As 2024 comes to a close, I wanted to share with you a recap of all things T&C Crafters from this year! I hope you enjoy reminiscing as much as I have!
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This year started out on a rocky note for my family and I, but despite some challenges, I think 2024 was a great year of growth! This year we hit 1000 followers on Instagram, I had my best year in market sales, and I could really feel my crocheting confidence grow.
While I’m looking forward to growing even more in 2025, I want to take some time to reflect on all the great things T&C Crafters has done in 2024. Read all about them below!
Markets
We had a great year selling at markets in our local area this year. Throughout 2024, we participated in a total of six markets with two of them lasting for two days. I had the privilege of attending most of my markets in the booth next to my mom and with my mother-in-law helping me and selling her handmade sewn items in my booth. Here are all the markets we attended with a photo from each:
Meadowbrooke Gourds Spring Festival
Sage Lane Cottage’s Summer Market
Meadowbrooke Gourds Summer Festival
Gray Apple Market’s Fall Flea
Meadowbrooke Gourds Sunflower Festival
Sage Lane Cottage’s Christmas Market
Blog Posts
While I was hoping to be more consistent in posting throughout 2024, I am happy to have created 10 blog posts this year! You can check out each of the posts below by clicking on their titles!
Five Tips for Planning for a Successful Year of Crochet Markets
I started out the year by sharing some tips for crocheters to plan out the year with crochet markets. If you haven’t already checked out this list of tips, make sure you look over them now to plan for a successful year of markets in 2025!
Folding Craft Show Shelves Tutorial
One of my favorite craft show must-haves are my folding shelves that I put together to add height to my display. I have heard from several other crochet sellers that these shelves have really added to their display and that they have been using them regularly! I’m so glad this tutorial has been so helpful to many!
Selling Licensed Crochet Items
This post on selling licensed crochet items has been hands-down my most popular post of the year. I’m thankful that I am able to provide help to others that may be struggling to figure out the ins and outs of selling licensed crochet items.
The Best-Selling Crochet Chicken – Mabel
Of all my posts in 2024, I think this was my favorite one to put together! I have really loved making the Mabel Chicken pattern by Oak and Marlow, and it was so fun to showcase all the different design combinations that grew from the original chicken pattern!
Criss-Cross Bucket Hat – Free Crochet Pattern
This was the very first hat pattern that I ever designed on my own, and it was so fun writing up the pattern and watching it come to life! I love that I was able to make matching bucket hats for my daughter and I, and I especially loved watching her wear her hat all summer long!
Criss-Cross Tote Bag – Free Crochet Pattern
I was honored to be featured along with some of my crochet friends in the Totes Ready for Summer Blog Hop! I loved how my bucket hat turned out with the criss-cross design, so I made a matching tote bag. I seriously LOVE how this bag has turned out, and I still use it on a daily basis to carry around my yarn on the go or take my laptop to the library to work!
Beating the Heat: Tips for Summer Outdoor Markets as a Crochet Seller
After attending my second summer market, I felt like I had a much better handle on how to deal with really hot temperatures. In fact, I was so prepared that other vendors kept coming up and asking how we were surviving the heat so well. I wrote this post to share all about my tips so other vendors don’t have to deal with the heat consequences that I faced during my first summer market.
Frosty Fun Freeze Pop Sleeves – Free Crochet Pattern
During my summer market and throughout the rest of the year, these freeze pop sleeves have consistently been one of my best sellers. I absolutely love how easy this pattern is to make quickly for market prep, and it’s such a fun pattern for stash-busting. I will definitely be making a ton more for my 2025 shows!
Crochet Market Spotlight – Fall Sunflower Festival
The fall Sunflower Festival I attended at a local farm has been my absolute favorite show over the past few years. I shared all about my experience at this show in this market spotlight. If you are interested in having your crochet market experiences shared in a crochet market spotlight, I’d love your input! Fill out this form, and I will be in touch!
Mini Holiday Embroidered Wall Hangings
This year I participated in Yarnsgiving in collaboration with the Craft Yarn Council and Warm Up America. I contributed my free tutorial for a great stash-busting project perfect for crocheters. This beginner-friendly embroidery pattern is a great entry project if you are new to embroidery.
Pattern Reviews
I had the privilege of working with Alexandra of EyeLoveKnots, YarnCraftsandCoffee, and Cre8tion Crochet for another year. Throughout this year, I shared 12 pattern reviews (1 per month) on the EyeLoveKnots blog! You can check out each of the pattern reviews below by clicking on their titles.
Snowy Pal
Designer: Mel’s Crocheted Creations
No-Sew Stegosaurus
Designer: Kein Maker
Itty Bitty Mushie Pops
Designer: Cable + Canvas
Snow the Duck
Designer: Emy Toys
Florina the Flower Fidget
Designer: Hooks and Whisks
Mini Manatee
Designer: Crafty Kat Shop
Dill Pickle
Designer: The Knotty Boss
Anchor the Octopus
Designer: Humble Child Co.
Poppy Pig
Designer: Rose and Lily Amigurumi
Knotted Loveys Book Review
Designer: Mama Made Minis
Dachshund Puppy
Designer: Toy Story Patterns AU
Beaded Fidget Christmas Trees
Designer: Easy Quickly Toys
My Favorite Makes
Most of my favorite makes this year didn’t necessarily show up on my blog or social media feed since they were primarily gifts for family and friends. Here are some of my absolute favorite makes from this year!
If you read my post about Selling Licensed Crochet Items, you know that I am aware it’s not okay to sell licensed characters. All of those items pictured below were gifts that I didn’t sell.
Best Business Purchases
I acquired a lot of great new items that have really helped my business this year. I wanted to be sure to share them with you in case they can help your business grow in 2025!
Grid Walls
I received two grid walls as a birthday present from my parents in November. I only used them for one of my shows so far, but I absolutely love how they worked to display my items and add height to my display!
The grid walls I have came from Store Supply Warehouse, but you can purchase similar ones on Amazon. I have two that measure 2′ by 6′ with a T-shaped base. There is another option that can be folded in the event that the full-length displays will not fit in your vehicle.
To display my items, I also purchased baskets, pegs, and hanging clips to use with my grid walls. You can see how all of these were used in the picture.
Google Pixel 9 XL Pro
While I absolutely loved my Google Pixel 4A, I was in desperate need of an upgrade earlier this year. I chose to upgrade to the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL the day it was released in stores, and I am absolutely in love with this phone! I am now able to take such higher quality pictures for my business, store more images, work faster, and take credit card payments using my phone at markets.
Peg Board Room Divider
I purchased this pegboard room divider for two main purposes – to display small accessories at my markets and to store my small accessories in my craft room between markets. This pegboard has worked great for both purposes! I am able to leave it as pictured and use both sides of it, or fold it into a four-sided square display that stands up well against the wind at markets.
In addition to the pegboard, I also purchased three different sizes of pegboard hooks to display my items.
Walking Pad
One of my most productive market-prepping tactics this year has been crocheting on my evening walks. I live in a rather large neighborhood, so throughout the summer and early fall, I walked for about an hour crocheting each evening. I made so many items and really felt prepared for my fall markets.
Once the weather got colder, I wanted a way to continue walking and crocheting inside. I purchased this walking pad, which has helped me be able to stay active while crocheting.
Clover Amour Crochet Hooks
I started using Clover Amour Crochet hooks a few years ago, and I absolutely love how they have helped increase my speed in crocheting. The yarn moves so smoothly on and off the hook and the handle is really comfortable. This year, I decided to upgrade my larger hook sizes to Clover Amour as well and bought this pack of bulky yarn hooks. They are hands-down my most used crochet tool.
Felt Eyes
While these are not new to 2024, using felt eyes has been a serious game-changer for my business. I love that they are safe for babies and kids, plus they are really easy to attach. I originally tried to make my own felt eyes with my Cricut machine, but once I found these pre-cut eyes, I have been buying them in bulk. They save so much time and money!
Business Card Holders
With all of my markets being outdoors this year, I have had to work a lot in the wind. One of the most annoying issues with the wind is having to chase down my business cards that went flying with a gust of wind. I like to be able to put several piles of cards out on my stand so it is easy for customers to grab them as they look. These acrylic business card holders have been great for keeping my cards neatly on my tables and making them look extra attractive to customers.
Blocking Boards
I took on a large order for custom lapghan earlier this year and needed a quality blocking board. I purchased two different types to see which one I preferred. The wooden blocking board was great for blocking these large afghan squares. The foam blocking board works great for blocking small projects. I really liked the option of putting multiple squares together to block larger squares when they don’t fit on one panel.
Moving Forward in 2025
I am really looking forward to a great year in 2025! I have giant plans in the works for providing tons of new crochet and market prep content to help your business grow and succeed in 2025. I hope you will follow along for all the ups and downs of the year to come. Be sure to subscribe below to be notified about all my upcoming posts!
