Going Monolingual

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Earlier this year, I came to the realization that the reason why haven't had the will to update the site much for a while now -- a really long while -- is that I'd have to do it in two languages, Finnish and English. I know many Finnish knitting bloggers do that so remarkably well, but it's just too much work for me. As much as it pains me, I've decided to do away with the Finnish pages and continue to maintain the site solely in English.

When I first started my knitting website in -- gosh, 1999? 2000? I can't even remember -- there was little to none Finnish knitting content on the web. Since then, the blogging thing happened, and now there are hundreds of Finnish knitting blogs -- let alone other knitting or craft content -- out there.

Second, the vast majority of my visitors are from outside of Finland anyway, so the Finnish language pages are catering to a minority -- a hefty minority but a minority nonetheless. And thanks to a wonderful education system, Finnish people are generally quite adept in English so it's not like I'm depriving Finnish visitors of any content, either.

Lastly, and this is a purely self-serving reason, I mostly knit in English these days. I read and write in English at work. I read, listen to, and watch TV in English for fun. The less work and more fun it is for me, the more often I'll update my site, and I think that's what matters.

I'll gradually start removing the Finnish pages, except the free patterns. I may sometimes post updates only in Finnish, and I'll also continue to link to Finnish knitting or crochet content. Those links will be marked with a small flag:

I've already taken lots of pictures of past and new projects. To tide you over, here's a sneak peek of what's been keeping me busy. On the right-hand side panel you'll also find some knitting or crafting blogs I've come to like. I'll probably add some more later once I zero in on my favorite ones.