New Blog...

We have started up a new blog that we can embed in our website.

I would copy these posts over to it... but I don't know how to, so we shall be starting from scratch with information about our new, forthcoming range of knitting patterns.

Thank you for your support...

Barbie says 'It's cool to be geeky!'

Barbie has ventured into the realms of IT. Armed with her laptop, spectacles and sensible footwear, she is more than prepared for a career in Information Technology as reported in this BBC News article.

And knit4dolls are going to help her, and all the would-be geeks out there. We are bringing out a knitting pattern for a 'geeky' Barbie outfit, so that girls everywhere can see that all Barbie dolls, everywhere, can become leaders in the field of IT.

Obviously girls don't need special clothes to branch into IT, but they do need motivation, and an awareness that, whatever jeers might be thrown their way, they are free, and more than able to tackle any role they choose to embark on in life.

Action Man is advancing up the rankings...

knit4dolls does very well in Google searches involving knitting such as: action man knitting patterns. Searches for Action Man alone would produce nothing... I would give up looking after the first 30 pages, long after any potential visitors would have endured.

However it seemed to me that some people might be more inclined to buy my knitting patterns whilst they were in the market for the Action Man toy itself. So I determined to 'tap' into the toys market. After adjusting my keywords and phrases, and their positioning within the content of my website pages, I was delighted to see that searches for Action Man alone now produced entries on page 10 of SERPs, and on page 4 for Action Man clothes.

Look here for some of the possible combinations of clothing that are available for you to knit.

It also seemed to me that some people might be more inclined to buy an Action Man if they knew that there were knitting patterns available to make clothes for him, but that's another story... unless a toy company thinks likewise!

A great video of HM Armed Forces toys... in action!

Here is a shared video of HM Armed Forces action toys from http://www.character-online.com/



And here are some of the outfits that you can knit from our knitting patterns: http://bit.ly/HMAFclothes

Modern Tecnology...

I've got 2 issues:

1. I keep getting locked out of facebook... it doesn't seem to recognise my password. I might eventually get in , by which time I have forgotten what I was going to do anyway... AND then I can't get in again a few hours later. Such a waste of time... I won't bother any more.

2. The latest thing on Twitter seems to be Automated Tweeting. This is great for the twitters in that they can tweet, say, every hour and forget about it... but this raises 2 further issues in that they are not communicating with other Twitters, and are:
a. not corresponding with others, and
b. not RT (retweeting), which is a way that allows twitters to gain credibility.

It seems to me that Social Media is rapidly evolving into... something else... can't quite put my finger on it yet!

Think Summer, and Sunhats...

Sunhats..... Sunhats..... Sunhats..... Sunhats!
Well... Sunhat actually...
Here are Barbie's 4 different ways of wearing her same Sunhat:

Barbie is getting ready for the Summer and wants some more Barbie knitting patterns for clothes and accessories to go with her very versatile sunhat. She decided to recycle it from last Summer because she loved it so much and seemed to wear it every day.

Join our Latest News Mailing List on our website to get early information about when more Barbie knitting paterns are available.

Should I deviate from PayPal and accept cheques?

I realise the delimma that people have concerning the Internet. I have great concerns too, and that is why I like using PayPal. Customers don't have to have a PayPal account, just a debit, or even credit card, and PayPal deal with the money side of it. It is nothing to do with me. If customers don't have the money, it is PayPal's problem. I also have access to PayPal's invoicing system which records my sales, so I don't have to do any of that. Personally, I would be more concerned about sending money to an individual online than I would be to PayPal.

With regard to printing, I have no idea of the cost! With regard to postage, I would have to send things by Special Delivery so that I know that they were received. The cost would just be too high. That's why I set things up as a download. And it seems to me that if I were to start doing this for some customers then I would be legally obliged to do it for everyone who asks.

What do you think?

Redesigning website continues...

I am changing the design of the website so that it has a fresh, new look to it. It still keeps its knit4dolls banner, and banners for Bratz, Barbie, Action Man and HM Armed Forces. But a lot of other things are going. These things tend to slow down the loadtime of the page and Google doesn't like visitors having to wait too long!

There are several other things that need doing as I work my way through the site. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the buzz phrase at the moment. It means that, without good SEO, a site will very likely not appear on Google searches. And as this is how most people find things on the internet, it is important to try and get it right. Google doesn't like broken links either, and I've corrected a couple of those.

And I'm learning more and more about 'keywords', good ones and where to put them. From an SEO point of view, there is a world of difference between 'knitting patterns for barbie' and 'barbie knitting patterns'. Who'd have thought it!

Well... I'd best get back to changing yet another page...

Which one?

A new year, a new decade even, so a new look for our website...



First is the old-look, and then is the new-look website designs.

I've got to consider things like weight of pages and load times. Google is not happy with websites that keep you, the visitor, waiting for ages, well... seconds, for the website to load up onto your PC. And we all need to keep Google happy to ensure that our websites appear in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).

I think that Google will be much happier with the new design... even the weight of the new photo above is much less than that of the old design! But I have only changed the Home page as yet, and shall have to plug away, bit by bit, with all the others...

Which do you prefer?

HM Armed Forces are Dads too...

Knit civvies by using a variety of different colours. And be brave and put your own design onto the jumper. Use the blank grids from our Freebies page and show us how they look by posting a photo on our knit4dolls Forum.

HM Armed Forces in Newcastle United football strip...

This is to be my son-in-law's Christmas present... well, the football strip anyway. I have cheated with the design of the T-shirt, as vertical stripes are so awkward. I bet you can see what I've done with the front... but what do you think I've done with the number on the back?

New combat colours for HM Armed Forces action figures too!

We have concentrated our knitwear photography on the present camouflage colours of mainly dark green, as with the trousers, and beige, as with the hat. The new colouring though can be achieved by using the lighter green/brown yarn as shown here with the jacket and T-shirt.

And there are numerous other colours and shades available in Rowans Classic Siena to knit up some civvies for Dad to wear too!

I can't believe it...

I only finished one of them a few days ago... And they've been stolen! My knit4dolls HM Armed Forces Eco-Items knitting pattern, and, a week or so ago, my knit4dolls Action Man Eco-Outfits knitting pattern.

They were purchased as pdf downloads via PayPal, but have cropped up at other locations. I know the woman's name, postal address, email address and I have found her IP address. I have found 2 recipient IP addresses, and 1 university provider.

I have blocked everything from my website... but she has my files... I just can't believe it! What can I do?

Please... keep your eyes open for these knitting patterns on ebay or anywhere!

We are now on Twitter...

Here our HM Armed Forces action figures are modelling our sportswear... but I got over-enthusiastic with the camera!

See what else is going on on Twitter.

HM Armed Forces knitting patterns...

Here at last! And this is my favourite photo...


Many of the possible outfits are displayed here on our website. And the knitting pattern will be available from Monday, 30th November 2009

Preview of HM Armed Forces knitwear...

I wish I could align these photos but I can't. I shall have to stick with knitting!

.....

Coming very, very soon...

knit4dolls Eco-Items Knitting Pattern for the brand new action figure out this year...

HM Armed Forces

More Eco-friendly Action Man Outfits

Two more eco-friendly outfits to knit for Action Man, but, when combined with the first ones, give a great many combinations of clothing to choose from.

Have a browse at some of the many combinations of Action Man clothing that you can create from knitting all 4 Eco-outfits.

Action Man Eco-friendly Combat Outfits

Action Man has gone eco-friendly too. As with our Barbie range, we are bringing out Action Man eco-outfits designed in eco-friendly, cotton yarn that comes in a wide variety of colours and shades. Here Action Man is displaying his brand new Combat clothing.

Pop onto our website and have a browse:
knit4dolls Action Man Eco-Outfits

Barbie goes Eco-Friendly...

We are bringing out our new, eco-friendly, eco-outfits for Barbie / My Scene. These are designed in eco-friendly, cotton yarn that comes in a wide variety of colours and shades, but as with all our dolls' clothes and accessories, our knitting patterns are still as quick and easy to use as ever.

Pop onto our website and have a browse:

knit4dolls Barbie Eco-Outfits

Our Free Raffle prize winner was a lady in Scotland. She received these Barbie items: