22 June 2009 · 9 Comments
So I’ve been just thrilled by the response I’ve gotten to the patterns I’ve made available for sale. Seriously, thrilled. The Boy can attest to the rather ridiculous happy dance and squee of glee that accompanies most checks of my sales and website statistics. More people have bought my patterns than I ever thought possible, and I appreciate each and every one of those purchases. So far, I’ve been successful enough to more than pay for my classes at Sock Summit. With a bit of luck (and the release of a few more patterns) I might just make enough to offset the whole cost of the trip.
Given the success (and the resulting glee) I definitely plan to keep knitting socks and witting up the patterns. I was going to keep knitting socks no mater what, but this makes it even more fun somehow.
So, if I’m going to keep doing this, I guess I’d better get a sense of what you guys want and like. I’ve got a couple of questions, and I’d really appreciate it you’d take a second to answer some of them in the comments if you’ve got a moment.
- First, would you be interested in a combination release of all the patterns together as a group at a reduced rate? I’m thinking of doing a package deal after I finish up Propitiate, maybe even something with a pattern exclusive to the package.
- Second, what difficulty level are you looking for in your patterns? Are the ones you’ve seen from me so far too hard, too easy, just right? Related to this, how much detail do you like in a pattern? Am I losing you in a sea of unnecessary verbiage, or do you like a bit of detailed explanation?
- Third, do you like instructions for (and maybe even pictures of) alternate versions? Do you prefer to come up with such things on your own, or do you like having a few suggestions provided?
I’d love to get your thoughts, and it seems only fair to offer something in return. Lets try this. If I get at least a dozen comments with answers in the next 72 hours or so, I’ll pick one of the comments at random and pack up some of the loot I got at Knitters Connection and send it your way. Don’t leave your address in the comment, just be sure to use a real email address and I’ll get in touch with you if you win.
13 May 2009 · 5 Comments
So, the Pedigreed socks are a bit of a challenge. They will be mirror images of each other and feature four different cable patterns and a wrap around rib. They’re fun to knit, but they are not an entirely simple undertaking. I actually rather like my socks to be challenging, but I’ve learned something. The socks that are tricky to knit are also, not surprisingly, tricky to write up.
The pattern for these would be by far my most complicated yet. It would need 8 charts, 6 of them full-page affairs. The written text would take several pages. The whole pattern would likely be about 12 pages long and represent rather a lot of effort on my part. The testing process would also be quite a bit more intense than usual.
Given all that, I’m not sure it’s worth it to sell the pattern for four or five dollars (the going rate for the other patterns I’ve written). I’m also not sure how much demand there would be if I priced it a bit higher, say six or seven dollars. So I’m taking a poll.
If you would, please let me know if you’d be willing to pay an extra dollar or two for a detailed, twelve-page, chart-laden, photo-heavy pattern for advanced intermediate socks. Feel free to tell me that six or seven dollars is just way too much to spend on socks as well. I’m trying to decide if I should write these up, and don’t have my heart set on it one way or the other.
