Posted on 2 Comments

Shop news! Reorganizing and Printing

The nutshell version:

  1. The Knitting, Loom-Knitting and Crochet section of the Download Shop has been reorganized and prettified – it looks better and it makes more sense than it used to.
  2. I’ve started making my tutorials and patterns available as real printed books. This is a work in progress and you can see what’s available so far here.

Now the long-winded version:
I’ve always been more of a Tutorial Writer than a Pattern Designer, and the downloads shop was organized to take advantage of that. Want to learn how to crochet a blanket? Look over here. Sew pillow cases? There’s a section for that. Get your feet wet in polymer clay? This shelf has the clay tutorials.

And so on.

And it worked just fine. In fact, it still mostly works. There’s just one section that I recently realized was just not set up the way it should be: Knitting, Loom Knitting, and Crochet

Flufy's Granny Square Blanket crochet pattern at Polka Dot Cottage Flufy's Granny Square Blanket crochet pattern at Polka Dot Cottage

For one thing, that was three distinct crafts all lumped together in one place.

For another thing, I had recently started making patterns available separate from the tutorials, for those who didn’t need all of the hand-holding. The standalone patterns were off in their own separate section called “Just the Patterns.”

The latter wasn’t really a problem until recently, and I will spare you the details as to why the situation has changed. Suffice it to say, it doesn’t make sense to have to look in two completely different sections just to see all of the available sweater projects!

So, I’ve re-organized.

[wp_eStore_category_products_fancy id=7 style=3 order=3]

All of the projects, whether they are patterns+tutorials together or just patterns on their own, can now be found in the Knitting, Loom Knitting, and Crochet section. There is no longer a Just the Patterns section at all.

Additionally, the Knitting, Loom Knitting and Crochet page is separated by craft, so the crochet blankets are no longer intermingling with the knit earwarmers.

I updated the book covers so you can tell at a glance whether it is a photo tutorial or a plain old pattern, and I redesigned the display so the covers are bigger and there is less text to get in the way. (I’ll be doing this to the Sewing and Polymer Clay sections in time, too.)

Chevron Cowl loom knitting pattern at Polka Dot Cottage Chevron Cowl loom knitting pattern at Polka Dot Cottage

One more exciting development: I’m making it possible to get printed versions of my patterns!

If you prefer a real book to a PDF, you’ll want to check this out. I am still in the process of listing all of my titles at MagCloud, but you can see what is currently available here. Print copies are an extra couple of dollars (exact amount depends on the number of pages that need to be printed) and include a free copy of the electronic version.

I’m starting the print venture with the Knit/Crochet section, but Sewing and Polymer Clay will soon follow.

As you can see, I’ve been a busy bee behind the scenes, and I’m not done yet!

If you have any questions, please let me know 🙂

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Posted on 2 Comments

2 thoughts on “Shop news! Reorganizing and Printing

  1. Cool! I love the new pattern/tutorial covers. Very clear and easy! And MagCloud sounds like a nice resource. Now you have me wanting to check out the polymer clay stuff. No additional crafting genres right now! I am filing the info. away for when I am ready, though!

    1. Maybe by then I will have updated those tutorials and maybe even added to them 🙂 Reformatting the tutorials has been on my list for a long time, and I have ideas for new ones that I just never seem to get to. Maybe it’s time to prioritize it!

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