Thursday, January 13, 2011

Speak!

If you have ever wanted to weigh in with a designer (me!) on forthcoming designs, here's your chance!

For several years now, I have contributed to many clubs, online magazines, and publications and books authored by others. I have been thinking more and more and more about establishing my own club.. or clubs.. in order to gather a community of my particular fans. My ravelry group does a fabulous job of this, of course. But this will be different.. and offer opportunities to give special offers, discounts, and other goodies to the groupies.

I have some firm ideas for these potential clubs, along with some designs in varying stages of completion, but it would help me greatly to have some input.

Right now, I can see two separate clubs on two separate themes happening, each with 5-6 exclusive designs and running concurrently. One will be mainly beaded lace work, but also will include other accessories such as gloves and cowls (beaded of course). The other theme will be Moebius, which I am developing in some very interesting ways at present. Similar to Harmonia’s Rings, which is my most popular pattern, some garment shapes will begin as Moebius and develop into other structures, and some will remain Moebius, but all will start with the Moebius cast on no matter where else they end up. This club will potentially include cowls, wraps, and scarves, but may go as far afield as shrugs or even sweaters. The sky is the limit really.

These two themes mirror my two passions: Beaded lace, and unusual, innovative garment shapes.

So.. want to cast a vote?? Let’s try a poll:

1. Which club would you be interested in joining, or both?
2. Would you like an option to purchase individual installments at a slightly higher price per pattern?
3. What price range do you consider a good one for this type of club?
4. Do you have any special requests for either club? Anything you are dying to see and knit from yours truly?
5. Any things that you DON’T want to see.. sick of triangle shawls, or ?

I would like to offer a gift for your trouble. Using a random number generator, I will be offering gift certificates from my ravelry pattern store to a few lucky responders.

19 comments:

Unknown said...

What a difficult choice! I would like to get more experience with beaded lace first.

2. Would you like an option to purchase individual installments at a slightly higher price per pattern? - yes, please!

3. What price range do you consider a good one for this type of club? - $200 to $250

4. Do you have any special requests for either club? Anything you are dying to see and knit from yours truly? - nope
5. Any things that you DON’T want to see.. sick of triangle shawls, or ? - none - I love to try new things.

Anonymous said...

1. Which club? It's pretty expensive to join a club typically, and then you don't have the choices you would normally have. What about some exclusive kit options instead of a full-blown club.
2. Individual installments? This seems much more flexible . .
3. Price range? Obviously, that depends upon the amount of yarn included. :)
4. Special requests? Just keep up the good work! :) interesting and fun to knit.
5. Any things that you DON’T want to see? Nope.

lisala said...

I would be interested in both if it is just patterns. If yarn is to be included I would choose Mobius.

Price range also depends if it is just patterns or patterns an yarn.

No special requests - I do prefer stoles to triangular shawls.

Looking forward to seeing what comes from this survey.

jill said...

#1: Beaded lace.
#2: No, I'd be more likely to shell out the cost all at once.
#3: 200-250
#4: Please also include the beads with the yarn and the pattern - sometimes it is very hard to find the right sizes. Also, I loved - loved - Queen of Beads, so please don't limit to just Lace. :)
#5: No real 'tiredof's for me.

LoriAngela said...

I would like to join a club that offered six beaded lace patterns in a year. Perhaps a suggested yarn at a sale price for club members? You could highlight your own favourites. I like the idea of shawls and other accessories.
The value would be in the well-written patterns and the support of a KAL on Ravelry plus your yarn suggestions.

asimpleknitter said...

I would join both concurrently! This sounds like a fantastic idea.

Uli said...

1. Both would be interesting.
2. Although I would probably join for the whole time period, sometimes funs are tight ahead of time so the option to opt in as you go, even at a slightly higher price seems like a good one.
3. Price is hard to say... it would depend on the type of yarns and how much yardage is needed etc.
Pretty open to everything else!!! Just your awesome work all on its own will make a great club.

Jane said...

1 I'd probably join both
2. Flexibility is always good
3. Depends on yarn offered - should be cheaper than buying yarn, beads and pattern separately
4. I like all of your patterns
5. I would like to see beads included with yarns as well

LB said...

1. I would definitely be interested in exploring the possibilities of the moebius. If you open a club for that, I'm there!

2. Yes.

3. Ballpark $200.

4. Moebius sweater?!

5. I'd be much more interested in further exploration of the moebius. You've got such neat ideas and I've love to see them applied beyond the usual suspects.

Lisa said...

1. Both are of interest, but I'm most likely to join beaded lace. I'd want to see the Moebius designs first, as I'm more likely to like some and dislike others.

2. Not for me, but I know others would prefer.

3.Is this patterns or patterns & yarn? I'd really prefer a patterns-only option to make use of existing stash. Price - If patterns are $7.50, plus a premium for an exclusive (time limited or eternal?) design. $9/pattern? With yarn - too difficult to calculate with yardage needed, weight, etc.


4. No.

5. No. Triangle shawls are still fun, especially the complex ones.

Maureen said...

1. Which club would you be interested in joining, or both? I'd be interested in the moebius club. "some garment shapes will begin as Moebius and develop into other structures" sounds very intriguing.
2. Would you like an option to purchase individual installments at a slightly higher price per pattern? Yes
3. What price range do you consider a good one for this type of club? With 5 to 6 patterns in the package, I'd say approx $200, assuming we supply our own yarn.
4. Do you have any special requests for either club? Anything you are dying to see and knit from yours truly? Nothing specific.
5. Any things that you DON’T want to see.. sick of triangle shawls, or ?No

Robin said...

1. I would be interested in both types of clubs.
2. I would purchase the whole club subscription for the beaded lace club, but might want the option of individual patterns for the mobius club
3. Hmmmm...I guess it depends on what your costs are and what is provided (yarn, patterns, support, etc.). Probably in the $175 to $275 range.
4. For the mobius club, it would be great to see each pattern build upon the last one,ending with a larger piece such as a sweater. For the beaded lace, I always love a variety of patterns, such as a large shawl, cowl, socks, or even a vest or sweater.
5. I like it when the patterns are challenging - I wouldn't want to see something too simple that I could develop myself. I feel that clubs should offer something unique that you can't get elsewhere.
Best of luck with your decisions and I look forward to hearing more news regarding a club or two!

Quiltgirl said...

Hi Sivia - both ideas sound really interesting, but I'd probably go for the moebius as I don't think anyone else is doing them like you do.

When you say club I think of patterns/yarn/extras kind of thing. If you are actually talking about patterns perhaps something more along the lines of an e-book. I've been really happy with the projects undertaken by Ysolda Teague, Mimknits and Romni - in some cases it was digital only, others included hard copy books.

As far as special requests of non-requests - nope. I love to see what your next great ideas are and I don't think I'm full up on anything yet (I say this as I sit here wrapped in my favorite Diamand Fantasy shawl!)

cedar strings said...

As others have said, a difficult choice. I would definitely sign up for at least one, happily at full price. Would you offer discount for pre-paying a year (or other period); a multiple-event discount; a prize for referring friends? I am particularly interested in tagging along on a moebius expedition, so you can count this answer as a definite yes in that regard.

Unknown said...

I don't like clubs. The price is generally too high up-front to risk buying unseen patterns or yarns/colourways that well might not appeal to my taste.

I do like your patterns though and look forward to being able to purchase them separately after they've been released to the club.

Unknown said...

I love this idea! You're such a talented designer, Sivia.

Which club? While I love your beaded lace, I would love to see what moebius designs you come up with. And as Quiltgirl said, I don't think anyone else is doing them.

Individual installments? Yes please!

Price range? No idea. (I've never done a club before.)

Special requests? What about a beaded lace moebius design? I've been toying with this idea for a while and I'm sure you'd be able to figure something out to combine all these loves together. Also, as an XL woman, I'd love if you consider that in your designs (e.g., how to enlarge the piece).

Anything I don't want to see? That seems like a silly question. I can't think of anything you've designed that hasn't been heaven.

Dana said...

1. I'd like to join both
2. I'd rather make a single purchase
3. Hard to calculate - need more details
4. Mainly accessories
5. No

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

1. Which club would you be interested in joining, or both? Beads and lace, yum.
2. Would you like an option to purchase individual installments at a slightly higher price per pattern? Yes. And it would be an easy way to sample the other club.
3. What price range do you consider a good one for this type of club? $200?
4. Do you have any special requests for either club?Anything you are dying to see and knit from yours truly? No; you're brilliant and I'll wait and see what you come up with!
5. Any things that you DON’T want to see.. sick of triangle shawls, or ? No, I love it all.

Julie said...

1. Which club would you be interested in joining, or both? Both seem interesting but I'm most interested in the beaded lace club.

2. Would you like an option to purchase individual installments at a slightly higher price per pattern? It depends on the price.

3. What price range do you consider a good one for this type of club? One I can afford? Yeah, I know, not the answer you're looking for. It depends on if it is just patterns or includes yarn and beads too.


4. Do you have any special requests for either club? Anything you are dying to see and knit from yours truly? Small projects are great for me, little bags, accessories, jewelry, not just big ol' lace shawls. :)

5. Any things that you DON’T want to see.. sick of triangle shawls, or ? Really big shawls. I don't have the time and I need projects that I can just pick up and knit when I have a few minutes, not that require long term attention span and time.