Review: e-magazines

I’ve only bought 2 or 3 crochet magazines over the past few years; to me they are expensive to buy, hard to find, and awkward to store. Now I know about digital magazines, though, I’ve changed my mind. I can read the latest magazines on my tablet and PC without the problem of storing years of back issues or having to throw out old issues to make room for new ones. Availability is a huge plus too: you can buy e-magazines from anywhere in the world for the same price, whereas finding the printed magazines outside North America is difficult and expensive, and you can download the latest issues as soon as they are released.

I hadn’t even heard of Zinio, a digital magazine provider, until they offered me some subscriptions to give away last month. My concern about e-magazines was that my magazines may be tied to one device, but, I can log into my Zinio account from all my devices (I have a desktop PC, laptop and Nexus 7 tablet) and download my subscriptions to any/all of them at no additional cost. That also means if I lose or replace a device, I won’t have lost my magazines, as they’ll all still be available from my account.

Now I can enjoy an e-mag while I crochet

I’ve really been enjoying the subscriptions Zinio gave me, and I wanted to let you know that, if you didn’t win my contest (or even if you did!), today (January 7th) is the last day to take advantage of their holiday sale. These are such great deals I couldn’t resist, so I just treated myself to another year’s subscription each of Crochet Today! and Interweave Crochet – only $10 for a whole year of one of these crochet magazines is a real bargain:

Update: As of today (Jan 14), Crochet Today! is still only $10 for an annual subscription 🙂

If you’re interested, click on the magazine cover photos above, and they’ll take you straight through so you can buy a subscription at Zinio. These are affiliate links, so I’ll make a few cents from your purchase, but this is a genuine recommendation – $10 for a year of each of these magazines seems like too good a deal to pass up, and I didn’t want you to miss out if you’d like to take advantage before this crazy sale ends today!

Pet-Along CAL

The January crochet-along is going well: we’re making pet animals this month, and we already have amigurumi dogs, hamsters, bunnies, an alpaca, and a gecko entered! Most of the pattern options are below – they’re all available from my shop except the Hamsters, which you’ll find in my book.

You can find the CAL details, and a bonus CAL discount on the PocketAmi Pets pattern, in the PlanetJune Ravelry group…
 

Review and Win contest

December’s ‘Review and Win’ winner is Nicole D, with her review of my Fuzzy Guinea Pig:

Perfection! A true embodiment of a guinea pig. Your little guy will come to life under your fingers, his shape forming readily with each stitch. He has bumps in all the right places and the loveable guinea bottom all owners come to adore.

I made one of these for my sister in law after her guinea pig passed and he elicited a squeal of excitement, a cuddle and easily an hour laminating on how lifelike he looks.

June’s pattern is remarkably easy to follow and contains everything you need to know to craft yourself a new friend.

Congrats Nicole – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

Christmas CAL and Contest

I can’t believe it’s that time again already! I hope you’ll take part in this year’s PlanetJune Christmas CAL; it’s turned into an annual tradition. I now have 9 seasonal patterns to choose from (several of which are free/donationware), there’ll be prizes for all participants, and you can browse through the lovely roundup post on Christmas Day when you’re stuffed full of food and feeling too lazy to do anything else!

You’ll find all these patterns in the Holiday & Seasonal category in my shop.

• First prize: a $10 gift certificate to spend on anything in the PlanetJune store.
• Second prize: a free pattern of your choice from the PlanetJune store.
• Runner-up prizes: I’ll send a discount code to all participants, to use against their next order from the PlanetJune store.

Whip up some of the popular new pine cones – or any other of my seasonal designs – snap a quick photo, and join in by posting it to the Christmas CAL 2012 thread in my Ravelry group – I hope we’ll see you there!

Review and Win contest

November’s ‘Review and Win’ winner is Diane G, with her review of my Farmyard Pigs:

If you are wondering if you’ll be able to do this, you can. I’ve been crocheting for less than a week, and he turned out amazing.
The directions are simple, straight forward, and for someone very new to crocheting, I had no questions at all.

What I really like about him is how closely he resembles an actual farm pig. Most of the crochet patterns you find are for a more cartoon-y look. Personally, I prefer realistic.

The price is great and I’m looking forward to trying alternate colors on him next. I think he’d make a great gift for any pig lover!

Congrats Diane – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

Other News

My crochet video tutorials are on hold until next year, as my hands are currently in no state to be filmed in HD (or at all) after my recent eczema fiacso. I was also hoping to take most of December off, as I did last year (to rest and rejuvenate, and plan for the coming year), but I lost a lot of November to illness so I need to keep going just a little bit longer so I can get one last quick-to-crochet pattern to you in time for your last-minute Christmas gift-making. I can feel myself slowing down though – my batteries are going to need some serious recharging after this last push!

Crochet Tutorials

In case you haven’t seen it yet, I’ve revamped my crochet tutorials pages and collected them all together into one convenient master list. Now you can easily find instructions for whatever you’re looking for! Just remember www.planetjune.com/help 🙂

Technical Difficulties

Heavy server loads caused some intermittent problems at PlanetJune last week. My site was migrated to a new server at the weekend, which improved matters somewhat, but I’ve just bitten the bullet and paid for a massive upgrade – business continues to grow and my server has to grow along with it! (You shouldn’t see any difference in speed at normal load, but hopefully in future there won’t be any slowdowns or error messages when things get too busy.)

Bonus Discounts: In case the downtime stopped you from taking advantage of last week’s special offers, I’ve extended both the Dinosaur Expansion Pack Sets launch sale and the Pine Cone Collection discount code until this coming Sunday. The dinosaur sets are already discounted in the shop, and you’ll find the pine cones code in my last newsletter!

I’ve also just discontinued my Affiliate Program – the code developed a glitch a week or so ago, and, as the program isn’t aligned with my primary PlanetJune goals (to design amazing new crochet patterns, to make clear and helpful tutorials, and to provide stellar customer service) it didn’t seem worth the time to fix it. The idea of paying people to recommend me seems a bit icky, anyway, now I think about it – I want people to say nice things about me because they want to, not because they’re being paid, so maybe this is all for the best…

Review and Win contest

October’s ‘Review and Win’ winner is Jamie S, with her review of my Climbing Eyelets Triangular Shawl:

This is the loveliest item I’ve ever made! What makes this pattern wonderful is, first, it’s an incredibly fast stitch pattern, once you get the initial set-up rows stitched. A large shawl in less than 3 days! Second, after a few rows into the pattern, I no longer had to look at the instructions. In my opinion, it becomes so easy to remember as a result of its intuitive construction. Third, because it’s very open, it mitigates the inherent characteristics of crochet (heavy, thick), producing a light fabric that I can easily see myself wearing on cooler evenings/mornings in the hot and humid climate zone where I live, and I say this whilst using worsted weight yarn! On a final note, when I had a question about the pattern, June answered it promptly and in a cordial manner 🙂

Congrats Jamie – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

It’s so rewarding for me to see people enjoying my Accessories designs. They’re a great introduction to new crochet techniques that you may think would be intimidating or too advanced, but they really aren’t! If you’d like to try crocheting one too, you’ll find extra support in the Accessories CAL thread on Ravelry.

Earn more with the PlanetJune Affiliate program

Did you know you can join the PlanetJune Affiliate program, and make 5% of the total of any orders that come when you refer people to my shop?

When I sent out the third-quarter payments to members, I noticed that some affiliates hadn’t reached the $2 minimum for payout, and a few hadn’t made any sales through their affiliate links. I want you to succeed – larger affiliate payments to you means more new customers for me, so we all win!

I’ve come up with some Top Earning Tips to help you earn more through the program. If you’re a new affiliate, or would like to earn more through the program, read on for my top 3 tips for success…

Go to PlanetJune Affiliates: Top Earning Tips >>

Review and Win contest

October’s ‘Review and Win’ winner is Brigitta W, with her review of the pattern that launched my PlanetJune business, Fuzzy Bear:

Just finished my first bear and it looks just like the pictures! (which is not always the case, lol) The pattern is written so well and was so easy to follow I completed the bear in only a couple of hours. As it was for a baby I used a soft baby yarn with very little fuzz. (I didn’t want alot of fuzz for the baby to suck on) Although the stiches could be seen it did not take away fron the cuteness of the bear. I also stictched on the eyes and nose with yarn (and thanks to Junes recent post on eye placement, went very smoothly) I did have a little trouble with attaching the pieces but nothing that caused a great problem and I figured out some tricks to help me the next time. This will be a pattern I will use again and again. I highly recomend it!

Congrats Brigitta – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

To be entered into this month’s draw for a free pattern of your choice, just write a review of any product in my shop – thank you!

New Donationware

With Christmas approaching, I wanted to make sure I had all my seasonal craft tutorials available as easy-to-print donationware for you. Now you can find all 5 Poinsettias (made with crochet, punchneedle, beaded, felt, and polymer clay) and my Pom-Pom Christmas Tree instructions available as PDFs in the shop for a minimum donation of $1 apiece:

You can easily find them all – and my other seasonal patterns – by searching for Christmas in my shop.

And my new Christmas crochet pattern is on its way too – all being well, I hope to launch it later this week…

(Keep reading to the end of this post for details of how to get bonus entries in this month’s Review & Win contest!)

This week and next, my husband is away doing important astronomy-related things in Chile, so I’ve decided that, instead of being sad and lonely, I’ll have a 10-day design marathon while he’s away. I’ve been planning a huge new pattern series for months (the theme will be a secret until it’s all ready to launch) and I don’t know how far I’ll get towards completing all the designs, but this alone-time is a perfect opportunity to at least make lots of progress, or maybe even complete the series – we’ll see!

Review and Win contest

September’s ‘Review and Win’ winner is Carrolyn A, with her review of a PlanetJune classic, the PocketAmi Sets 1 & 2 multipack:

I really enjoyed making these patterns. Since the amis are so small, they can easily use up any scraps. I used the bunny to finish up my variegated brown, and still had some left over.

What I found to be another HUGE plus is that you can use 9mm eyes on these amis, which adds to their cute, chibi look. No need to buy other eyes than the typical ones I use for June’s patterns 🙂

One last thing that makes these amis so great is the tails. They are made by using the ending yarn of the pattern, unlike in patterns I’ve done from other sources that involved making a chain and then attaching it to the ami, trying to figure out how to weave in the ends. No so here, as June’s already figured that out for us 😀

Congrats Carrolyn – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

To be entered into this month’s draw for a free pattern of your choice, just write a review of any product in my shop – thank you!

Bonus Entries!
As my accessories pattern range is less well-known than my amigurumi, in preparation for next month’s Accessories CAL, I’d like to get more people who’ve already made any of my PlanetJune Accessories patterns to review them in my shop. So, throughout September, you’ll get a bonus double entry into the Review & Win contest for every PlanetJune Accessories pattern you review!

What’s going on chez PlanetJune? Things seem quiet here lately for a combination of reasons. Getting bronchitis has upset my plans a bit (e.g. no July video tutorial as I can’t really talk at the moment without coughing or wheezing), but I’ve also been working on lots of things that just aren’t quite ready yet, so good things are coming! Here’s a little peek at some of my upcoming designs:

• A new shawl design just needs cover photos and then it’ll be ready to launch
• A new floral donationware pattern with accompanying crochet-along – coming very soon
• I’ve been working on a scarf during the Ravellenic Games which will become another new donationware pattern
• The commissioned Sea Otter pattern is in the works (and looking very cute so far)
• I’ve started crocheting another new shawl design – it’s beautiful so far but it’s going to be very large, so it’ll be a longer-term project for me
• And I have a few other fun secret projects which I’m not ready to share yet… (If the photo above looks surprisingly short on amigurumi, that’s why – don’t worry, I’m not abandoning my animal designs!)

So I’m not just sitting around feeling sick and sorry for myself (although there may be a bit of that going on too) – I need to keep taking things slowly until I can breathe properly again, but I’m still making progress on things, and I will have exciting new patterns for you soon 🙂

Review and Win contest

August’s ‘Review and Win’ winner is Aleksandra S, with her Succulent Collection 2 review:

** This review is only for the string of pearls and the small pot as I didn’t make anything else yet **

Stunning and very realistic result, very quick & easy pattern. I want to make more strings of pearls now 🙂

After only reading the tutorial / looking at the photos:
I was amazed how June managed the colourful pattern on top of the living stones – it’s so easy and ingenious! I would like to say I was pleasantly surprised but the quality is just great as always 🙂

Congrats Aleksandra – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

To be entered into this month’s draw for a free pattern of your choice, just write a review of any product in my shop – thank you!

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve started some purely recreational craft projects to keep my hands busy in the evenings and weekends so I don’t accidentally start doing work again all the time. I’ve decided to try designing a couple of cardigans for myself. As I have no interest in becoming a professional knit/crochet-wear designer (I can’t do everything!), I don’t have to worry about taking notes or keeping my designs easy to follow, and I can hopefully tailor them to fit me, not the mythical average-sized woman.

To keep things interesting, I’m designing one in crochet (using some lovely Lion Brand Cotton Bamboo yarn that I’ve been hoarding for well over a year) and designing a knitted one too (and yes, this really will be my second knitting project ever, and my first attempt at purling!) – I’ll teach myself the other knitting techniques I’ll need as I go!

My WIPs: knitted and crocheted cardigans. I think I can do this!

Making any kind of fitted clothing is all very new to me, but I thrive on challenge and don’t like following other people’s patterns, so these are actually perfect relaxation projects for me. I can try them on as I go and adjust things if I need to. I really hope that my years of designing 3D shaping and beautiful stitch patterns will let me create clothing that doesn’t look embarrassingly home-made or ill-fitting, but that remains to be seen…

I’ll post photos and more details of each when I’ve finished them! I attached the first arm to the crocheted one last night, so that should be finished soon, but the knit cardigan is obviously going to be a very long-term project, assuming I can ever finish it. And that’s just fine – no rush, no stress, no deadlines; I’m just enjoying the process.

And now for some other news:

Vacation Shipping

As I’ll be visiting my parents later this month, I won’t be able to ship any orders while I’m away. So, please, if you need any crochet tools (Amigurumi Essentials Kits, Detail Stuffing Tools, Stitch Markers), order them by July 12th so I can mail them to you before I leave! Any orders received after this date will be shipped on my return, on July 30th.

Note: only the Crochet Tools category of my shop will be affected by my vacation – all patterns are instantly downloadable, as always 🙂

Review and Win contest

June’s ‘Review and Win’ winner is Haley B, with her Chunky Elegance Rug Trio review:

This is a wonderful pattern and easily customizable! I made mine with only one strand of bulky weight yarn and it is still very large – I also used two colors and it looks beautiful like that as well. With only one strand, I used about three and a half balls of yarn. I highly recomend this pattern; don’t be intimidated by how intricate it looks because the instructions are very clear!

Congrats Haley – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

To be entered into this month’s draw for a free pattern of your choice, just write a review of any product in my shop – thank you!

Monthly update time! I’ll keep it short and sweet…

Free-For-All CAL

Free-For-All means you have free choice to make any PlanetJune patterns you want! Crochet-along with us from now until July 15th in the PlanetJune Ravelry group. (If you’re new to CALs, check out the PlanetJune Crochet-Along FAQ.)

There are currently 118 patterns to choose from, but not for long – I have 3 new patterns that will hopefully all be ready before the end of this month, if all goes well…

Review and Win contest

May’s ‘Review and Win’ winner is Yasmin L, with her Red Fox & Arctic Fox multipack review:

I love these patterns, not only were they great value but they were also so simple to follow!! At no point did i have to stop and think the pattern through before continuing! After making one Arctic Fox I’m now having requests for more!! Thanks for the amazing patterns.

Congrats Yasmin – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

To be entered into this month’s draw for a free pattern of your choice, just write a review of any product in my shop – thank you!

I’m so grateful to everyone who writes a review in my shop, as they really are the best way for prospective customers to be assured of the quality of my patterns – a fellow customer leaving an honest review is a more credible source than any marketing-type blurb I could write in the description. So I’d like to give a special mention to Monica from Magical Amigurumi, who has been crocheting her way through pretty much all my patterns, and last month went back through the list of everything she’s made and left over 30 reviews! Thank you, Monica!

Craft Tutorials

I’m still (very slowly!) adding my most popular craft tutorials as handy printable PDFs (donationware) in the shop. New arrivals this month include the Polymer Clay Poinsettia and my beautiful realistic Tissue Paper Carnations (from my Folding Trees days):

If you’d like to make these, or my other craft projects, you can find all my donationware craft tutorials in the shop. (And thank you to everyone who’s already donated towards my tutorials – I really do appreciate it!)