Hello, everyone!! It’s been mighty quiet around here.. a lot has changed in my life since I last wrote! I took a long break from knitting and yarn stuff after putting Annie Yarn on hiatus to focus on a new job, and it’s only been over the summer that I’ve started getting back in touch with how much I truly love knitting. It’s been mostly thanks to my sister-friend Shea, who now has her own hand-dyed yarn company, Cameo Yarns! Seeing her gorgeous creations has gotten me excited about knitting again, and I’ve also started designing again as well!

As far as work goes, I’m settled nicely. I’m working for Simply Mac, an Apple partner. I’m a Sales Manager now–got promoted after only about three months of being there as a Specialist. I’m enjoying it, and I was finally able to get a new car, so no more driving around in the deathtrap PT Cruiser I had for two years.

Now, my personal life has changed the most dramatically since I last wrote.. yep, you guessed it, I met a boy. His name is Michael, he’s wonderful, and he’s been so encouraging as I’ve talked about different ideas I want to pursue, new things I want to try! But more on that later..

I’ve also started freelancing as a Web/graphic designer again, mainly focusing on helping people starting new businesses by creating their branding–logo’s and stuff. It’s been sooooo long since I designed branding for anyone other than myself, so it’s been a fun and refreshing addition to my after-work life. I’ve been asked for a business card so frequently, it’s forced me to go ahead and create a new brand for myself that will encircle everything I do, even knitwear design..

I’m calling it AnnieDot Creative, which came from a co-worker calling me AnnieDot one day! Here’s a sneak peek at what I’m working on for the logo on my business cards..

There will be a Web site with my full portfolio of my Web/graphic/branding projects along with links to my social media, this blog, and Annie Yarn. I’m also using AnnieDot as the brand for my knitwear designs, so I’m going through and reformatting them one by one. Then I’ll get back to releasing new designs.

Aaaaaaand this fall, I’m planning on starting a podcast on YouTube, which I have been wanting to do for like four years but never had the guts to put myself out there like that. Now I’m determined to give it a try! I will totally credit Hey Sister Podcast for giving me the courage to even consider it, and Michael and Shea for encouraging me to try. Not going into detail yet, as I’m still trying to iron everything out. I’ll blog here when I have more to chatter about, don’t worry! ;)

I’d better get back to re-formatting my knitwear designs. Here’s a before-and-after showing the difference between my old branding, Little Oaktree Knits, and AnnieDot. I hope you agree with me that it’s an improvement! I’m going for a more simplistic, clean style to match my personal style, rather than the more organic feel LOK had. I really, really feel that it matches my personality more as well.

I will write again soon! I’ve got a lot of new yarn to show off, and some new designs I’ll be sharing soon! Thanks for reading!

oxo Annie