Wow… It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I can’t believe it’s May already! And there have certainly been several times over the past few months when I thought “Hey, I should really do a blog post!” but there just always seemed to be about ten other things that needed to be done first.
On top of that, I really had to bounce back after 2021. 2021 was tough. I know that 2020 was no picnic for many people, especially those working in the creative and arts industries, but I was fortunate that the first lot of extended lockdowns paired quite nicely with my love of sitting down and making stuff with my hands. So I stayed home, crafted my way through the worst of it, and kept up with my knitting students as best I could via Zoom.
When things started to open up again though, it got tricky. It felt like the rules were always changing – I’d reopen for group classes one week, only to have to cut back to seeing people individually the next. Smaller groups and a lack of market opportunities meant that earning a living became a lot more difficult than it had been, and I found myself taking on every single project and promotional opportunity I could to try to keep things going. And finally, the yarn shop where I had been teaching closed. Yeouch! What a mess!
So, the last few months have really been about tidying up and getting things back to some sort of order. That meant wrapping up any outstanding Beastie commissions…
… Setting up a new website for my knitting classes so that people can find me easily…
(You can check it out for yourself, here)
…And becoming my own yarn store!
I’ve also started knitting Aran pieces for an up-and-coming Irish knitwear designer… Because, you know, I’m not spending enough time knitting these days already.
And all this time away from blogging has one big upside – I have SO MANY Beasties to share with you all! So I’ll be diving into that in the next post, in two weeks’ time. In the meantime, you can keep up with the yarnier side of things on my new knitting blog. From now on, I’ll be alternating posts here with posts on the new website, so if wool, knitting and all that good stuff floats your boat, be sure to add the Knit With Helen blog to your Reader!
So, enough about me… What have you been up to since we last spoke? Be sure to let me know in the comments!
Great to have you back in the blog world! I hear you on the complications of emerging from lockdown into the next phases of the pandemic. Apart from being furloughed and losing my income, lockdown was a breeze for me. I am an introverted hermit with too many hobbies and not enough time and I happen to like the people I was trapped with. The complications came into my life when I had to return to teaching and all of the rules kept fluctuating. 2021 was also one of the roughest and toughest years of my life for personal reasons. My daily art practice dwindled into nothingness so now I am looking forward to summer break so I can recalibrate my life and build in some self-care, including making time for art.
Yay, nice to see you too, Laura! And yikes, it sounds like you had a rough ride in 2021 – I’m sorry to hear you weren’t able to find your regular art time, which always seemed to be such an important part of your routine pre-pandemic. Hopefully your summer break will be just the thing to let you get back into it again! Take care and thanks for stopping in 😊
I’m so sorry about 2021, and I completely relate! In many ways, the black and white nature of 2020 simplified things… and then we emerged into an even more complicated world than before. I’m glad you persevered and found ways to make the changes work for you! Wishing you all the luck an support on moving forward in 2022… and can’t wait to see more Beasties!
Awww, thank you so much Ali! I hope you’re successfully finding your way around the handcrafting landscape of 2022 too… Cheers for popping in 😃
Welcome back, Queen of the Beasties. Sorry to read that you have had a tough time. May things go better for you.
I think your knitting website is stupendous. May the needles keep clicking
Awww, thanks Mariss! It’s nice to be back, and cheers for checking out the new website 😁 Hope all is well with you!
Wow look at you – continuing to build your Beastie and Knitting Teaching Empire – awesome! I can imagine how challenging it was with all the rules constantly changing and congratulations for hanging in there. Sorry the shop you used to teach at closed. Congrats on the new website!
Ooopsie! There’s a comment that nearly slipped through the cracks 😂 Thank you, Tierney… It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster alright but I’m hoping for a more sedate pace from here on out! Cheers for stopping in 😁