How it all began
In October 2018, I launched my first brand, Snickerdoodle Knits, as an Etsy shop selling handknit items and vending at craft fairs. From the start, I approached it as a business. I wanted it to be profitable, strategic, and sustainable. Because I didn't want to spend years spinning my wheels.
So I learned.
I invested in business and marketing education early. I took courses, joined programs, worked with a business coach, and paid close attention to how things functioned behind the scenes. I wasn’t just making things I loved; I was learning how businesses actually work.
The handknit side of the business did work, but it also revealed its limits. Producing physical products at speed was hard on my body. Repeating the same knits over and over again wasn’t creatively fulfilling. And long-term, it didn’t feel like a sustainable path for the kind of life and business I wanted.
I began thinking about what might come next.
Choosing design, and finding a missing piece
For a long time, I didn’t think of myself as someone who could be a designer. Crafts and creativity had always been part of my life, but I had always been more proficient in my technical skills. And I loved math. I considered becoming a math teacher. Instead, I earned a bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering.
So design and art felt like something other people did.
Not me.
Then, about six months into running my Etsy shop, design ideas suddenly started flowing all at once. That experience completely challenged the story I’d been telling myself about who I was and what I was capable of.
Design ended up being the bridge between two parts of me:
- the creative, hands-on maker
- and the analytical, systems-oriented thinker
It allowed creativity and structure to exist together.
And because I already understood business fundamentals, I quickly saw something that frustrated me deeply: most pattern designers weren’t being supported in this way at all.
They were lacking the analytical, technical aspects of marketing and running a business.
The gap I couldn’t ignore
At the time, business and marketing education for knit and crochet pattern designers was extremely limited.
What existed was often:
- overly basic
- focused on surface-level tactics
- quietly judgmental of fellow designers
- unhelpful for designers who already had foundational knowledge
There was very little nuance. Very little room for intentional growth. Very little support for designers who wanted to build businesses that were both profitable and fulfilling.
I wasn’t interested in following someone else’s blueprint just because it worked for them. I wanted to understand my options and make decisions that aligned with what I actually wanted.
That’s the same perspective I continue to bring to my work as I help you.
Intentionality, at the core of everything
I care deeply about helping designers build businesses on purpose.
Not businesses built on:
- chasing trends
- copying someone else’s model
- doing what they think they “should” be doing
But businesses built on clarity:
- clarity about what you want
- clarity about what you enjoy
- clarity about how you want your work to fit into your life
I’m especially drawn to designers who want this work to be successful and passion-filled. People who want to make money, yes, but not at the expense of enjoyment, values, or sustainability.
People who want to feel good about what they’re building.
Why I love this work
Being a solo business owner has allowed me to bring together so many different interests: design, strategy, systems, photography, branding, messaging, structure, and creativity.
Pattern design, business, and marketing sit at a fascinating intersection of art and logic. That intersection is where I feel at home.
And while the season of life I’m in now (mama to a toddler) has changed my capacity to do all the things, my appreciation for how they fit together has only deepened.
That perspective shapes how I teach, guide, and support designers through my work.
Who this space is for
The Pattern Design Circle space is for knit and crochet pattern designers who:
- want to build something intentionally
- care about sustainability, not just growth
- want business and marketing to feel aligned, not forced
- are willing to engage thoughtfully with the process
- want more than beginner-level advice
If you’re looking to follow a formula or be told exactly what to do, this probably isn’t the right place.
But if you want to understand your options, make informed decisions, and build a business that actually fits you, you’re very welcome here.
