The Two Biggest Lessons Learned in Two Years of Crochet Blogging

I was reminded not too long ago that the two-year anniversary for the Megmade with Love website is today. Which sorta blows my mind, because it seems as if the time has absolutely flown since diving into this lil’ dream of mine. Keeping the theme of “two” alive, I thought I’d share two of the most important lessons I’ve learned since first officially purchasing my web domain and hitting that publish button for the very first time.

Lesson #1: Consistency is your FRIEND

Wanna know one of biggest ways, I believe, I was able to begin making a substantial amount of money blogging within a few months of starting? I think it was the fact that when I started, I decided I would post twice a week (oooOOo stickin’ to that “two” theme right there) for at least one year. It was a commitment I wanted to stick to, mostly because I had a really bad habit of starting something, then quitting. It was, in a way, forcing me to give it my all and to not let “failure” drive me into apathy.

So I stuck with that commitment to my blog for the most part, posting both patterns and crochet-related articles (now that I reflect on that, it makes me feel silly for dropping that habit— it was a good one for my business!). So week in and week out I showed up to the blog, and posted to it. At the time, I had really no audience built up whatsoever, I just shared the patterns in groups on Facebook and on Pinterest. I’m not gonna lie, sometimes it was really, really hard to keep wanting to post on the blog. I had cricket chirps on many posts in the beginning, and I often wondered if this thing would ever take off… but I was hungry for this dream so I kept at it!

Eventually stuff started picking up for the blog as I was sharing to more group boards on Pinterest that had more of following behind them. Which, by the way, if you’re just starting out or thinking about starting a crochet blog, I’d 100% suggest finding group boards for you share your posts with over on Pinterest. That is THE way you will get those eyes on your content. Sure, social media and whatnot helps some, but Pinterest is magical tool, I’m telling ya.

And to add to the topic of consistency, I was very much consistently pinning those articles and patterns I posted on my blog to those group boards on Pinterest. Each board has rules for the amount of times you’re able to share, but I usually stuck with 2-3 pins per day on each of the boards. It’s insane to me how easy it is to get your content seen out there by, in a sense, piggy-backing on another’s audience. And the people who run the boards get great content out of it too, which attracts more followers.. so it’s a win-win.

Another little way I honed in on consistency in my business was posting to social media regularly, usually daily. I learned the value of the trust you build with your “peeps” (aka your audience) by showing up day in and day out. Which also applies to the twice a week blog posting. It really does provide that trust factor that your audience needs when they’re deciding if they want to become a follower of your work. And that’s why I value it so much… in the eyes of someone following your blog it means everything to be reliable and trustworthy. Because honestly ain’t nobody got time for a half-a$$ blog.. because this is the internet and there’s countless other people to follow.

Lesson #2: Viewing failure differently

For some strange reason before I got into blogging and owning a business, I built up this fear of so-called "failure”. I realize now that my view of failure was so skewed… It’s like I made it into this giant that it really wasn’t. If I didn’t get anywhere with my blog or quit again like I had done before, because it didn’t take off, I was doomed in my mind. And it honestly kept me from taking the plunge into Megmade with Love for quite some time. I would think, what if I look like a fool, yet again, if this ended up being another one of those seemingly good business ventures I’d taken before??

But ya know what? When I take a step back and look at it—that all really just stemmed from caring too much about what other people thought of me, it’s as if I thought the whole world was keeping an eye out for me to have another business flop. But that was just all in my mind. And, ya know, it makes me wonder how many other people are debilitated by this silly illusion that is future failure. Ya know… the illusion that we’re gonna crash and burn when we go after what’s so incredibly important to us… and then to top it all off everyone is going to point and snicker when you do.

Well I’m here to say it’s not the end of the world if something doesn’t go as expected or if one of your ideas absolutely flops. Something I learned early on is that I should use failure as tool or as data. Because when you fail, it’s really valuable information for you and your business— you now know what not to do or how not to do it. Sure, it probably stung when you “failed” but that’s just how it goes as an entrepreneur. It’s far more productive to say “alright, what can I learn from this?” than “this is so embarrassing, I guess I’m a failure now…”.

For example, like I mentioned earlier, how I’d quit multiple business ventures in the past. I once had a little photography side hustle and after that I attempted a wooden sign-making business— I ended up deciding both were just something I wasn’t passionate about. They just weren’t my “thing”. Sure I enjoyed doing them to some extent, but I certainly didn’t find joy in making a complete business out of them. In the midst of straying away from both of those things I honestly believed myself to be a failure. I thought I just couldn’t get my act together and decide on a career path.. I thought I was lost and pathetic. But now I look back and just see it so simply: I tried something… It wasn’t for me, so I moved on. I’m so glad I got over myself and realized I should give it another go. And I get it, it’s really hard to keep getting back up after things don’t seem to be going well. Especially when it’s time and time again. But I can’t shake the thought that I’d rather keep giving it my all than to settle and wish I would have.

So in the end failure=data… don’t give it any more power than that, and I promise you’ll see how it positively affects your life and business.

So those are my top two lessons from the two years here on good ol’ Megmade with Love. I’ve enjoyed this process of becoming a better business owner— I’m far from perfect, but I’m having a heck of a good time doing what brings me joy. Hope these little lessons were of some value to you! I love sharing stuff I’ve learned while blogging, in hopes that someone else may gain some knowledge or that it may be that “something” they needed to hear to encourage them to keep going.

Take care!

Meg

Free Crochet Pattern for the Bad Hair Day Beanie

***You can find the PDF version of this pattern in the shop by clicking HERE, great for easy printing! For the free pattern, scroll down into the post****

I’m just pleased as punch to bring you the Bad Hair Day Beanie pattern! This hat, designed with the idea of a crochet kit in mind, is quickly becoming my “ohcrapmyhairlookshorriblebetterthrowsomethingoveritbeforeigo” beanie. Unfortunately that was way too long of a name for this hat.. so let’s just go with the Bad Hair Day Beanie. It features the ever-so-lovely berry stitch that offers oogles (sure, that’s a word) of texture, and is actually worked up in rows rather than rounds. I think you’re gonna dig this beanie!

For my hat, I added a faux fur pom (see the tutorial for how to make your own HERE) and the coolest ever faux leather label made by All This Wood. I personally love the finishing touch a label makes on handmade piece, and the fact that it says bad hair day makes it all the better. If you’re in the market for some labels for your biz, I’d certainly check out All This Wood. They were a pleasure to work with and were very prompt with getting the product to me— I was impressed :)

Like mentioned above, this hat was designed with a kit in mind (psst still a few left in the shop HERE). I thought it’d be so fun to put together all the materials to make this beanie, including the pom makings and the label.. and I did, indeed, have a fun time with it! I’m thinking you’ll see more kits this year from Megmade with Love.

I really hope you enjoy this pattern… it’s made unlike any other hat I’ve designed before. It’s surprisingly simple, and would make the perfect weekend project.

***You can find the PDF version of this pattern in the shop by clicking HERE, great for easy printing!****

What you’ll need:

-approximately 275 yards of worsted weight (4) yarn (I used Yarn Bee Soft Secret in “Garnet” found HERE)

-size h (5 mm) hook, or size needed to obtain gauge

-yarn needle

-other desired add-ons.. pom, label

Gauge:

15 hdc by 12 rows equals a four-inch square

Notes:

-hat is designed to fit a woman’s head, and is double brimmed

-hat is worked from the brim-up and is worked in rows rather than rounds

-ch’s at the beginning of rounds do not count as sts

HOW TO BERRY STITCH:

insert hook into specified st, draw yarn back through, ch 3, yo and draw through two loops on hook.

Pattern:

Brim:

Row 1) ch 21, hdc in 2nd ch from hook and across (20 total sts)

Rows 2-52) ch 1, turn, hdc in BLO across row (20 total sts)

-do not finish off

Body of hat:

Row 1) picking up where you left off on the brim: ch 1, then begin working down the long side of your brim. You will work a sequence of [sc, 2 sc] into the very edges of each row of the ribbed brim. Work all the way across. See photo above for assistance. (78 total sts)

Row 2) ch 1, turn, [berry st, sc] across row. last st is a sc (78 total sts)

Row 3) ch 1, turn, sc across row (78 total sts)

Row 4) ch 1, turn, [sc, berry st] across-- sc in last 2 sts (78 total sts)

Row 5) ch 1, turn, sc across row (78 total sts)

Rows 6-20) repeat rows 2-5 in sequence. Row 20 will be a repeat of row 4.

Row 21) ch 1, turn, [sc2tog, sc in next 4 sts] across row (65 total sts)

Row 22) ch 1, turn, [berry st, sc] across row-- sc in last 2 sts (65 total sts)

Row 23) ch 1, turn, [sc2tog, sc in next 3 sts) across row (52 total sts)

Row 24) ch 1, turn, [sc, berry st] across row-- sc in last 2 sts (52 total sts)

Row 25) ch 1, turn, [sc2tog, sc in next 2 sts] across row (39 total sts)

Row 26) ch 1, turn, [berry st, sc] across row-- sc in last 2 sts (39 total sts)

Row 27) ch 1, turn, [sc2tog, sc] across row (26 total sts)

Row 28) ch 1, turn, [sc, berry st] across row-- sc in last 2 sts (26 total sts)

Row 29) ch 1, turn, sc2tog across row (13 total sts)

Row 30) ch 1, turn, [berry st, sc] sc in last 2 sts (13 total sts)

Row 31) ch 1, turn, sc across row (13 total sts)

-do not finish off

Fold the hat in half, like shown in the photo above(textured side is on the inside). And picking up where you left off in row 31, sl st the two open sides together, working all the way down.

Next you’ll close up the hole on the top of the hat. Turn the hat right side out, and using yarn needle and a piece of yarn, make a loose running stitch along the very last row and pull tight to close, then tie a couple of knots to secure on the inside.

Then you’ll fold up the brim, and sew it so it’ll stay in place. I tacked it down in five different spots along the very edge by making a couple of passes with a piece of yarn and needle then tying a few knots to secure.

Once all your ends are tucked away + all your special adornments are added on… your bad hair day beanie is finito!

Hope you thought this beanie was a DELIGHT! I don’t even know why, but the fact that it’s made in rows makes me like this hat even more. If you make one yourself, do share with me over on Insta, I’d kinda sorta love to admire it :)

Take care and happy hookin’
Meg