My old website was just that: old! The design was done seven years ago and was due for some brightening up. Categories needed to be redefined and reorganized, new books and patterns needed to be added, I wanted to be able to link to my videos, and I was desperate for a blogging tool that was less balky than the one I was struggling with. Most of all, I wanted to improve the user experience, whether you're coming to my site from a PC, phone, or other mobile device.
Photo from upcoming class
FolioFLY Website Solutions listened to my goals for the website and came up with a complete redesign (they had done my previous site and were familiar with my work). They migrated me to SquareSpace and developed a nice, clean look. We went back and forth many times over the last 4-6 weeks honing each page to perfection. One really great feature is on the books page, where you can click on "Sneak Peek" and see photos of all of the projects in a book.
A crucial thing for me was the blogging tool. I would have blogged more regularly if it hadn't been so frustrating trying to position photos in WordPress and getting the text to wrap properly. (If you love WordPress, feel free to blame me for any issues I had with it! Suffice it to say that even after much instruction and many attempts--including working with the html code--it was not the right platform for me.)
And now the big day is here: my first blog post using SquareSpace! Let me bring you up to date with the news.
One-Skein Baby Projects has received several published reviews. Marty Miller wrote about it on Not Your Granny's Crochet, Kristine at Ambassador Crochet blogged about it here, and Sue at Crochet Addict UK posted her review here. Even I got into the act with a guest blog for Leisure Arts in which I talked about the design process.
Meanwhile, things keep moving through the pipeline. Easy Afghans will be released next week!
Cover photo of Easy Afghans
The class I filmed for Annie's will be live on May 17th! As soon as I get the go-ahead, I'll share the details with you.
And Crochet Cowls is making its way through production. I've started talking with some yarn shop folks about doing release events, book-signings, and master classes.
Green Fields Capelet from Crochet Cowls
Due to popular demand I am finally creating some instructional videos. I learn something new with each one, and continue to improve the lighting and editing. If you're interested, please subscribe to my YouTube channel here. Let me know if you want to see a particular stitch demonstrated. So far I've been concentrating on Tunisian crochet, but I'm not going to limit the videos to that branch of crochet.
I still have a lot to learn about how my new website works, and how I can update it myself. For now, I'm thrilled with the way it looks and works, and I'm very grateful to FolioFLY for their immense patience with me as we went through the redesign process!