Getting Ready for a Collection Launch In This Most Amazing Time

I have been working since the beginning of the year on this year's Progress, Hope, & Happiness collection which will, all forces willing, launch June 26 - two Fridays from now. To say it has been a roller coaster of a ride would be an understatement; what has been my saving grace is coordinating and working alongside an impressive group of indie dyers and designers.

Of course we all know about COVID-19 and our world-wide lockdown. What many may not know is that the lockdown affected mail ... well, ok, at least I did not, until I and another dyer tried sending yarn support around the world. For both of us, packages either just flat-out did not arrive, or it took, literally, months for the designers to receive.

Then, one of our indie designers actually contracted the virus and in the whirlwind hospitalization and isolation, could not let any of us know. While I am so glad to report she is out of the hospital, out of home quarantine post-hospitalization, and now back with her family, she is still catching up on her designing schedule. To add insult to injury, that same designer also, in the last two weeks, had a major death in the family.

Of course, our initial focus - Tokyo - was chosen because of it's Olympic world stage. Yes, and we all know what happened to that.

And, since all roller coaster rides must rise after a death-defying drop, one of our indie dyers also gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!  Mom and child are doing fine, now.

Through all of this (and the behind the scenes logistics have been super busy this year), I have managed to start a new Instagram feed just for the Progress, Hope, & Happiness collection, complete with a spiffy new Linktree that contains links to all of the past collections (if you'd like to go down indie dyer + designer lane), coordinate designers and dyers from around the world, including two new-to-the-collections' designers (from New Zealand and Canada, respectively), start my own small indie dyer business (the soft opening of the yarns which can be viewed and purchased here in my online Big Cartel shop - it's soft because I will still be adding bases between now and collection launch, and then colorways are limited to my first six), all while working on my own knit and crochet designs for the collection, using both my yarns as well as one of my fellow indie dyer's yarns.

When I say that I can see the finish line and it feels incredible, I am not kidding! However, to work alongside such an incredible group of dyers and designers has truly been life-affirming. Since one of this year's designers also happens to be black, it has been my privilege to center her experiences and words (as well as other black designers and crafters) over the last few weeks. It goes without saying (and should be evident to anyone who has read and followed this blog for any length of time) that I stand with black lives - they have always mattered. Full stop.

In case anyone should doubt the ability of a group of women to come together and just slay a project, let me put that doubt permanently to rest. I am so grateful for this group of independent and creative minds who have provided critical and valuable input throughout this collection's process. I hope I have created an environment that lets them know that when they speak up, I listen and make adjustments accordingly. I have always tried to foster such an environment throughout all the previous collections, but this year it definitely seems to have solidified. 

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Alright my making friends, our first yarn prizes give-away has been announced in our #Ravelry group! If you look at the brand spanking new linktree in this insta feed bio, you will see the Ravelry group link (and you can stroll down past look books Lane and see some of the amazing yarns and designs from previous years). All the deets are on Ravelry, and you will need to be a Ravelry group member in order to be eligible to win. That, and clicking the Insta love buttons on any of this year's dyers" new colorways with our #happinessmakealong2020 hashtag, is all you need to do in order to be in on a great yarn prize! #crochetersaroundtheworld #knittersofravelry #knittersaroundtheworld #crochetinspiration #blackgirlscraft #blackgirlsknit #blackgirlscrochet

A post shared by Denise Voie de Vie (@progresshopehappiness) on Jun 10, 2020 at 5:36pm PDT

Right now we have a prize challenge going on Instagram - click through to the above post, start clicking some love for our dyers' yarns, and definitely make certain you follow the collection's feed as well as join our Ravelry group! I hope you will take these next two weeks and follow as our designers complete their behind-the-scenes efforts and our dyers' launch their amazing new colorways created specifically for this collection. 

In a world that is going through so much upheaval, loss, and grief, this creative endeavor, and these creative designers and dyers, have been a real bright spot for me, and I thank my lucky stars its been here. 

And Another New Year Begins

Everyone, happy new year and bonne année! With this new year, and indeed the beginning of this new decade, I present this year's indie dyer call:

Further visual inspiration for dyers can be found on this Pinterest board. If there are any additional questions, do feel free to check out the appropriate Ravelry thread in the D+D Summer Fun swap group.

2019 Progress, Hope, & Happiness Collection Launch - Year 3!

Oh my friendly makers - it is the beginning of June, and for the third year in a row, I have curated, coordinated, and/or otherwise wrangled a collection of summer makes, and it went live last Friday!  For a viewing of the collection's look book, just click on it below:

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am with this year's designs, and the yarny colorways created and/or picked especially for the collection really make the designs stand out. As usual, we have our make-a-long home on Ravelry and people are starting to figure out what they would like to make, and what yarns they will be using.

I have two designs in the collection this year, and they are meant to help anyone get out there for a quick adventure or two. I happily present the Rings of Saturn, a really well-sized bag great for short weekend jaunts (it's small yet so roomy); and Weekend Adventure - a tee with a whole lot of pink attitude that is easily customized to fit a maker's personal style.

There are also a good number of shawls, some head wear, a super tank (in pink!), and a cowl that I really want to make (along with several other designs). So much to make; so little crafty maker time. Grrrr.

Also, there are a few new things this year: if you are on Instagram, do follow the MAL's hashtag #happinessmakealong2019 - we are currently running an #artadventure challenge that, if craftily played, can find both you and a tagged friend winning prizes, including a grand prize (and this year's other big new thing): an e-book of the entire collection of 12 designs! That's right, the collection has an e-book for sale this year exclusively on Swatch Warriors (retailing for $19.95, with most of that going directly to all nine participating designers), but only for a limited time (basically, through the end of July, which is when the maker event ends).

Given the ups and downs in the yarn publishing industry so far this year, it is a testament to my fellow indie designers and dyers that we have just not given up and are continuing to forge our own designing path. I cannot tell you how pleased and proud I am to be among the company of these talented artists. I hope you will check out the look book, buy a pattern or two, or even gift an e-book to someone just because. Then, get your yarn and making tools all lined up and come join us as we each find our own yarny renewal.

Happy summer, everyone! 

The 2018 Indie Designer Gift-a-long - Some Opening Thoughts

Yes, everyone, it is that time of year again – the 2018 Indie Designer Gift-a-long rang the opening bell on Friday, November 23^rd, at 8:00 pm EST. This year’s version features a whopping 349 designers, including yours truly.

As usual, we are in the midst of this year’s GAL kick-off sale – each of those 349 designers has designated up to 20 items eligible for a nifty 25% off at checkout (with the giftalong2018 code entered) – and I am not immune to a good sale. No, no siree Bob. Each year I purchase patterns from my fellow designers, and I have (so far, I may or may not be done) picked up three designs that I just may work up during the next six weeks: the Cacophony Shawl from upstart designer Margo Bauman, Annie Modesitt’s awesome Pembroke Jacket, and the Urban Frieze cowl from one of my favorite Italy-based indie designers, Paola Albergamo. These designs figure (to a greater or lesser degree) into my own gift-making plans this season, and I’ll be posting project progress and photos to my Instagram feed (with all appropriate hashtags), so I’d suggest following there for all the good and (goofing!) details.

A sampling from my design sale bundle

As is also my yearly wont, I once again have put together a 2018 GAL Pinterest board of a sampling of totally rockin’ designs from virtually all 349 of my fellow designers. Yup, I spent two days and more mugs of coffee than I can count digging through each designer’s respective sale bundle (which we each designate beforehand), as well as looking through some non-sale items in certain instances, and taking a peek at a seemingly never-ending stream of photos to put together one of the most colorful, eye-catching displays of indie crochet and knit designs, like, ever. And, yes, my entire sale bundle of designs is interspersed in the board (containing almost 800 pins!!!), but that is not why I have, and continue to, engage in this design-pinning marathon.

Designing exclusively in a fiber medium (specifically crochet and knit garments and accessories for both self and home) is, at its most basic, a reflection of self and what animates each of us. My fellow indie designers and I put our hearts and souls and sweat and tears and talent into each and every design we publish.  We put ourselves out there every day in ways big and small. It is all guts and a very teeny, tiny, eensy, weensy amount of glory. This yearly gift-making celebration was conceived as a way to celebrate indie designers and their designs. Curating a Pinterest board every year is my way of contributing to that celebration. It is geared to showing off my fellow designers’ respective designs, and there is an additional happy and long-lasting by-product.

As I think most devotees of Pinterest know, pinners receive various Pinterest emails each week pushing pins and boards. I also receive (along with most other pinners with businesses) a weekly recap of one’s top three pins. For every week during the last oh, at least, two months, one of my most popular pins is one I pinned to my 2015 curated Gift-a-along board. Yes, a pin from 2015 is still getting all kinds of exposure for its designer.  That is one helluva designy half-life, and one I am more than pleased and happy to report and help create.

So, please, I hope everyone will join me in celebrating our yearly tribute to indie design, indie designers who give so much all the time, and makers who embrace the best of the season and make gifts like there’s no tomorrow. ‘Tis the season for it all, people. I raise my coffee mug to that.

Progress, Hope, & Happiness 2018: Women & Water is Now Published!!!!

Hello my maker friends. I hope June finds each of you ushering in the latest season with cheer and style (summer for those in the Northern hemisphere, winter for those of you south of the Equator).

If you will recall, I announced the call for this year's summer collection and maker event here on the blog. Five months, four indie dyers, and nine indie designers later, the collection is published:

The Women & Water collection turned out even better than I could have hoped for. As you will see from the look book, the designers chosen by the dyers absolutely knocked themselves out. I, admittedly, am also really pleased with my own photography and design handiwork. It is a real pleasure to be among such amazing indie design company, so raising my own game just came naturally.

The worldwide maker event is officially hosted here on Ravelry, and we have a current Instagram hashtag challenge using the #happinessmakealong2018 event hashtag. We have already given out prizes, and more are on the way, both during the summer make-a-long (which runs through July 31), as well as at the end based on all the wonderful finished projects I know will be produced (our FO thread has been christened in a most stunning manner). Do feel free to head on over and join us - make something fun for yourself and enjoy this season of making, whether in warmth or the beginning of winter.