It’s been easy to identify my audience so far. I, a knitter, am writing to other knitters. As a younger knitter, I suppose I will naturally be writing towards a younger audience. But the great thing about knitting- most crafts really- is that it connects people who may not have any of the usual shared attributes that facilitate connection, like age, personal background, or location.
There are knitters of all ages, from everywhere around the world, with all different knitting styles, which makes it a very fun community to be a part of.
Specifically within the audience of knitters, I’m writing to people like myself who knit as a hobby in their personal time, rather than full time knitters or pattern designers.
Eventually I would like to write patterns, but I will be knitting for a few more years before I’ll consider designing my own clothing.
Right now I only have three articles up related to knitting. As time goes by I’ll add more content related to the website topic, but for now I’m focusing on setting up the website with widgets and other elements. I’ve embedded one of my Pinterest boards in the sidebar, with knitted garments that I like, to make the website a little more knitting focused.
I used the GS Pins for Pinterest plug-in (recommended by wpbeginner) to embed a Pinterest board. I found that using the default embed block didn’t load half the time.
I added a button that links directly to my Pinterest profile above the board, as the widget doesn’t link to my profile. Once I post a few more pictures to Pinterest I’ll link my own photos in the widget, but for now it’s helpful to base some of my design choices off the inspiration I’ve collected from other creators.
I’m in the process of creating a few playlists that I can embed in the sidebar using Spotify. I like music from the 60s to the 90s- I’ve recently been listening to Shirley Ellis, Margo Guryan, Komeda, Belle and Sebastian, and Jonathan Richman. I listen to ABBA a lot as well. Too much, maybe.
I’m hoping that my website will have a clear identity to it, made up of the things I knit and post about, as well as the music I attach to the site and the site’s design and imagery. For me, music can change or enrich my mood. Spaces and platforms are enhanced when we can use multiple senses to engage with them. I think music will add to the overall feel of my website- calm, cheerful, and safe.
I’m also thinking about starting an Instagram account connecting to my website. I think Instagram is a good platform to connect with a community, because it is such a widely used app. I’d like to flesh out the site a little more before I add additional social media channels though, because setting up a website takes time, and so does posting consistently to social media. Overall I’m happy with how the site is coming along. It’s a slow but engaging process, and I really feel like I’m getting the chance to express myself in a new way- without stylistic rules or expectations.
