Every Stitch of 2017 — A 2017 Recap

So the globe has turned the 365.25 times it takes for 2017 to become 2018, and with it, Red Hat Factory has twisted and turned, and been through a lot of exciting changes. Here is a summary for you.

Tiny stitches, large hat

Red Hat Factory was born out of a passion for red knit caps, respect for the craft, and as a creative outlet. I love creating brands, and work with this on a day to day basis!

When working with branding for other customers, there remains a need to build something of your own, to express the style you love, and I decided to build an adventurous brand around my newfound passion for red knit caps. As it slowly grew into being, it brought a wish to give something back to my parents—to allow my mom to be paid a reasonable price for her excellent knitting skills.

In between customer work, and not seldom after working hours, I have put countless hours into forging the Red Hat Factory brand. As a consequence, we have seen it yield results and grow a lot through 2017.

Apart from local sales and sponsor hats, we have sold hats to:

• Canada
• Australia
• Russia

That is great fun for a little Norwegian South Coast Family Gig.

We have also sent a few sponsor hats and gifts to different people in America, Germany, Norway & Sweden in 2017, some of which returned amazing photos!

All the tiny things we do come together like stitches in the great knit piece that is Red Hat Factory. Through 2017 I feel like I have found a rhythm that enables the growth to continue at a pace, and the challenges that come up to be tackled head on. Like my mother knitting, stitch by stitch, patiently enjoying the process, the brand Red Hat Factory is growing into a complete knit cap, ready to serve to the adventurers out there.

Upping the Instagram game

In 2017 I feel like I have found the tone I want to have on our Instagram channel. A mixture of different portraits of people wearing the knit caps, and a large portion of landscape photography that me or my friends snatch when out exploring nature.

Learning to use and pick the right hashtags is part of the process, and my reach have grown exponentially as I have found the tags that reaches the people that might like Red Hat Factory. I have begun listening a bit to a podcast that teaches Instagram, after a recommendation from my sister—whom by the way is awesome at the Insta game.

Btw. Follow us on Instagram.

In December I also got a new camera, and I am ready to pick up and refine old skills that I haven’t used for a good while.

Before I continue, here are a few shoutouts echoing out from 2017:

• Thank you WESN Goods, for your shoutout that lead to sales for me in 2017.
• Thank you Scandinavian Alps Coffee Roasters for trading me the best coffee beans ever for a cap!
• Thank you MacLaren Barbers for so many adventures together, many good haircuts gotten, and for selling the cap in your shop!
• Thank you Asbjørn for being the best travel buddy anyone could wish for!

Product rebranding

One of the most fulfilling parts of Red Hat Factory 2017, was to rebrand all the caps. Here my creative expression got an outlet—though of course keeping with the original Red Hat Factory style. I love the rough had drawn style, and for our hand made products, it is a perfect match!

In choosing new names, we went from simple and basic, into building more of a story around each and every cap, and drawing inspiration from the Norwegian varying nature, we went from the coastal bay areas with rounded hills, to the radically pointed mountains of the north.

Thank you!

I want to express my gratitude to all of you that have bought our hats, all the Instagram and Facebook comments, the expressed excitement, the interest in what Red Hat Factory is and is becoming. All of it is very much appreciated by both me and my mother.

Every share, like and comment also lets new people know about Red Hat Factory, which is awesome. So if you want to show us support, interact with us! It helps us in many ways.

My more than 90 years old grandma knit some of the caps that were sold to Canada, and she thought it was so much fun that they had gone all the way over there! I’m just gonna throw in a picture of her, if you haven’t seen her, since she is such a legend.

We are all enjoying this adventure and all the challenges that comes with it. And when I say adventure, that naturally leads us straight into the last point.

Adventure Stories

As of 2017 we have started releasing Adventure Stories, which are fairly lengthy written stories, sometimes paired with a video, from when we have been out exploring somewhere in nature.

So far, we have only released one, and I refuse to stress the one from Lofoten that I am currently working with. Quality before quantity! It will come in 2018, but not quite yet. However, every Adventure Story comes out on Instagram and Facebook before it releases on the page, so you can view pieces from the Lofoten Adventure Story under #rhfinlofoten.

Good luck with your 2018, and I hope you keep following us, wherever this new year takes us.

Thank you!