Last Updated on January 7, 2021
Alysha Littlejohn is the founder, crafter, hands & heart behind Littlejohn’s Yarn – a resource for crochet patterns, decor inspiration, tips and tricks and reviews. Alysha is also an arts and crafts influencer on the Intellifluence influencer marketing platform. Alysha’s love for crochet began at the age of 7 and that passion grew to teaching, pattern writing, blogging & vlogging. No matter your skill level, you can find patterns at littlejohnsyarn.com. You can also follow Alysha on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to learn more!
According to your bio, you started crocheting at age seven. So can you tell us a little bit about your background and what led you to create Littlejohn’s Yarn?
My grandmother taught me, and there’s one thing that she loved to do in our family. My grandmother was known for crochet. When a baby was born, they’d go to Granny Rosie to get your crocheted blanket made. And eventually that led on to me, and I’ve crocheted for years until maybe recently, like five years ago, five or six years ago, I began selling my own crochet items, and that progressed into blogging, pattern writing, and more, just from that.
When was your “a-ha moment” when you realized that you in fact were an influencer?
When I began, I would get custom orders. I sold things I made. But then I slowly progressed to YouTube, and it was probably once I got around a thousand subscribers, people started asking recommendations, what do you think I should do for this and this? And I’m like, people care about what I have to say, so therefore, I have to make sure I put forth good information, because I don’t want to lead anybody astray. So about a thousand subscribers, yeah. On YouTube, that is.
In your bio, you wrote upon the creation of your YouTube channel, you refused to be a channel that nobody watched. Now you have close to 90,000 subscribers. Each video produced gets thousands of views. So I’d say you comfortably reached your goal. What are some of the things you did early on that set you on the course for success with YouTube?
Consistency and research. Luckily, if you want to grow on YouTube, you can always go to YouTube university and teach you everything that you need to do. But I realized you just have to be consistent, putting something out every single week.
You just can’t put out content one day and five months later put out something else. And also, you need to learn how to promote what you put out. People are not just going to find you. You have to make sure you can find your audience. Let them know that you have the information that they need to grow, or make patterns, like myself.
What would you personally consider your favorite (or best video) to-date that you’ve made?
I would say there’s probably two. My favorite pattern is my vintage crochet cloche hat. If you can think of Humphrey Bogart or like 1945, it’s a hat that gives you that agent, what is it, Agent Carter? That hat that goes across the eye, that has been one of my most popular tutorials.
I absolutely love that vintage look. Anything from the twenties to the fifties, if you love those types of hats and you crochet, I’m the girl. But my favorite video that I’ve created, I love to do review tutorials, especially for those related to crochet, because you don’t see many reviews for crochet related items. Those are so much fun. I buy things that people wish they could buy and don’t want to spend their money on. Luckily, with my shopping habits, I’m able to do it and have an excuse to do all this fun stuff. And I review it live on camera. And especially doing times like this, during this pandemic, people can’t window shop. So therefore, they can watch me and window shop and watch me fumble along on my review videos as I test out products.
On your site, you make the point that you have patterns for all different skill levels. What are some common misconceptions people have when it comes to getting into crochet?
Sometimes people are afraid, this is including myself, when you begin crocheting, I was crocheting for 30 years and I still thought I was a beginner crocheter. As long as you know the five basic stitches of crochet, all you need is a good pattern to get you anywhere.
So my patterns, I give you a written pattern and a video tutorial, so you can watch step by step and follow along to a written pattern on my blog. So therefore, you realize you’re not a beginner, you’re an intermediate, or hey, you’re an advanced and you didn’t even know it.
What have been some of your favorite brand collaborations to date?
My very favorite was my very first brand collaboration, because when you get that first one, you’re like, “oh, I’m so excited!” But they’re always one of my favorite yarns. It was Kraemer’s Perfection yarn. That was a good one. I work with Lion Brand. I work with Addi, Premier Yarns. I work with a lot of yarn companies, because it’s very hard to find items to promote – not promote, but share with your audience that relates to them, because you can get a lot of requests from crazy places.
What are some of your goals for the next little bit, as it pertains to Littlejohn’s Yarn?
I’m working on creating my own little, not little, I’m creating a class, because many people always come to me like, “Alysha, how did you get in the position where you are, where you can make an income equivalent to a day job doing this online?” So therefore, I’m trying to squish that into a class. Also, I’m creating more patterns. I have a book written, still hasn’t came out yet, but it’s written, but I just want to continue to grow and work with more brands and hopefully make this 100% my full time job.
Note: Influencer Spotlight interviews are edited for time and clarity.
Andrew is the Head of Client Services for Intellifluence and has a background in communications. He is committed to helping brands get the most out of their campaigns and is the co-host of the Influencer Spotlight series.
