EMILYN’S BLOGGING TIPS
• Determine the theme of your blog. It helps you focus the content of the entries.
• Avoid profanity and bigotry. You never know who is reading your blog, so don’t write anything you think you might regret later.
• Be cautious about revealing personal details. That charming comment could have been left by a truly ardent fan – or an obsessed stalker.
Emilyn picked up her first crochet needle at age 10, fascinated by how her mother and grandmother could turn yarns of wool into clothing.
She would wait until the age of 18 before picking up the needle again but this time, she discovered the joy of knitting. “I was very quick-tempered,” says Emilyn, who is married. “And I hoped knitting would make me a calmer person.” After more than a decade of knitting and crocheting, she claims she’s “mellowed quite a bit”. More importantly, she relishes the sense of satisfaction in not only creating a garment from scratch, but also adapting the designs to her body shape so the items fit better.
In September 2004, she set up her first blog at vintagefusionhandcrafts.blogspot.com. “Before that, I was reading blogs by knitters in other countries. They were so interesting,” shares the former marketing manager.
“So I decided to start my own blog – a journal to remind me of what I’d completed, and what I’d planned but never followed through due to frustration or just boredom.” Once it was up, she became hooked. From blogger.com, she picked up tips and techniques on personalising her blog using free blogskins. She also included photographs with her entries, so readers would not lose attention. And to ease the pressure of finding an interesting topic every day, she now posts new entries only when she feels she has a point to make.
Totally hooked by the blogging bug by then, it was little wonder that when Emilyn decided to offer crochet and knitting classes, she chose to advertise her services in her second blog, thehandiworks.blogspot.com, set up in May last year. She gives one-to-one and group classes, and a package starts from $300. “I thought my blog would help me track the students’ progress and experiences and would be the perfect platform to showcase their projects,” she says.
By doing all this, Emilyn hopes to change the stereotype of knitting – “grannies knitting in rocking chairs churning out wool sweaters by the fireplace”.
She is optimistic about achieving her goal. “I want to reach out to those who share the same vision, and together, we can make knitting relevant in Singapore.
“The new generation of knitters in Singapore not only know how to play with different yarns, but also how to transform them into comfortable, stylish knitwear for our hot climate.”
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