she said, “Wow! It’s all of your things!” and it kind of is.

I think of myself as a Knitting Educator. I’ve been a teacher for many years, and a lot of that teaching has been centered around knitting, but not all of it. I’ve been a knitter for a lot of years, and that has encompassed a lot more than education, but almost all that I’ve done in the fiber arts world has been self-taught, and I’ve spent a great deal of time reimagining, repackaging, and sharing what I’ve learned for others. I’m an educator, but I’m also a coach, a designer, a fix-it lady/problem solver, a sheep owner, a technical pattern editor, a test knitter, a language/literary arts teacher, a document editor, a creative writer, and I wear other hats at other times. And now, I’ve added business owner!

I’m starting today by focusing on just a few areas of “My Things.”

• The first is what you’re reading right now, what I’m calling my Knitting Journal. Stories and contexts are important, and I want to share the bits and bobs of what’s happening around here and the farm. I grew up in the Paul Harvey “The Rest of the Story” Era, and always love hearing other people’s stories. Maybe sometime I’ll get to hear some of yours!
• The second area I’m prioritizing is rereleasing my previously published patterns. They’re currently on Ravelry, which is a fantastic site, and I’m thankful for them every single time I’m notified of a sale. The only difficulty with having patterns exclusively on Ravelry is that they require an account and login and some folks would just rather not mess with those. So I’ll be reviewing the patterns, editing them as needed, and getting them listed and available for purchase right on the website. There are two new designs in process (one sock and one baby blanket) and I’m eager to get back to designing regularly again.
• The third immediate priority is to introduce the newest members of the crew, my little (literal!) flock! They will be arriving at the farm in just a couple of weeks now and everyone involved is so excited. It’s turning out to be quite the family affair as my oldest and his family will be housing and caring for the four sheep, and my second son’s wife is currently designing some of the graphics that we hope to be putting all over the place and on everything in sight. That son is about to start graduate school in Literature, and I’ve got a not-so-secret hope that I can talk him into contributing to a project or two down the road, which brings me to…

Future plans!

My husband and I have been brainstorming for weeks about all the possible directions and arms and tangents available for this business. It’s so exciting! At this point I think I’d need about 3 lifetimes to accomplish all the things we’ve mentioned as possibilities, but in the next few months, I plan to:

• Develop resources for knitters and yarn shop owners to help enhance or establish educational opportunities, especially for local yarn shops.
• Expand the Beast to Blanket curriculum for online sales and provide modifications and resources to enable it to be used in a wide range of settings.
• Create fiction and accompanying curriculum for children that will incorporate the wee flock’s activity and also involve my passion for using stories to help people talk about important things.

There’s so much going on, and I’m so excited to have you with me on this journey.

Happy Monday, and happy knitting!

Kiersten J