A Bit of Transparency Going Into 2026

Good day, Crafties!

I wanted to hop on here and give some closing thoughts as this year draws to an end. Some good, some in the gray but both a reality all the same! As I continue to pray and reflect on my journey, here are some of the things that seem most important to share:

First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for your continued audience over

the years.

I know that I'd gone through a patch of radio silence for a while there and I appreciate still having a community to return to after dealing with the burnout. It was tough trying to muster the courage to return, knowing that tutorial content would no longer be at the forefront of what I'd be putting out. But I'm very please to be able to share with you all, not just my wips but my faith. It had never been a secret on my channel however, I'd never felt to full confidence to share scriptures, musings and how those shape what I do.

The last year plus wasn't just about breaking from my business but looking back, it was a full on trial by fire. And as I mentioned in that return episode, sometimes it's about the company you keep. Sometimes it's about taking a step back and seeing the forest for the trees. We'll just call that span of time a bit of sanctification. 😅

Because that's what it was. But you know what? God brought me through it, a better person and it brings me joy that He led me back here to be with all of you.

So thank you for welcoming me back with open arms. I pray that you find joy in my content going forward.

2026 will be a pivotal year for Infiniti Crafting Co.

After 7 years of trial and error, it became clear that crochet/knitting tutorials just wouldn't take my business where I needed it to go in order for things to be sustainable.

In the spirit of carrying on as a brand/business, there are a few changes that'll be coming here both to the site and to social media. That was all kickstarted by the redesign I pushed back in October this year. This upcoming year may be the last time I renew hosting for this website. I worked very hard to build this place for 4 years before I was able to make it go live in 2021 and part of what made that possible was my community.

In 2026, I'll be focused on bringing more attention to Hey Craftepreneur! and the Handmade Shop in order to help further support software and hosting fees. If I can bounce back and be in the black next year, I'll happily keep this thing going. I could go on and on about sales and asking for buyer support but I don't really want to do that. If you see value in the space I've created and something catches your fancy, feel free to support that way.

However, the next best thing you can do to support me in this is to share. Share your favorite blog, your favorite tutorial, heck, share your favorite items from the Handmade Shop on social media. I'll always appreciate interest and eyeballs. A LOT of you guys already do that on the channel and I'm so grateful for that! Word of mouth is so important and I honestly value that more than social media views but in today's digital era, they've nearly become one and the same.

In similar news, I want to again start this next statement with gratitude for those who supported the November sale! It served as encouragement in my little walk here and I'm always happy to rehome my art!

I did notice a little "whoopsie" on my end though, which I have since corrected in the handmade shop. If you've been around for a while, you'll know that I've tried to be fair in my pricing. And since 2021, I'd always absorbed any rising costs, not wanting to turn off folks that would otherwise support me. That attitude largely remains, however, somewhere along the way, the pricing within the merch distributor have changed dramatically. I'd ended up fulfilling orders at an absolute loss which, on the business side isn't great. After re-evaluating price settings, I've implemented my first ever price increase among my products. This ONLY applies to the merch though. The handmade items in my shop remain at their normal prices.

I usually don't break down how I arrive at my prices but it's a really simple formula because I don't like complicating my life:

Cost of materials x 3 + shipping materials.

With that, I aim to be able to recover material costs, make a small margin of profit and to be able to make the item again should it be popular enough. Similarly, in the merch shop, my things have always been priced to cover production/shipping costs and I basically make $8-$12 per item.

Fair enough?

To be clear, I wrestled with raising my prices for years because it always felt icky. Especially when everything else is increasing in price. It's extra stressful because this particular business is a commodity thing and with the way the economy has been for so long, stores like mine are usually the first to be hit. But hopefully this will be the only one I'll have to do for another good, long while. I've prayed about it so now I'll just keep it moving but I thank you all for understanding and bearing with me through the changes!

Giveaways? Freebies?

Despite my various attempts to engage and be helpful and really build something worthwhile, I was not making the progress that would really make things make sense. I used to do giveaways all the time but, I found that outside of those, folks weren't engaging. And that's part of the spirit behind what I do is for the community and for the engagement. It really stung when I realized that I could only get that when I was giving things away.

So I shifted big time to do something a little different.

I don't do giveaways anymore. I might in the future but that will really depend on whether or not I can be interesting enough for people to talk to me normally. If that makes sense? I still offer free patterns both on my video channels and on my blog. Once upon a time, I'd give PDF freebies but after I did an audit of my sales one year, those made up more of my activity than my actual inventory. So I separated the two. It's the same great patterns but now I don't wake up to "sale" notifications that aren't actually sales. It seemed to work better functionally and for my mental health.

So the long and short of the freebie vein is that, I still do free patterns on occasion but I don't currently host giveaways.

Will you ever make public tutorials again?

Many moons ago, I'd commented on this. And have had time to really reflect on this. Long ago, I said I'd come back to tutorial making when my YouTube Channel hit 100,000 subscribers and I had 500 members in my pattern club. Life's changed a lot since then and so has my motivation/focus. As of now, I'd like to hit that same target but without the pressure of doing public teaching content. It'll always continue to be a cherished time in the legacy of my business but, I'd love to build my pattern community based on merit. I want people to want to be here and support the fiber learning content they love. If the Lord leads me back to tutorial making again one day, that'll be another horse entirely. But for now, I believe we're all better served if I focus on other areas in my business.

The TL;DR?

2026 is going to be a lot of fun. On all fronts, I plan to work hard and play hard in order to better serve my communities. It should be interesting to see how all of that plays out and the things we'll accomplish together.

Either way it goes, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being here and supporting my creative endeavors. Stay tuned and sign up for the newsletter so you'll be alerted when more news, patterns and updates come down the pike.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Happy Making!