Throwback Thursday ... and Time for a Celebration

The Festival Shawl, the project that launched
it all for me as a designer.

I have not really participated in throwback Thursday, although I have favorited and liked a lot of TBT (acronym for throwback Thursday) posts across various social media platforms. However, this is one Thursday for which a little looking back is appropriate.

I originally blogged about the Festival Shawl on Thursday, January 6, 2011. While this stitch design belongs solely to Lyn Robinson it had, according to her, been basically abandoned. Since she hadn't done anything with it, Lyn posted in a Ravelry group we both belonged to at the time that if anyone was interested in doing something with a stitch pattern that she wasn't doing anything with, to please send her email. Stitch pattern unseen, I contacted her immediately and was truly surprised when she sent it to me. I thought it would have been snapped up by someone before me - I could not believe my good luck. I still get excited recounting my feelings some five years later, because this project was a joy from start to finish. Couple that with the fact that Lyn used my photos on the Ravelry pattern page (a true thrill) and my joy was pretty much complete.

Fast-forward five years: this shawl has logged a whopping 486 completed projects and is queued by an equally astounding 1,674 Ravelry members. A good number of knit patterns achieve this fame and reach, but not so many crochet patterns. I remain honored to be a part of such a phenomenon, because it started me on my own design path, which celebrates its five year anniversary in 2016:

What a long, strange, and ultimately happy trip it's been so far. There have been plenty of highs and lows in the last five years (as you'd pretty much expect), but through it all I have remained independently, happily steadfast in my desire to design. This year is also shaping up to be another banner design year I am so happy to report.

So, of course, there will be announcements associated with this year-long anniversary celebration. The first one is easy and something in which everyone can (and I hope will) participate - answering a few quick questions in a survey I've put together (which you can launch straight into at the end of this blogpost).

The survey will be open until the end of the day Sunday, February 7th, after which I'll close it, tally up all the responses, and then make a few more announcements. 

To those who have been a part of this long, winding five-year road - either through reading the blog, or making one of my designs, or interacting with me via social media, I humbly thank you. I hope I will "see" each and every one of you throughout this year-long celebration.

Finally, a word about 5 year anniversaries. They are usually marked with silverware, wood, daisies, and rose quartz. Since I wanted to include my crochet hooks in this montage, I'm fudging the wood slightly - bamboo will have to do.

So, without further ado, thanks so much and here's the survey: