WOW!

Wow! Its amazing. It really is amazing. I can’t believe it. This is all I have been capable of saying for the last 24 hours since my crowdfunding appeal for the Vintage Shetland Project hit my initial target of £12,000. I had hoped, hoped really really hard, that the target would be reached and maybe passed but I had expected it be a long, slow process, taking most of the 30 days to achieve its aim. I never in all my wildest dreams even considered the scenario that has actually unfolded. 

I cannot begin to tell you how much it means to me that other knitters appreciate the project, understand and acknowledge the work and time that has and still is involved, and have been prepared to support my campaign. When you spend over 4 years working on something, you, rightly or wrongly, begin to think that people must be sick of hearing about a project that is just going on and on. It such an overwhelming relief to know that so many of you ‘get it’. In fact, ‘overwhelming’ best describes my feelings over these last 24 hours. I am really struggling to put into words how I feel. Overwhelmed is the only word that sums it up!

So is it all over now, or do I still need your support? I really, really still do. The initial target of £12,000 was to cover the printing of the books and hopefully also go some way to paying for the final photoshoot. There are still many other aspects of the project that need paying for that I didn’t include.

On my crowdfunding page there is an “interview with Susan” where I have asked myself the question ‘what will you do if you exceed your target?’ 

At this stage depending on how much the campaign exceeds its target,  there are a number of things I would like to use the funds for:

Pay for more of the photoshoot costs.

Pay for a second photographer to take ‘behind the scenes’ footage of the photoshoot to enhance the book further.

Have an additional 'set' of sample garments made to enable me to have trunk shows to promote the Project and explain to people the story behind it.

Help pay for additional research to make the book even better.

Help pay for image licencing so I can increase the number of historical images included in the book.

Basically, I want to continue making the book better and better, more complete, more beautiful, to enhance the reading and ‘using’ experience for each and every funder.

There are more things I will need to look into if funding continues to grow. Ensuring an efficient distribution system so that everyone gets their books promptly is just one of these things, and with this in mind I have had to make a decision.

Only people ‘ordering’ their book through the crowd funder will be guaranteed of their book being despatched prior to Christmas. I won’t open up general pre-orders on my website until the book is off to the printers and I won’t be able to promise pre-Christmas delivery on these orders. So if you would like your book for Christmas the only way to be sure is to use the crowd funder. Don’t forget the crowd funder closes on the 8th August. By doing it this way I should be able to handle the work load and not risk letting people down.

You can support the Vintage Shetland Project here

Finally I just want to thank everyone once again for all the incredible support I have received. From contributors, tweeters, instagrammers, facebookers, all my fellow blog tour participants and in particular, several amazing women who I will write about in another post, without whom this fund raiser would absolutely not have happened. In fact, everyone in the great big beautiful world of knitting. Thank you - and good night!

for now,

Susan xx