Happy “Take a Walk on the Wild Side Day!”

Every year on April 12, this fun little holiday appears, and I had no idea about it, until now. Now that I know about this holiday, why not celebrate it?!

Take A Walk On The Wild Side Day

Date When Celebrated : This holiday is always held on April 12
Walk on Your Wild Side Day encourages us to take a chance. It’s a call to the inner strength within you, to do something out of your comfort zone. Do something wild and crazy, and perhaps a little daring.
www.holidayinsights.com

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A motto in our household is “In this family, we always try something once.” This mainly pertains to mealtime when picky preschoolers are making disgusted faces and pointing their thumbs down when a new-to-them dish is served. BUT it also pertains to new activities! My husband and I love to try new things. Whether it’s eating mopani worms at Victoria Falls or exploring a cave with friends in Romania or traveling the US in an RV for 18 months with a toddler in tow, we love taking a walk on the wild side any day of the year!

As this fun little holiday is approaching this year, we already have some WILD things happening:

We close on our first house next week!
Our 3rd baby is due in a few short weeks.
We each run our own small businesses on top of normal work/life.

So instead of doing something, I wanted to reflect on ways I’ve taken a walk on the wild side when it comes to crocheting. You may be thinking “I don’t think anything to do with crochet & yarn is WILD!” But hear me out!

I’ve been crocheting for most of my life. My mother taught me using a 6.00mm aluminum Boye crochet hook when I was roughly 8 years old. I’m not sure how long she has been a crocheter, but I have memories of her whipping up scarves for us kids in the wintertime and rag rugs for the hardwood floors. Here is a picture of her working on a baby blanket for my older brother.

So I would make scarves for friends in high school, blankets for my dorm room, and special requests from family or friends. Like this cute hedgehog for my bestie’s niece and this owl blanket for a cousin to gift. And it was fun! But in the back of my head I had other things in mind for my yarn hobby. I wanted to turn yarn into money and not just use it for a hobby. I started developing some goals. And as I become busy with my firstborn, and got pregnant with my second-born, these goals seemed pretty WILD because my hands were full, my house was full, and my schedule was full. But I wanted to pursue these wild crochet goals anyway…

Wild Goal #1: Start a Crochet Business

Obviously without having to go into much detail, this wild goal was crossed off in Summer 2019 as I registered Juniper & Oakes as a business with my county. Horray! Named after 2 babies I miscarried, I had big dreams for this new crochet business of mine. I had so many ideas & goals. Where to start!

Wild Goal #2: Learn how to be a Crochet Biz CEO

After starting my business, I had a million ideas in my head, but no clear goals or clear direction as to how I would accomplish those unknown goals. Enter the Crochetprenuer Business Academy (CBA). Through CBA i was able to figure out who I was as a Crochet Biz CEO, find a specific niche for myself in this vast crochet universe, and meet with a community of like-minded artisans who help me meet my goals through encouragement & collaboration. I was able to make & meet goals with the help & guidance of CBA. If you have never heard of CBA, I encourage you to click this link HERE, and read more about it. Currently there is a waitlist to join as Pam, the Crochetprenuer herself, is revamping CBA to make it better than ever.

Wild Goal #3: Publish a Pattern

Soon after joining CBA, I realized that while I love to crochet products to gift & sell, I also wanted to see someone else create an item that I designed. I dreamed of the wild goal to publish my own original crochet pattern! I had a few designs that I made that were floating around in my head & I finally got them down on paper, typed up digitally, and published for the world to see.

The Georgia Tapestry Wall Hanging
I love home decor, and I especially love unique, one-of-a-kind, home decor. Wall hangings have always been something I heart-eyes over at stores and other people’s houses. A couple Christmases ago, I received the book Modern Crochet by Debrosse as a gift. I worked up her wall hanging pattern. After hanging it on the wall, I was immediately inspired and quickly worked up my first Georgia, completely fabricated in my head, then hands. I wrote down what I did, replicated it, then went to work making a beautiful digital copy.
The Cozy Bobble Pumpkin
I released the Cozy Pumpkin Bobble very soon after the Georgia Wall Hanging. As fall was approaching, Pam Grice, the Crochetprenuer hosted a Cozy Home Decor blog hop on her other site Made With a Twist. I new I wanted to enter a pattern, but I needed something to contribute. Enter my second pattern, the Cozy Bobble Pumpkin. This was inspired by all the cute pumpkin plushes that had popped up everywhere the year before and by my new love of the bobble stitch thanks to Debrosse & my Georgia Wall Hanging. Horray! I now had 2 patterns to my name.
The Cozy Cabled Ear Warmer
Way back before I had kids and was still a crochet hobbyist, I learned how to make crocheted cables. To use this fun new skill, I created the Cozy Cabled Ear Warmer as a product/gift that I would make for friends and family. Fast forward to Fall 2020, and a crochet friend wanted to work one up herself. Umm… how could I tell her how to do that? I has replicated these ear warmers over & over, but never wrote down the actual pattern. Of course I needed to change that! So I introduced my 3rd published pattern into this world. Could I officially be called a crochet pattern designer?

Purchase my patterns on Etsy or Ravelry.

AND, right now, my newest pattern, the Velvet Georgia Pillow, is bundled together in the Spring Exclusives Bundle curated by Cosy Rosie UK.. More than 30 brand new, exclusive crochet patterns perfect for spring have been selected for this bundle, and you don’t want to miss out! BUY THE BUNDLE.

Maybe one of your goals is to write & publish your own crochet pattern, but you don’t know where to start. Try out this e-course that I followed. Worked for me!

Wild Goal #4: Partner with a Yarn Company

I love yarn! Could you guess? As I started playing around with different types and different brands, I started dreaming of partnering with yarn companies through yarn support and more. I was hesitant to start connect with yarn brands, because I’m just little ole me. But I decided to pursue this wild goal anyway. Although I didn’t have much of a following on this blog or any other social media, I knew I had a vision for beautiful products and patterns that need to be out there in the world. Low & behold… I am developing a textured blanket pattern with some amazing yarn provided by Lion Brand. I received some eco-friendly yarn from Darn Good Yarn to make up some projects. AND a box full of amazing yarn recently arrived on my doorstep from WeCrochet, and you’ll see another new blanket pattern soon for that as well!

Wild Goal #5: See Pattern in a Legit Publication

This goal has yet to happen, but it is my next big WILD goal I would like to accomplish. And guess what!? This year I will be able to cross it off! You read that right! An origianl Juniper & Oakes pattern is going to be published in a legit publication! Look forward to the September 2021 edition of Pattern Pack Pro by Happily Hooked Magazine. I can’t give you more details than that at the moment. But be on the lookout for more info later this year.

Bonus Wild Goal: Sell Handmade Items at a Craft Fair

Back when crocheting was a hobby, and I had lots of time and no kids, I told my husband that I wanted to sell my handmade items at a craft fair. I put it on my New Years goals for that year. Then the year ended and it went to the goals list for the next year. And things came up, and I never made it a priority and was never able to cross it off my list… Until this month! Finally more than 6 years later, I FINALLY had my own booth at a local craft fair and people actually bought my handmade home decor! WILD!!

Wow! Sometimes having BIG wild goals pays off! I am so happy to have “walked on the wild side” in my crochet business! So much fun accomplishing those goals! What should my next goal be…

So tell me.. What are your wild goals? Have you been able to reach any? Comment below.