When I put in the blog post request page, one of the first requests to pop up was to see my work space. I read that and thought, “Hahaha! No way.” I don’t have a pretty or inspiring craft space, even when it’s neat and tidy, and I didn’t want to share it because it’s not the sort of magical, creative space I think most people imagine professional crafters to have. But after going through that thought process, I realized that that’s exactly why I should share it! I suspect that a lot of crafters have a desk that looks like mine and very few have the lovely work spaces you see in staged, inspirational photo shoots.
My desk is where I do most of my design work, and it’s cluttered with swatches and post-it notes for upcoming or old projects, balls of yarn, and mail. It also has designer-essentials like a bottle of Tums for the anxiety-induced stomach aches that come with running my own business, and a number of calendars and planners so I can keep track of deadlines, events, releases, and blog posts. Running my pattern business is fun, but it’s also a little stressful and very busy! I keep my laptop on a raised wire shelf so it doesn’t overheat from all of the wool it’s surrounded by, and I have it connected to a big monitor which makes doing charts and written text so much easier. To the left of my desk are my closet doors where I sometimes take blog post photos, and the wall above my desk is blank because nothing will stay up on the weird painted plaster of the interior walls of my apartment. To the right on the floor is a set of drawers where I store old ball bands, bills, and copies of receipts, and I keep my design notebooks stacked on top.
My work area is in my bedroom, tucked into the large space at the foot of my bed. I’ve got a big set of drawers where I keep the yarn for upcoming projects and old swatches, and next to that, I have a comfortable chair to sit and knit. On the floor is a bulletin board that I originally planned on hanging on the wall and pinning up swatches, but it wouldn’t stay up, so now it sits there and features reminders, fun mail, and other notes. To be perfectly honest, I don’t need a pretty, inspired space to be inspired to make pretty things. I get most of my inspiration from fashion books, movies, and tv shows or out in the world, and once I get the idea and get it in my sketchbook, where I do the actual work doesn’t matter much to me.
When I’m not holed up in my work area, I like to knit my projects in front of the TV in the living room. And there you have it! This is what my craft space looks like. Not the prettiest, but it gets the job done.
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