Alasdair in Video

If you’ve been following me for the past … well … any amount of time, really, you’ve probably heard about (or seen) some video content of mine. I put out Youtube videos to support the Four Winds hat for Twist Collective, and have had a Craftsy class since the early days of that platform. Since then, I’ve done a handful of other videos and recently started a series of Facebook Live videos every other Friday. I kept those up through the fire and demolition of my home, but in recent weeks, live viewership has dropped off (with most viewers tuning in later).

I have, for the longest time, planned to do more with video, with little success. During the process of writing Double or Nothing, I shot a number of videos of the techniques which were covered in the still shots in the book. But because I went straight into the rework of Extreme Double-knitting, those videos just sat on the back burner. The livestreams were kind of a pilot for an eventual podcast, but the fire knocked me back to zero, technologically, and I had to rebuild my video setup before I could consider taking that route.

My video setup as it stands today

In addition to the basic technique videos that I already have on Youtube (and others I plan to produce), I also have or will have a number of videos which are in support of more advanced techniques. These videos need a place where they can live without, frankly, being given away for free. They’re videos in support of techniques that I’ve done a lot of development of and teach in my books, patterns, and workshops. Many people will be fine with learning from those static or transitory sources, but I have had many requests for advanced technique videos when it became clear that Craftsy and other major instructional video platforms were not interested in any more of what I had to offer.

As I researched ways to offer my advanced videos for a fee, a number of people suggested I use Patreon. I know a number of other independent designers/creators who use this platform, and it seemed a reasonable solution.

In addition, it will allow me to test the waters for a major leap that I have been putting off for years — the possible transition to a full-time knitting design career. In order to do that on my own terms, a Patreon is a commonly-accepted method. I expect it will be slow going but I am not in a hurry. I hope that people will find it worthwhile in the long run. There is also a lower tier which gives you access to all of my digital pattern/book output while you are a patron, and a higher tier which gives you access to my one-on-one Zoom “office hours”. As with most Patreons, higher tiers also get all the perks of lower tiers.

So here’s my plan for my video presence, which will be considerable, over the next year or so:

  1. Transition from a biweekly Live format to a pre-recorded video podcast format. This will initially be a once-a-month affair, posted on my Youtube channel. If I can make it biweekly in the future, I will.
  2. Get more technique videos shot and/or edited, and sorted between (free) Youtube videos and (paid) Patreon videos.
  3. Continue Zoom workshops for Vogue, Stitches, etc, but increase my standalone workshops as well.
  4. Periodically run a FB Livestream for major events/announcements.

In Other News

Since I talked about virtual workshops, I wanted to mention a few I have coming up, as early as next weekend. The first two are with Stitches Expo at Home; the other two are my standalone workshops. At the time of this writing, there is only one space left in the intro workshop on Nov 14th; the others all have plenty of room. All times are in ET.

Also, tomorrow (Halloween) night, join me at 5pm at Virtuwool Fiber Festival with Bead Biz. I’ll be part of a designer and dyer design panel there.

Thanks for your continued interest and stay tuned!

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