Let’s just get this out of the way, right away. It’s time for my annual birthday sale! All Polly Plum patterns are 36% off with coupon code: 36candles
Expires midnight PDT, October 27th, 2019.
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Now, on to the blog post…
As of writing this, my 36th birthday is just 3 days away. Normally birthdays are bittersweet to me, but I will say I’m extra excited this year because I’m going to be a square again! (6×6 =36) Yes, that makes math-nerd me unreasonably happy.
This year, I thought it would be a great idea to look back at what I’ve accomplished in my 36th year before looking forward towards what I want to accomplish in my 37th. I have a tendency to think too much about the goals I haven’t met, the tasks I haven’t completed, and the other things I’ve let fall by the wayside. So I make it a practice to take a moment, and a breath, and then allow myself the room to be proud of what I have done.
I also tend to forget what challenges I faced when I was reaching for my goals. I had a baby! My first baby. At 35. Need I say more? It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. She’s completely amazing, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat for her.
Looking back, according to my Ravelry Notebook, last year around this time I actually started designing the Gwendolyn square. Which is funny because it’s the last design I’ve published as a 35 year old. I love the frills of this square. It’s not so much floral. It’s frilly.
Gwendolyn was an evolution of the Ferris square, which works as a 12″ or 6″ square. This little motif makes me so happy. I really want to do a scrapy-ghan out of a ton of them, but never got around to it.
There was also Savannah. This one was waiting in my design pile for quite a long time before I finally published it. I’m not sure what I was waiting for. I was really doubting myself on this one, but in the end I love it so much. It has a bit of a southwestern vibe, but the construction is really simple and light and airy, whereas more often southwestern designs tend to be on the heavy side.
I hit a huge milestone with Imagine – 100 patterns!!! I really thought I’d be reaching that number sooner, but babies have a way of interfering with our plans, don’t they? I’d also planned to write out a blog post and publish what this square means to me and why it bears its name. Maybe I’ll get around to that too.
Imagine also worked great as a hexagon so I published that too! These colors are also truer to my original vision.
This year was especially challenging with a little one in tow. I started my 36th year being VERY pregnant. And I’ll be completely honest, those were some of the hardest weeks of my life. Everything went wrong. I had 3 weekly appointments to go to, plus Mr. Plum was dealing with some of his health issues and trying to get appointments wrapped up before baby. Then… two weeks before Miss Plum arrived, Mr. Plum got really sick. He wasn’t hospitalized, but he was close to it. Then our doula backed out on us last minute. Fortunately, the amazing organization that runs the doula program was able to find us a new doula who was just… so much better for us. And Mr. Plum got better surprisingly fast. But it was still terrible to deal with. Somehow, amidst all the turmoil, the same day the doula quit I published Rebel Ripple.
Yarn pack available from Deramores.com
It might seem completely crazy to some that I would do that, but in fact, it gave me something productive to focus on when it felt like my world was falling apart. Staying stress-free wasn’t an option anymore, so coping was all I could do.
I’d had every intention of publishing After a While, Argyle at the same time as Rebel Ripple, but I ended up putting it off because of all that was going on. See, I did take something off my plate. Just don’t ask the testers how long I held on to my dream of releasing them together before I finally admit it wasn’t going to happen.
Yarn packs available from Deramores.com
When I finally published After a While, Argyle, Little Miss was almost 2 months old. In the background I was struggling with breastfeeding – so much pain! We got it figured out when someone finally diagnosed a lip tie. (It’s been great since and we’re still going strong. Woot!) But just as we got that figured out the food allergies kicked in. And then they found hip dysplasia. There were tons of doctors’ visits, special diets, antihistamines, and 6 weeks in a Pavlik harness. Wow. It was a tough start to the year. I’m happy to report things are much smoother now and doctor’s visits are just check ups these days. But, I suppose this was why it was so long before my next big project.
Arabella. Yes, I managed to sneak in a crochet along this year. It’d been two years since I’d held my last CAL, Stardust Melodies, and it seemed like it was time. I’m really glad I did. It was a great chance to reconnect with people in my Facebook and Ravelry groups. It also helped me take more time on each pattern section to give it my all.
original color palette
Ella Bella color palette
I’m incredibly proud of the detail I put into Arabella’s design. Especially that border.
I think, now, I’m ready to tackle next year. Four afghan squares and 3 afghans doesn’t sound like a lot when I say it. But, recognizing what a huge transition my life has undergone while I did those is important. Little Miss Plum is the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me and the challenges that came with having her were absolutely worth it.
My goals for my next year aren’t to bring you even more new patterns. There will be plenty, yes, but that’s not the goal. My goal is to do an even better job with them. Better pattern writing. Better tutorials. Better presentation. Better explanations. Better (and more) videos. And, better designs.
Thank you for hanging in there with me and offering your kind words and support through this year. I haven’t always been able to say it, but it’s meant so much to me. Thank you. I hope you’ll stick around to see what I’ve got in store for my next trip around the sun.
Please check out the Patterns page here on Every Trick on the Hook or my Ravelry store to see more of my patterns, both free and paid.
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