So, I started a video blog! (Vlog? Podcast? Whatever!) It’s called “The Guilty Knitter” and it’s like a snapshot of what’s going on in my (knitting) life right now with a focus on particular projects I’m working on with discussion about the challenges they provide. I also like to tie in my music life, because believe it or not, when I’m sitting in the orchestra counting rests, it often makes me think of knitting. Counting rests=counting stitches? I may just have a weird brain, but there are similarities!
I’ve just published my second episode and I’m quite excited by this whole new venture. Since I’ve become obsessed with knitting, I’ve neglected this blog almost completely, but the nature of knitting requires the use of my hands and I can’t write and knit at the same time. Problems! I’ve gotten into the habit of watching knitting vlogs as I knit, so I started to get the itch to start one of my own. The idea of sharing my knitting with this whole online knitting community, (which exists on quite a large scale thanks in great part to Ravelry) has been very tempting and I finally decided to dive in.
Well, it’s more like I’ve been wading in for almost a year, never finding the water quite right. I’ve recorded lots of video segments on my iPad, tried to figure out how to edit them on iMovie, not succeeded, given up, left it for a couple of months, repeat…
But over the Christmas holidays my daughter and her husband (Erica and Neil) visited for three weeks and Erica found the time to film my delightful (if I do say so myself) opening credits, and I recorded my theme song (written by Dave, my husband). I also got a few tutorials from Erica about editing, which helped me to have confidence that I could actually put an episode together.
Most non-knitters don’t understand what knitting vlogs are or why you’d want to watch them, let alone make one of your own. Dave was asking, shouldn’t it be shorter? Is the next one going to be as long? My sister wanted to know whether I’d be doing anything other than showing off my projects. I had to explain that the point of these vlogs is to have something to knit to; to get inspired by projects people are working on; and to get to know different products on the market and whether you’d like to try them out. The length of the vlog is immaterial. Lots of them are over an hour. You can watch as little or as much as you want, or leave it and come back to it. It doesn’t require as much attention as a movie or series would, so you can pay attention to what you’re knitting and just glance up now and then to have a look at something, and you’re not TOO likely to make a mistake.
I’m learning a lot about myself as I figure out how to make my vlog into something people might want to come back to. So far, it’s a lot more time- consuming than simply writing a blog post, although if you figure in all the time I used to spend taking and choosing photos to upload, choosing music and uploading that, maybe it’s not as huge a difference as I imagine. Right now, it’s very slow because my editing is still laborious. Plus, I’m rejecting a lot of the footage because of all the “you know”s and “um”s etc. I have an annoying habit of “tsking” that’s really got to go! I think I do it more at the beginning when I’m a bit more nervous. I must continually remind myself that I can redo the introductory remarks! No pressure!
I’m looking forward to seeing whether I can improve my fluency in my native language, express my ideas more smoothly, and find some particular focus for my vlog that will make it stand out from the pack. It’s a challenge, and I’m enjoying it. Maybe it’s what I’ll be focusing on more and more when I retire. A combination blogging/vlogging hobby for my emptier days. I’d like to keep up this blog and get back to writing about gardening a bit this summer. We’ll see! Find me on Instagram (where I’m very active!) as @guiltyknitter. Click the link below to find me on Youtube!
I love to hear from you!