Things Are A-Changin’

Hello, lovely knitters! I have some big website news for you today – starting this week, there will be some big changes here and over at CustomFit. I’m so excited to be taking this step.

The Grand Plan

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, purchasing something from me is kind of a mess: I’ve got traditional patterns in one place, CustomFit patterns in another, no way to sell stuff like books or project bags or retreat registration without individual Paypal invoices, etc. etc. etc. I’ve wanted to fix it forever.

So last fall, I decided to take the plunge and move toward an actual storefront. I’m really excited about this. It will make the following possible:

• One shop: Custom patterns, traditional patterns, subscriptions, a book, a bag – they’ll all be in the same place. Put any combination of what you’d like into a single order.
• Get physical stuff: I’ll be able to actually sell you signed copies of my books! (I’m so excited about that, even if only 3 people want them.) Or project bags! Or, well, whatever!
• Discounts and specials! …honestly it’s a little sad that 5 years in, I can’t do this already. But! Now I’ll be able to offer basic sales and promotions.

It’s all sadly belated, but it’s happening, starting this week (!). Here’s what you need to know.

Step One: The Shop Will Exist!

On Thursday, this site will look pretty different – and very much like the picture I shared with you above. This is exciting enough on its own; my site’s look & feel have gotten a refresh, and the things you’re looking for will be easier to find.

But you may also have noticed the lovely golden “Shop” button in the menu of that picture. Clicking it will take you here:

To start, the shop will have a fairly small stock:

• My current traditionally-sized patterns,
• The project bags I shared with you last December, and
• Signed copies of my books.

Over the next month or two, I’ll also be adding:

• CustomFit pattern credits,
• CustomFit/Amy Herzog subscriptions,
• Some more fun knitting-related tools, and
• A few other fun things!

Step Two: Integrating CustomFit and the shop

This is going to take some as-yet-undetermined amount of time, and will happen in waves.

Right away, your CustomFit account will also log you into the shop. And if you don’t already have a CustomFit account, registering at the shop will create one for you. In fact, most account functions will be happening in just one place, from day 1. So there won’t be any need for multiple accounts on this site, or to set up anything new.

Some time soon, I’ll begin moving CustomFit ‘patterns’ to the shop as well. Here’s how purchasing, and making, a custom pattern will go once the custom patterns are in the shop:

1. You’ll purchase a custom pattern you like from the shop. You’re actually purchasing a “CustomFit credit” that lets you customize your desired pattern, rather than the pattern itself at this point.

   (This makes sense – since you might not know anything about what yarn you’d like to make the pattern out of, what silhouette and fit choices you’re going to make, or maybe even who you’ll make it for, there’s not much ‘pattern’ to give you at this point!)

2. Behind the scenes, the shop will deposit your credit into your CustomFit account. Your credit never expires, and will wait for you in your CustomFit pages until you’ve selected a yarn, swatched it, and are ready to go. (You’ll also see the purchase in your ‘my orders’ section, and get an email confirmation.)
3. When you’re ready, you’ll click on the credit to customize your pattern. This will take you to the (possibly) familiar “personalization” screen in CustomFit, where you’ll be able to actually create your custom pattern:



4. Any time in the following 3 months, if you discover you made a mistake in your pattern, you can re-do the pattern for free. This could be a measurement that you realize is wrong halfway through the back, or a gauge change, or a decision that you think you have enough yarn for long sleeves after all. Click the “redo” button and fix the pattern while you knit.

Make sense? (This is essentially how the process works already, after the site update of a few weeks ago, but it’s worth repeating.)

At some point, subscription purchase and management will go through the shop too.

What you need to know now.

I’m so excited about everything, I can’t even be coherent about it! But for the immediate future, things will be a little funky. Here’s what you should be aware of this week and next:

• Registration for new accounts is switched off until some time Thursday. This gives me the chance to clean up the data, switch all of the log-in and registration stuff from one system to another, and test as well as I can.
• Things may act unexpectedly while we get the switchover all polished up. If you run into any trouble, please let me know!
• There will be two account management pages for your account, one on CustomFit and one in the shop, for a little while as we clean up all of the loose ends.
• I’ll update you with a timeline for the rest of the CustomFit integration as things shake out.

Phew! If you’ve read this far, thanks so much – and here are some pictures of a collection I’m about to release as a treat:





And thanks, as always, for letting me be a part of your knitting life. If you have any questions, see any problems, or I can answer any concerns, please reach out at [email protected].