Storied Yarns - A Yarn Quest Knitting RPG

April News
about 3 years ago – Thu, Apr 15, 2021 at 12:39:54 PM

Good afternoon, all.

First off, I need to apologize for the lack of updates over the last few months. I was diagnosed with Chronic Intractable Migraine from the August 3rd migraine. We finally managed to best it with Botox on March 25th. It was 234 days of straight migraine. I basically lost 8 months of my life. 

I am the only person working on this book. So when I go down, all work stops. There's literally nothing I can do when my brain refuses to look at screens without knocking me out for a week of excruciating pain.

I just got back on computers and am slowly working myself up. I still have headaches almost every day, and if I'm not careful those work into migraines. I cannot overwork myself or I risk going back to living with daily migraines. So I'm purposefully taking things slow, especially since this is my first dose of Botox and it may take two or three to get to full effect. Each dose is 12 weeks apart, so this is one of those things that takes time. I wish I could make everything go faster, but I can't.

Please understand that this project is not abandoned. I have resumed work on it, but again, I have to take things slow. I just came off a migraine that was preceded by serious nerve damage that was preceded by bad enough tendinitis in both hands to take me out. 

Not gonna lie, this project has been a bit cursed. If you think you want this project done, believe me, you don't want it nearly as much as I do. Because every time I have to take off, it's because I'm in pain and unable to work. I'm not off vacationing in the Bahamas or buying a new house. 

Now, on a better note, I got fully vaccinated so now I can make post office runs, so anyone who backed for things like dice, pins, stickers, and project bags, they will be heading out soon. 

We'll talk books in a while, I'm getting illustrations all lined up and don't have a proper timeline.

Speaking of.... If you backed for artwork make sure I have your surveys!

Art dolls will also be going out over the next few months as well, as I'm able to look down again without kicking up a headache. 

Again, I ask that you please be patient. I'm trying to catch up with 8 months of being completely unable to do anything. I have a lot of things irl that need work, a craft show coming up (I need to cover extra expenses because prices have gone up, again please don't complain about my work outside the Kickstarter.) We will get there. I promise. And it will be well worth the wait.

Mug update - I talked to Amanda and she should be getting them out soon. I'll check in with her again to see where she's at. She's finishing off Starry night and getting into Sweet Pea next.

Ravelry/Design update - Story time

Now, one last thing I need to talk about. This is all about what has been happening with the Ravelry site update situation, so skip if you aren't interested.

This fiasco is part of why I didn't make a post right away. Because I've had to scramble to figure things out. 

At the end of March, less than a week after I finally broke the migraine cycle, Ravelry deactivated my store for non-payment. I was unable to log in to pay my bills, so they suggested someone else log in and use my Paypal to pay. Which would require them to have my password. Which is not only against common sense (don't share your passwords, kids) but also against PayPal's Terms of Use and could result in me losing my PayPal account. The next suggestion was to have someone else pay it, but that would require me to give our my business card or pay them back. The IRS frowns on paying someone to pay your bills. 

They refused any other form of payment. The only other person in my household has vertigo problems, and there is no way I'm inflicting anyone else with damage from Ravelry's site, and I do not give out passwords.

I tried to make this work. I really did. But after being inflicted with 8 months of hell and trying to deal with the least compassionate people I've ever faced, I can't anymore. I am stepping down as a full time knitting pattern designer. 

Honestly, without Ravelry I can't bring in enough income to make it worth it, and in the end they didn't care enough to help me with something so basic as me giving them money. I'm tired, and I can barely look at knitting. What brought me so much joy is so painful right now that I can't do it. I'll get back to it eventually, but I need a break.

Don't worry, all the samples for the book are done.

For anyone who wants to read the exchange I had with Mary Heather, here's a link to the tweet - https://twitter.com/TaniaRichter/status/1378087174445273088?s=20

I also recommend following the RavelryAccessibility hashtag on Twitter and Instagram. I'm not the only designer who can't log in to pay. The powers that be don't care. They just want to play with their site. Anyone who can't use it can screw off. They're ruining careers and don't care.

I have spent thousands of dollars now treating this migraine. I have a pair of expensive custom glasses that are the only reason I was able to function enough to take care of myself through this migraine. The final kicker of everything is that now I'm going to be susceptible to migraines for the rest of my life. Ravelry gave me a permanent disability. Full stop. Their site injured me and thousands of others. I cannot, and will not, forgive them. They betrayed their user base in so many ways. 

Now, what does this all mean for Storied Yarns? Nothing. Because I've still got a few people who can access Ravelry to update the patterns in the ebook, and everyone will be getting a pdf of the book when its done. All other pattern projects will be wrapped up as well, and I will still be designing as a hobbyist with patterns at https://payhip.com/Knit1Roll20. I wanted to make this all clear in case there was any concern. 

I will be updating things on here as I get them done. I don't know how quickly things will get done, as again, I'm still recovering from this migraine, so I have to be careful with screen time. 

So for the time being, take care and stay well. Go get your vaccines as you're able, and keep wearing those masks. We'll all get there.

~Tania

Medical hiatus
over 3 years ago – Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 11:29:21 PM

Good evening all,

First of all, thanks to all of you who have reached out with kind words over the last few months. I've read all your messages, and I really appreciate them right now.

I'm still on the same migraine I've had since August 3rd. I know many of you are upset, and trust me, I am too. The last 165 days have been hell. Those of you who have dealt with migraines understand. Those of you who haven't... Well, I sincerely hope you never have to. 

I'm able to do screen time on my phone as long as I limit it and use my migraine glasses. Computer screens in all forms (we've tried, trust me, we've tried) are off limits as they set off migraine spikes that medications won't touch that worsen the migraine to the point that I'm stuck in a dark room for days unable to do anything. 

My hands are tied right now. Due to Covid it's hard to get appointments and the soonest one we could get with the head neurologist is February 17th. She's the best migraine doc in my system and the likeliest way we'll get answers.  Until then I'm going to be in survival mode. I won't have answers or a timeline until we figure out how to get rid of this migraine. 

Now that shipping is getting back to normal I'll be in touch with Pawley Studio about mugs. We're still in starry night mugs. If you have an address update for starry night only please send it to me in a Kickstarter message. 

Stay safe, stay well.

PS there have been some complaints about the fact that I have a Patreon. I've had a Patreon since Patreon came out in 2013, and with everything that has happened in 2020 it is one of my few remaining forms of income. Nothing I do for my Patreon is taking away from Kickstarter, and in fact, it actually may have been a big help. More on that later.

PPS Stalking is not nice and some of you are getting really stalker-ish. I already have the migraine from hell, do you really think i need to feel stalked on top of it? Stress = rise  in cortisol levels = increased pain from the migraine. I'm barely keeping my constant pain scale under a 5. Please don't make it spike.

November Migraine update
over 3 years ago – Sat, Nov 21, 2020 at 08:21:11 PM

Hey all,

Hope everyone is staying safe. I just got done with a few follow up appointments concerning the migraine, so now it's time to post an update!

Unfortunately, it's not good news. Today is day 109 of the same migraine I've had continuously since August 3rd. All three of the doctors I met with have banned me from going into computers/tablets and avoid screens in general as these are the main triggers for my migraine to get worse.

What does this mean? Well, it means that I'm not able to work on anything for the Kickstarter. Computer work is an instant migraine that no amount of meds will kick and i don't want to send myself to the ER during a pandemic again. I know this is ridiculous. Trust me. This is not what i want to be dealing with in the least. I've gone through over a dozen doctors appointments at this point. I've got one more specialist and a few more medications to try, but this is probably going to take a few more months to work out. I have exactly zero say besides doing whatever therapy/taking meds/wearing special glasses/following doctors orders. I can't rush this.

For folx still using Ravelry - I have a proxy  who will be updating on there for me. For anyone who wants to use other services - as soon as I'm cleared for computers again -  Storied Yarns patterns will get uploaded on alternate services, namely PayHip and GumRoad. There will be a final pdf copy of the ebook sent out to everyone.

Physical rewards will be sent when I'm able to be on a computer as printing labels and such requires being on a computer.

Please be patient, I promise you that I haven't gone anywhere. Storied Yarns will still release. I'll be back with an update when I know more.

Until then - take care, stay safe, stay well.

~Tania

Migraine update
over 3 years ago – Fri, Oct 30, 2020 at 12:26:24 PM

Good afternoon all,

First I'll start with some good news - we've got the bags in! Pawley Studios is a bit behind on mug shipping, it's being a rough year for them so they're still in Starry Night land. Mugs are going out a bit slower than I'd reported, that's entirely on me, but they're still going out.

Now for the bad news. I still have the migraine. Yes, the same one I posted about last time. It's been 87 days since it started from 3 minutes on the updated Ravelry website. I've had over a dozen appointments, I'm on 3 new medications, I have specialized new FL-41 migraine glasses, and I still have the migraine. We are throwing everything possible at it. One of the big problems all screens are a migraine trigger, so I haven't been able to do anything on a computer for the last three months. All the test knits are done so I'm working on a side project when I'm not completely dead, but most of the rest of the Kickstarter stuff all needs to be finished up on a computer. So I can't work on it. Period. I tried, but I made the migraine bad enough that I sent myself to the ER. 

I'm sorry I haven't posted since last month, but honestly I've been half dead on a couch most of the time. I'm doing everything I can, but I'm only one person, and there are some Kickstarters out there with large teams of people that are years behind but are still getting stuff done and out. It happens, and while I didn't want it to happen to me it happened to me hard. I haven't gone anywhere, I'm just having a string of awful luck.

Trust me, I never wanted to have 3+ major health crises back to back, especially while I'm trying to finish this Kickstarter. I want this project done just as much as all of you do. We'll get there, it'll be amazing, and you all will love it. 

Please have patience while I deal with 2020 and everything it's decided to send my way. I'll be back as soon as my brain isn't trying to constantly hammer its way out of my head. Shipping on my end will resume when that happens.

Take care, stay well,

~Tania

Migraine part 2
over 3 years ago – Sun, Sep 06, 2020 at 09:33:28 PM

Hey all. Still have the migraine. Update will be after I get the nerve block to get rid of it (appointment 1 this Friday, nerve block hopefully before the end of the month, specialist appointments are super backed up). We've tried just about everything else and it's being ridiculously stubborn. This is day 35 straight. I can't do any work on screens, so I'm working on a cable pattern I'll be able to add to the book.

Stay safe, stay well,

~Tania