Everyday Stitch New Website Coming Soon

Mikey, aka me, from The Crochet Crowd, is launching a secondary website called Everyday Stitch in late 2025.

Michael Sellick in 2007 just before starting The Crochet Crowd in 2008.

As an online host on YouTube since March 2008, I felt the focus of crochet had been lost on me. For several years, the beginning stages of crochet have been about my own mental well-being.

With the demand of the online world of people whom I will never meet, there is a strong push, pressure, and guilt to keep on creating, ignoring the well-being of the host or designer behind the work. I'm not alone in this. It's stated that approximately 80% of creators leave within a few months, suffering from constant demands, algorithm anxiety, burnout, and mental health issues.

I take people's opinions to heart and used to wear them heavily on my sleeve. In the effort to produce more content to seek approval, it's a whirlwind of pressure that is strong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKYI6f4Z-9g

I suffer from anxiety that manifests itself in real pain that appears to others as if I am possibly having a stroke or heart attack. I can usually predict when it will happen, and unfortunately, it's when something big has lifted emotionally off of me, and my pressure is crashing down around me.

At the beginning of 2025, Joanne Fabrics & Crafts shuttered its doors; it felt like the canary in the coal mine, sort of, the start of a new transition. There's a heavy burden for people who were losing their jobs, and meanwhile, you have sofa quarterbacks congratulating the closers, as they were not treated fairly at the store and were gleeful about it. It was a double-edged sword. People's loss, other people win, and many people like me are watching the tennis match of drama unfold before our eyes. I wear this type of drama.

I decided early on in 2025 that it's time to refocus and find myself:

Why am I still crocheting nearly 40 years later and still producing tutorials and content for crochet 17 years after I made my presence known?

The answer was pretty simple. I'm crocheting to get away from the pressures of life and tap into a part of my brain that exercises and thrives on creativity.

Mikey from The Crochet Crowd

I enjoy creating patterns that others enjoy. When I need to get away from people and stay off social media, I go into design mode. I create my best patterns when I am pissed off. I get so angry that I don't care what people think about and throw my knowledge at a product just because I can. I usually design with consideration of skill level, but when I am mad, I throw the kitchen sink of crochet at it.

Crochet Study of Rage Blanket Pattern

The Crochet Study of Rage Blanket was designed and crocheted in two days. I was so angry that someone behind the scenes did me dirty. It may be one of the best designs I have done. At least I think so.

Crochet is very much about emotional well-being. You can crochet while you're happy, coasting, or hitting rock bottom. Everyone is somewhere on that simple sliding scale.

Being Too Comfortable

I have learned that when I get too comfortable, I stop growing. I found the way to run The Crochet Crowd like a well-oiled machine, but with it, the routine of doing the same thing, day in and day out, compromises my well-being. I'm too predictable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBvHI1awWaI

The question became apparent to me. I'm crocheting for emotional well-being, but am not emotionally stable. I have lost myself in the rush to get content done and for people to be happy with what I have created. I'm doing the same thing, day and night because I am not taking the time for my own personal growth. It comes down to another simple question:

What can I do to change how I am feeling?

If I wanted it bad enough, I could create a new beginning, a chapter, or maybe a new outlook. I could go back to the roots of why I started going online and share what I know and what it meant for me. The same excitement is still within, but it is lost in the effort to produce, be online most of the time, and for people to lose their reasoning when they email on a Friday night and expect an answer by their morning. They forget that there is a reason behind the email address they have reached out to, which may have a life to live, too.

My goal for Everyday Stitch is to bring back the roots of why I crochet. How can I help others effectively without being overly pushy and pushing content all day long? I want to keep a steady pace.

The new website will not be monetized until I can prove to a company that I am worth having ads listed on it. So it will rely on people wanting to buy patterns or supporting me on YouTube to make it happen.

In the end, I feel... if there is a will, there's a way. Everyday Stitch will be coming online later in 2025. The developer is working on the vision for the structure now, but it's up to me to populate it with content, inspiration, and more. It's a steep hill, but the comfort level of what The Crochet Crowd is uncomfortable in a new adventure, which means it's probably the right path. Stay focused and engaged.

It won't be like The Crochet Crowd; it will be more focused without listing a million patterns. The Crochet Crowd will continue to operate, and I will continue to make content for it and more. It will be self-focused on the patterns and inspiration I create, a piece of me, shared with you.

We hope you will enjoy the new platform once it comes out.