My very first pattern!

Roamin' Gnome
Originally uploaded by ham_and_eggs

So I gotta admit it- I'm pretty excited to be selling my very first pattern of original work. I mean, this is something completely unique to me. It's something I made up, thought through, and wrote out in a pattern that other people can actually understand. I'm in the process of hand-copying all my patterns into my pattern "bible." I've developed a pretty succint shorthand to make the process go faster, so a lot of it looks like '2/0 x6' or something awful like that, that only I will ever be able to understand. Years from now, people will find my pattern journal and spend years trying to decipher it, thinking it holds the keys to the mysteries of the universe or something. Hah.

I'm also kind of nervous selling this pattern.... because, what if I made a mistake somewhere, or it turns out that nobody can understand what I'm trying to communicate. I know I'm being paranoid. I've spent a lot of time thinking this one through, and comparing notations from well-written patterns (as well as really AWFULLY written pattterns. ugh. I've wasted so much money buying patterns that were absoulte shite), so I think I have a pretty good idea what's what.

I'm also nervous because I feel like I'm releasing my child out into the world. When I was just selling finished products, I had complete control over them, at least until they arrived at their destination. I feel like, now that I'm selling the pattern, a bazillion people are going to seize it and start selling finished ones on etsy, which is a) ludicrous, and b) ridiculous. But I feel like I have a hard-enough time getting buyers already, and now that I'm starting to make my patterns available, I feel like I'm cutting off my pool even further. I think that's why I chose to start with something pretty basic like the gnome, because it doesn't feel very close to my heart (like my angry girls...)

and, of course, i couldn't finish this post without a shameless plug for my pattern:
it's only $2! go buy it already. okay, that's enough out of me.