Smiling Andrea is blurred out in the background while the focus is on a pile of knitted swatches. Penguins march across the one on the front of the pile.

A Little Reflection

Each year I like to take a few moments to reflect on how things went this year for me personally and for my business. I’m sharing it here so you can get a little window into how I think about my work and life.

What projects did I accomplish?

Most of what I do is in process for a very long time before I consider it to have been “accomplished,” but I’m going to just include things here that actually got launched into the world.

Of course, the main thing in 2023 was my new book, KnitOvation Stitch Dictionary! But I also published patterns this year and made progress on work for next year too.

KnitOvation Stitch Dictionary

Somehow I haven’t taken any photos of my holding my book, so all I have is this blurry video screen shot! But I think it communicates my emotions about the launch. What a joy and a relief! The team who helped me make this book did such an incredible job and I’m so grateful to them. We worked on this project together for years before it came to fruition. Thank you so much for all the support you’ve given the book and its companion, AlterKnit Stitch Dictionary! My hope is that both books find a home on knitters’ book shelves as valuable resources for years to come.

Pattern Launches

Most of my 2023 patterns were for my Gauge club and my book, but I did publish two indie patterns this year.

Pauline smiling wearing a dark cowl with botanical colourwork in shades of teal and orange.

Under the Canopy

This moody cowl was inspired by the ferns and flowers here in Victoria. I adored that beautiful colour-change using Spincycle Yarns Dyed in the Wool and used one of my favourite woolen spun Cormo wools for the background, Harrisville Night Shades. It’s a great, cozy project for this time of year when things feel dark and gloomy.

AD and JD smiling wearing matching yoke pullovers in contrasting colours.

Kids’ Dissent

Kids have a special sense about fairness in the world, so it seemed right to design a Dissent Pullover inspired by the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to fit them. Plus, I love seeing matching grown-up and kids sweaters. This one comes in sizes to fit baby to about age 10 and you can get the grownup version here.

Knitter’s Dude Update

The Knitter’s Dude and Little Dude have been some of my most popular patterns and I can’t believe they were published way back in 2015! So it was time to give them a little update. I used all the info from the many, many Ravelry projects, plus the questions I’ve gotten over the years to improve wording, adjust the layout, and generally make the patterns easier to use.

Andrea is wearing a white, brown, and black patterned cardigan and holding a mug of tea.

Gauge Summer Club

Every summer Catherine at Gauge Dye Works and I design projects together. This year our theme was the ocean and I loved playing with watery concepts for this one. We went from literal to much more abstract, playing with lots of different techniques that we thought were both approachable and adventurous. These three patterns and yarns were exclusive to the club for this year, but will be available to the general public next summer.

KnitOvation Patterns

My book KnitOvation Stitch Dictionary includes three patterns and I want to give them a special shoutout here because I think they add a lot to the book and are really great designs! All three were specially created to be jumping-off points to help knitters understand how colourwork can fit into knitted designs and how they can customize using book motifs or their own creations. From left to right the patterns are, Midnight Garden Pullover, Domed Toque, and Nautilus Mitts.

Other Business Projects

I do most of my business tasks myself, so I’m going to take a quick minute to celebrate some of what that entails:

Sent out a newsletter to my beloved subscribers at least once a week. Thank you so much to those of you who get my letter! (If you want to sign up, here’s the link.)
Shared my work and loves on Instagram. This year I had a team member help me draft my posts using text and images from my blog and I created a lot more videos than I did the year before. Big shout-out to Elyce for making this process much easier for me this year! (This was my most engaging post ever. Thanks for the love for my new book!)
Supported my customers. I answer pattern-related questions by email very regularly. It takes a lot of time referencing patterns I may not have looked in ages, but it’s important for me to offer this service. If you have a pattern question, you can send it to contact@andrearangel.com.
Kept my books and did all the other business-y stuff needed to keep things going. Admin work is a big part of my job that’s invisible to other folks, but a business can’t run without it.
Practiced photography. I had so much fun shooting in the forest with Pauline and it was a particularly joyful experience to work with kids! Plus I never get tired of photographing flowers and birds.
Blogged. I blogged so much this year! I think I’ll probably scale back a bit for 2024, but I’ll still be sharing my nature and knitting posts.
Created new tutorials. Have a look at my Tutorial page to see if there’s something you might want to learn about!
Worked with technical editors and testers to make my patterns as good as I can.
Worked with a virtual assistant, Elyce, at Creative Clerical who helped me with project management, social media sharing, managing my pattern tests, and email management. I’m so grateful for their work!

2024 Intentions

In 2024 I have big plans to create a lot of work. I’m feeling really inspired to focus on design and bring you all lots of new patterns.

So far I’ve got a sweater pattern that’s so close, just needs a second sample knit, the testers to finish, and the photo shoot! Plus, I have coordinating sock and hat patterns with leafy colourwork that are already knitted.

I’m planning to teach two online classes (more about that in the spring!) that will have exclusive patterns included, I’ll design for the Gauge summer club, the Indie Untangled Where We Knit Club (sign up now!), and I have so many sweater ideas! I can’t wait to for what this year will bring!

You’ll also see me slow down my social media and blogging a little bit to make room for all this creation. Business is an experiment and I’m excited to try something new this year.

How about you?

No New Year’s Resolutions here, but do you have any vibes or intentions for 2024? Maybe some feelings about what kind of creativity you want to practice this coming year? Share them below in the comments!

One more thing — A big Sale!

A big part of celebrating a new year is always my January 3 birthday sale! It’s my biggest sale of the year and if you want to stock up on patterns for 2024, it’s a great chance to do that and support my business. If you’re the kind who likes to plan ahead, have a look at my shop and add patterns to your cart now so you can check out when the sale starts. Sign up for my newsletter to get a reminder or just come back here on January 3!

Thank you so much for being here! I’m so honoured that folks choose to read my blog, knit from my patterns, and look at my pictures. I appreciate you!

2023 Year in Review