polar bear pattern redux
Looking at my crochet pattern sales over the past few years, one of my least popular patterns has been my poor neglected AquaAmi Polar Bear, and I think I know why…
It’s entirely my own fault: I wanted to keep the design in line with the other AquaAmi (who are all about the shaping and have no features other than eyes), so I didn’t give my polar bear a black nose.
Although it was an intentional design decision, I’m pretty sure that was a mistake from the point of view of selling patterns; most people couldn’t see the implied (invisible) nose and so overlooked the pattern, which is actually a really nicely-shaped realistic polar bear design.
So, let’s try an experiment to see if I’m right… Today I am proud to (re-)introduce the AquaAmi Polar Bear crochet pattern!
Beautiful realistic shaping and a classic black bear nose make this a must-have pattern! Worked in a bulky weight yarn, he stands at about 8″ long and 5″ tall. You can easily resize the design down by simply using a worsted weight yarn and E hook to make a more compact bear, or a couple of baby bears to follow the mama bear around (oh, wouldn’t that be cute?!)
So, why not pick up a copy of the Polar Bear pattern today?
For those of you who’ve already purchased the pattern, don’t worry, this is essentially the exact same pattern you bought! But if you’d like a copy of the new version, please contact me and I’ll happily email it to you!
I’ll be very interested to see what (if any) effect this has on sales of the Polar Bear pattern. As my business evolves, I’ve been learning to focus more on what my customers want rather than arbitrary decisions that only make sense to me. For example, my patterns were originally categorized by ranges: AmiDogs, AquaAmi, AfricAmi, PocketAmi, etc, but the ranges were beginning to dictate which animal designs I could make, and navigating through those categories was not at all clear to anyone except me! Last year, I changed my shop categories to make it easier to find the type of pattern you’re looking for (Wild Animals, Farm Animals, Pets, etc etc) and I think that’s much more intuitive.
There are other things about PlanetJune.com that aren’t as user-friendly as I’d like. I’ve been compiling a list of things that could be better, and I plan to work my way through the improvements as the year progresses, so if you have any suggestions for other changes that would improve the whole ‘PlanetJune experience’ (LOL), please feel free to let me know so that I can add them to my list! Gentle and/or constructive criticism only, please – don’t make me cry 🙂
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Cora said
Is it the same pattern as before? If so what size of nose did you use. I have the pattern already.
Cora
June said
Yes, it’s exactly the same pattern! You can embroider a black nose in the same way as you’d stitch the noses on e.g. my AmiDogs designs, or use a plastic safety nose. You’ll want to make the nose approximately the same size as the eyes (I used 9mm for both eyes and nose).
Angelica Bays said
Oh, yes, yes! the black nose makes a huge difference!
I’m typing this very distractedly (doing 3 things @ once) but just wanted to let you know I’m featuring you on my blog!
Thanks for all your guidance and inspiration- you’re a doll!
June said
Kari: hehe, I think it was you who suggested, way back in the dim and distant past, that I add the nose in the first place. So thank you 😀
Eleanor: thank you for reading my blog! I don’t blog just to try to sell crochet patterns; I’m very happy to have readers who like me for other reasons too. I hope I don’t come across as just “buy my patterns!” because that’s not why I’m doing this! I love to show what I make and to connect with people.
Robyn & Becky: thank you too! And to any future commenters who I don’t address personally; I always read and appreciate EVERY comment I receive; I just don’t always have time to reply to everything (although I do always answer questions that have been asked). But I’ll try to leave more comment replies like this in future – it’s fun!
becky brockman said
I do love your blog I check it all the time to make sure if you have updated 🙂 I also think the polar bear is cute both before and after. It is cool though that you listen to your readers and customers.
Eleanor (undeadgoat) said
Oh man, I’m such a terrible person, I’m so tempted to say “UR WEBSITE SUX HAHA NOW YOU MUST CRY” but honestly I don’t go to your store ever because I don’t crochet, I just really like crochet blogs and from the point of view of my Google Reader ain’t nothing to fix. So.
Kari said
I’m super pleased you added a nose to the polar bear, it looks so much better, for such a relatively small change (and please don’t think that I think he looked bad before, either – just super cuter now! lol)
And kudos for responding to your audience, I believe it’s one of the best ways to keep people reading, and visiting you site/store/blog. Yeay for June!
June said
Jenn: I’m sorry I can’t offer you a discount on the Elephant and Sea Turtle patterns – I have a mortgage to pay! But I do have a post full of tips on how I designed and created the Disc that you can consult:
www.planetjune.com/blog/discworld-update/ 🙂
Jenn said
I’ve been wanting to buy the elephants and turtle patterns (of course to make a Discworld), but was thinking it might be nice to be able to buy these as a set? Maybe a small discount for the pair? Or tips on how you made your Discworld?
Just a thought!
Love the reissue of the bear- I do like him better with a nose!
Robyn said
Well I thought he/she was cute before. But yeah you couldn’t make out the nose unless you looked really close. I think he/she looks adorable now! The black nose makes him/her pop now. Good job! And yes he/she would look cute with some babies! 🙂