My apologies for the long post below, but please read on, there is a surprise waiting at the end! :)
I've never celebrated my "Blogiversary" before. In fact, for the longest time I didn't even know when it was. But a quick look back a couple of days ago revealed that it was surprisingly close. Five years ago today I created my
first blog post. Wow, FIVE years.
Dishcloth Diaries started out as a pattern only blog. I didn't have any intention back then of growing much beyond the few knitted and crocheted dishcloth and potholder patterns I was offering. But then I answered a group challenge with the
Cup O Joe TP Cover. That seemed to be the turning point in my design career. Momentum picked up and more people were visiting the blog.
2009 saw the birth of the year long
Calendar 'Ghan CAL. It was my most ambitious project to date. Although there were times I asked myself, "Why did I commit to this?" I still had fun doing it, and in the end it was totally worth it. It is also the project that put this blog on the "crochet map" so to speak.
By 2010, with the popularity of the Calendar 'Ghan and other non-dishcloth patterns, I began to feel
Dishcloth Diaries was no longer a suitable name for the blog. A name change seemed to be in order but I didn't want to lose anyone. It was a hard decision, but I compromised by changing the name while leaving the URL intact. I'm not sure how effective it was, as I'm still known as Dishcloth Diaries to many. LOL
2011 proved to be an exciting year. Firstly, I adopted an additional persona for myself,
Crochet Amore. It's actually a play on my real name. The first part, Crochet, is for obvious reasons. But the second part, Amore, aside from meaning Love in Italian, is my first initial plus the first four letters of my last name. I thought it was fitting, Crochet Amore = Crochet Love. The
reason for the new name was for my
Ravelry Shop which first opened in July 2011. :)
Additionally, 2011 brought about some exciting new changes for my designing career. My
Flower Tiles afghan appeared in the October issue of
Crochet World magazine. (It's still available for
PDF download) It was so exciting to see my name in print!
Fast forward to 2013. I hate to say it, but I haven't done a whole lot with the blog over the past couple of years. I've checked in
now and
then. Added a few free patterns
here and
there. I've felt guilty for not keeping up, but sometimes life just has a way of taking turns in
unexpected directions.
5 Years is really not long in the grand scheme of things. In some ways it feels like it's been longer, in other ways it seems like it went by in a flash. I do want to say thank you for hanging in there with me through the ups and downs. I couldn't have done it without you! The enthusiasm, encouragement, support, and friendship I have received over the past five years has meant so much to me.
As a way of saying thank you, I am offering a 15% discount on all patterns in my Ravelry store. The coupon code is "5years" and is valid now through March 31, 2013. You can click here to automatically receive the coupon. Sorry, the promotion is over, but keep watching for new patterns and occasional coupon codes. :)
Here's to hoping for many more "5 year celebrations" :)
