For me, the beginning of a new year signals a time to organize, plan, and set goals. I’m not talking about New Year’s Resolutions. Those are rarely successful (for me, anyway). I’m talking about revisiting and revising existing plans and goals. So, you may be noticing some changes here at leahmichelledesigns.com lately. My goal is to make the site easier to navigate and more useful. I am building the free pattern library, cleaning up some of the details in the background to make information easier to find, and blogging more frequently.
Here is a rundown of the recent changes:
First of all, the front page has been re-designed to make the site easier to navigate. There are four sections:
- The Pattern Store: This collage of photos is clickable. Click on a pattern and go directly to that pattern page. To see all patterns in the pattern store click on ‘visit the pattern store.’ (I am working now on creating a better pattern store page. Watch for it!)
- Free Knitting Patterns: These photos are also clickable and each photo will take you to that free pattern. These are the most popular free patterns on the site. To see all free patterns click on ‘see all free knitting patterns.’
- Knitting Tutorials: Again, photos are clickable. These are the most popular tutorials. You can also ‘see all knitting tutorials.’
- Popular Blog Posts: These clickable photos take you to the latest popular posts. Click on ‘see all blog posts‘ for more.
The navigation bar at the top of the page contains all of the above links, including the new Tutorials link. There is also a link to the ‘About‘ page and the ‘Contact‘ page.
You can sign up for my monthly newsletter right on the homepage. The link is in the right-hand sidebar, right at the top. Newsletters announce new patterns, give information about promotions and events, and highlight new free patterns. And guess what? A new addition for the new year is the monthly pattern discount, exclusive for newsletter subscribers! Be sure to sign up. You can always unsubscribe by clicking unsubscribe at the bottom of each email.
I will continue to add free patterns to the site. My new free patterns are website exclusives, only available here. They are:
Older free patterns are still available as downloads.
You have probably also noticed the addition of ads like this one:
My Friday Follow-Ups will continue. Every Friday I summarize the highlights that have caught my attention in the online knitting world. I provide links to lots of beautiful knitting patterns. If there is something you would like to see me mention here, please send me an email through the Contact link above or directly to leahmdesigns@gmail.com. I also plan to do more book reviews. My first was a review of Clara Parkes’ The Knitter’s Book of Yarn. I love to share my knitting book recommendations! I would also love to do more designer interviews. If you’re a designer and would like to be interviewed, please contact me.
The main page of the website still has links to my other social media accounts. You can ‘like’ the LMD Facebook page or follow my Twitter feed. (Gosh, there’s another goal to work on – be more active on social media!)
I hope this website becomes a place for knitters to visit first for knitting patterns, free patterns, knitting tutorials, and general knitting conversation and advice.
Feedback is always appreciated! Please leave a comment with suggestions or feedback. Thanks!