I’ve been upgrading the PlanetJune shop to make things a bit clearer. There’s a new tabbed interface for each product, so you can quickly find the information you need without having to scroll down the page:

I’ve also added a review capability, so you can see what other people thought of my products before you buy. I only launched this yesterday, so I only have 9 reviews as I write this post. A review system is no help to anyone unless there are actually some reviews for potential customers to read, so I’d like to ask for your help…

Have you bought any of my patterns, eyes, noses, stitch markers or stuffing tools? Is there anything about them that you’d like to share with the world? Please write a review! It’s easy to do – just browse to the item you want to review, click the Reviews tab and then click write a review.

As a small incentive (and this will be an ongoing thing, not a one-off promotion), all reviews will automatically be entered into a monthly draw to win a free pattern of your choice. So review 10 of my products and you’ll get 10 entries into the draw!

I hope these reviews will be useful to other people, and I encourage you to be honest – I will only moderate them for profanity or other inappropriate comments. Although I hope you won’t feel the need to leave a 1 star review, if that’s what you truly think of a product, that’s okay with me. And you’ll still be entered into the draw 🙂

Thanks very much for your help – I really appreciate it – and good luck in the monthly draws!

Now I’m over my deadline, I finally have time to make a dent in the huge to-do list of ideas I’ve amassed over the past few months while I’ve been too busy to work on any of them. I have 4 projects on the go already, but ‘reorganise craft room/office’ has to be the most important (if boring) of them all.

I’m posting this now in the hope that I’ll finally be able to show you pics of my craft room next week (something I’ve been planning for a long time but it’s always too embarrassingly disorganised to photograph). I hope you’ll forgive a little mess – it’s a working room and I have a lot of craft supplies, so it’s just not possible to ever get it completely tidy!

For now, here’s a little sneak peek of the top of the cubbies that sit on one of my desks. One of the nicest things about making pretty things is getting to look at them: here’s my orang utan and my tissue paper carnations. In a crazy ‘night before the deadline’ moment, I decided my orang utan looked a little hungry and freeform crocheted a little amigurumi banana for him (that’s not weird, is it?!). I think he looks much happier now – what do you think?

Yesterday on Twitter I let slip that I had just turned in the manuscript for my new book! I’m so excited – I’ve been wanting to write this book for a long time and I’ve finally had the chance. I’ll share details of the book itself closer to publication – there’s still a long process of editing and printing to go through before it’ll hit the shelves.

This is the big secret project I’ve been alluding to for months, and the reason why I haven’t been blogging as much as I’d like to for a long time – so now I have some catching up to do! I’ve been making lists of things I’d like to do ‘when I finish the book’ – new patterns, new products for the shop, and a lot of improvements I’d like to make to the website. And my craft room/office is in serious need of organisation…

As I’m the photographer as well as the author of my book, I had to develop some novel methods for taking print-quality photos with only two hands at my disposal! I thought I’d share the method I came up with for taking step-by-step photos that include my hands – you’ll see the benefit of this when I next make a tutorial, as the pictures should be much improved with this new setup.

(By the way, in case you’re wondering how I took this shot of myself at work, I used a 2nd camera on a 2nd tripod with a 10-second self-timer!)

A: White bristol board used as a seamless backdrop

B: 2 very bright lamps aimed at the backdrop to make it as white as possible in the photos

C: 2 less bright lamps aimed at my hands (one on each side of the camera) to light them without shadows

D: This is where the camera is pointing – at my hands

E: My DSLR camera on a tripod, angled so that I can comfortably look through the viewfinder as I sit

F: (Out of shot) Remote detonator control for my camera so that I can operate it with my toe when I have the perfect shot set up

I bought the remote control on eBay and it’s literally changed my photo-taking life. I’ve always had to take my tutorial photos by setting up the shot, moving my right hand to press the shutter release while keeping my left hand hand still, then scrambling to get my right hand back into position before the 10-second timer ran down and the picture was taken… Now I can just press the remote button with my toe (minimal dexterity required) at the appropriate time and I don’t need to use the camera’s timer at all. Huge, huge improvement.

Of course, this isn’t the only way, or even the best way, to light for this kind of photography, but it works for me and only cost me 2 cheap IKEA work lamps, 2 clip-on spotlights, and a sheet of bristol board, all of which I already had from my light box (shown below, click through if you’d like details of that too):

So, when you see the clear and helpful pictures in my new book, you’ll know exactly how I managed to take them – I hope this hasn’t ruined the magic! But seriously, if you make tutorials, I hope this little glimpse into my lighting setup has been helpful 🙂

It’s hard to believe that 2009 has ended and I’ve been self-employed for a whole year already! My resolution from last year was “to give myself the chance to succeed, but to not beat myself up about it if things don’t go as well as I hope”, and I think that was a good resolution to have. Taking the leap into self-employment was not an easy decision, and this year has definitely been an eye-opener for me. My original plan was to spend my extra time designing more crochet patterns, and see if I could build my business that way, but, in the end, that wasn’t what happened at all…

The very next day after I made the decision to quit my job, I was approached to write a papercraft book (as a result of my work on Folding Trees). As it was my first book, I was totally unprepared for the amount of hard work this would entail – designing projects, shopping for materials, making project samples, giving myself a crash course in Adobe Illustrator so I could create quality illustrations for the book… oh yeah, and actually writing the book! But it all came together in the end, after 3 months of very hard work, and the end result, Paper Chains and Garlands, is out now to buy from Barnes & Noble stores and online.

After that, I came up with the bright idea of self-publishing a punchneedle embroidery eBook, so I spent a couple of months writing and photographing that, and designing patterns to go along with it. The result was The Punchneedle Handbook and a range of (currently) nine patterns.

Two books in one year!

I also had two sewing patterns published in the book One Yard Wonders. I taught three crochet classes at two Creativ Festivals, plus gave an online class at Crochetville. I gave a talk on designing amigurumi animals, and I was interviewed for two podcasts: Getting Loopy (about my crochet designs) and CraftyPod (about my experiences with print and eBook publishing). I finally finished my crocheted baby orang utan and was interviewed about it for an online art magazine. I did some web design contract work. And, for the past few months, I’ve also been working on 2 secret projects which I can’t reveal quite yet.

So really, it’s a wonder I had time to crochet at all, let alone follow my original plan of increasing my rate of producing new patterns! But I did manage to publish 16 new crochet patterns in 2009, some of which (African Violets, Alpaca, Dinosaurs, Christmas Trees) are now among my bestsellers, and I bought a special notebook that’s now filled with ideas that I haven’t had a chance to make yet, so I’m in good shape to start 2010.

Here’s a visual roundup of most of what I’ve made this year:

All in all, I will count 2009 as a very successful first self-employed year. There are a lot of things I was hoping to accomplish that I just haven’t had a chance to do yet, but I’ve worked very hard all year and I think I have a lot to show for it. Having said that, my resolution for the coming year is to learn to say “no” to some things – there are only so many hours in the day, and it’s not healthy to work all the time! Setting priorities is key, and this is why Eve and I made the difficult decision to close Folding Trees last week – we both have too many other things to juggle and something had to give so that we could save our sanity and spend some time with our families once in a while…

As for 2010: bring it on! I already have enough ideas to fill the entire year, but I’m not going to write a list of plans and goals here: I’ve learned to expect the unexpected and be flexible with my plans so I can seize new opportunities when they arise. I’m looking forward to continuing my journey, wherever it leads me.

On a personal level, 2009 has been a difficult year for many of us, myself included, so let’s cast all that off and move forward into a new decade and a new adventure! Don’t be afraid to try new things: shrug off the things that don’t work out and be encouraged by your successes. I wish you all a very Happy New Year, my friends!

I guess you like the idea of clear eyes to use for amigurumi etc: 77% of you who voted in my poll said that you’d definitely be interested if I started selling them. Well, your wish is my command – I now have clear eyes available in the PlanetJune store in 9mm, 10mm, 12mm and 15mm sizes! (I’ve just ordered these sizes as a trial run, so if you’re looking for different sizes please let me know.)

As I mentioned in my previous post, clear eyes have several advantages:

• You can paint the flat back of the eye with acrylic paint to get the exact shade you want.
• Feeling artistic? Create customized eyes with paint effects – paint spots, stripes, starbursts etc on the back of the eye first, let it dry, then coat the entire back of the eye with the base colour.
• Don’t like painting? No problem! Just cut a square of felt a little larger than the eye, snip a little cross shape in the middle to poke the shaft of the eye through, then trim the felt so it is the same size as the eye – easy! (Blue and pink felt eyes pictured below)

By the way, the prices of all my eyes (clear and solid black) are now automatically discounted if you buy 10 or more pairs of a single size and type 🙂

And now onto the holiday sale…

From now until December 24th, all patterns (crochet patterns, punchneedle patterns, and The Punchneedle Handbook) will be automatically discounted by 10% in the shop. You don’t need a voucher code – this sale is available to everyone! This is your last chance to buy patterns at 2009 prices, and the last sale of this year, so you’ll never see prices lower than these. Multipack sets are also discounted, so you can get an even better deal there!

A small sampling of the crochet patterns you’ll find in the PlanetJune Shop

Happy Holidays from PlanetJune! I hope you’ll enjoy the pattern sale and take this opportunity to try out some clear eyes too. And don’t forget: PlanetJune Gift Certificates would make a great Christmas present for the crocheters on your list!

I’ve just been accused of plagiarism and I’d like to address the issue directly and in public to lay the matter to rest. I’m obviously very upset by this: an allegation like this could destroy my business, and I want to make it very clear that there is absolutely no truth in the matter. A commenter calling him/herself Internet Police left me this message:

From the looks of things you modify the patterns found in Japanese Craft Pattern Book / Crochet Amigurumi Dog 2 , you do not design these dog patterns.

Here is my response:

Internet Police: I don’t think you’re looking carefully enough 🙂

• Firstly, my patterns are all 100% original. I have designed over 60 patterns and I have never copied anyone else.
• Secondly, my AmiDogs are not that similar to the Japanese patterns – if you compare mine with theirs I have a different style; they are only similar in that they are both amigurumi patterns for dog breeds.
• And thirdly, I have been designing AmiDogs patterns since early 2007. The Japanese books were released in Sep 2008 and Feb 2009. It would take a very special talent to copy patterns from a book over a year before its release!

Please be more cautious before throwing around accusations of plagiarism. I am a designer and these allegations are damaging to my business.

While I was composing this response, Internet Police then left me a second comment on my Jack Russell Terrier post (my post dates from November 25th, 2007), saying I had “copied this pattern from a book” and giving a link to an eBay auction for the book in question. Let’s just look at this more closely, in case you aren’t yet convinced:

Here’s the Jack Russell in the book I allegedly copied from:

Image copied from eBay auction, taken from this book

And here’s my Jack Russell Terrier pattern:

1. They are clearly not the same pattern (although there are similarities, like the folded ears)
2. My design was made public in November 2007. The book was released in February 2009. I clearly could not copy a book 15 months before it even existed!

Even if the dates didn’t prove my innocence, I would hope that my body of work and my distinctive style would speak for itself! I have integrity: I did not and will never copy another person’s design and pass it off as my own. It feels horrible to be unjustly accused, and I hope this post has set the record straight.

I’m hoping you can help me out by sparing a few seconds to vote on this poll (if you’re reading this in a feed reader, please click through to the post to vote!)

I’ve been getting requests for coloured eyes in my shop. I don’t know if you’ve seen them, but most of them look really awful – the colours are so vivid it makes them look like they are staring. I bought some brown ones and I couldn’t use them for anything because they look so scary:

Black eyes and scary brown eyes

I’ve come up with a better solution – clear plastic eyes:

Clear eyes

Advantages of clear eyes:

• Paint the flat back of the eye with acrylic paint to get the exact shade you want.
• Feeling artistic? Create customized eyes with paint effects – paint spots, stripes, starbursts etc on the back of the eye first, let it dry, then coat the entire back of the eye with the base colour.
• Don’t like painting? No problem! Just cut a square of felt a little larger than the eye, snip a little cross shape in the middle to poke the shaft of the eye through, then trim the felt so it is the same size as the eye – easy!

Make any shade of eyes using subtle- or bright-coloured felt!

So, my question for you today is, would you be interested in buying these clear eyes if I stocked them in the PlanetJune shop? (They would cost approx the same as the black eyes I already carry.) Please vote below so I can get an idea of interest! If you want to add any additional info (e.g. what sizes would you like to see?) please leave me a comment too!

Update: the poll is now cloased – that you for voting! Here are the results:

To my new visitors who are stopping by after meeting me at the Creativ Festival: welcome! Don’t forget to take a look at my shop and my crochet tutorials!

Another Creativ Festival is over. This one went by like a whirlwind for me. I was only there for the Friday, but I left home at 6am to beat the traffic into Toronto, and arrived back home at about 10pm, so it was a pretty long day!

Here’s my table at the A Needle Pulling Thread booth:

It’s hard to see from the picture, but I brought 13 pieces with me this time (L-R: 2 pumpkins, fuzzy monkey, gecko, 2 tiny whales, fruit bat, african violets, stegosaurus, mini fuzzies hedgehog, arctic fox (behind), miniature pinscher, chihuahua). I had to split up my pattern catalogue into two books, as I had too many to fit into just one! I suppose that’s a good problem to have 🙂

One of the highlights of my day was when Silverlotus stopped by to show me the lovely African Violets she had made from my pattern! I had coincidentally brought my own violet along, so I had to grab a photo of them together (mine is on the left) – and didn’t she do a great job, especially considering she’s only been crocheting since February?!

In the weeks before the show, I spent forever winding yarn and putting together kits for my Whale class:

You can see my new gecko business card in this pic too!

The class went pretty well. I had 14 students and almost all were beginners. I wish the class had been 2 hours long; sadly, we spent most of the 1.5hrs learning how to crochet, and didn’t have time to complete the whale pattern. I’ve already heard back from two of my students who have since completed their whales, and I hope all my other students will too! (Remember, email me if you have any problems!) If you’d like to make a Tiny Whale of your own, it’ll be a new donationware pattern in the next couple of days 🙂

While I was at the booth, I demonstrated brushed crochet, by converting my Fuzzy Bear pattern into a brushed crochet pattern. I’ll be writing a tutorial on this method shortly, so if you’d like to try some of my fuzzy patterns but have problems using eyelash yarn, this is another method you can use to get a cute fluffy result. Here’s my finished bear, together with the original Fuzzy Bear:

As you can see, I didn’t brush him too much – I liked the sort of threadbare, antique look I got from just generating a bit of fluff. You could, of course, brush for longer and get a fluffier result where the stitches are more obscured.

The show itself was much smaller this year, with less vendors, but that may have worked in my favour. I gave out around 200 business cards and got 36 new names for my mailing list. (I’ll be emailing a new discount code to my entire mailing list later today, to welcome the new members, so sign up now if you’d like to take advantage of that!)

Overall, the show was a big success for me, although it took a lot of preparation, and the day itself was long and tiring. But it’s always worth it: I always enjoy meeting new people, and seeing some familiar faces from previous years! And it’s very cool when people recognise me (or my work, at least) from seeing it online – I’m such a celebrity these days 😉