How I Became a Crocheter, by Erica Jane Smith, Aged 37¾

I come from a family of knitters. Oh sure, they can crochet, and sew, and there's the occasional bit of cross stitch and tapestry, but if I had to place them into any particular box, it would be the knitting one. I, on the other hand, am categorically NOT a knitter. I -can- knit, I just don't enjoy it. I find it a struggle, counter-intuitive, and incredibly heavy going. If there's more than 30 stitches cast on, and the…

I used to think I’m all about crochet – I could teach it, be a maker, be a designer, be a pattern-writter etc. Guess what? It turned out I couldn’t.

It all started with teaching. I thought I could teach crochet – and I did teach to some people, but I was always struggling with getting people to come to my classes. I think the biggest number I could gather was 5... or 6. I knew my classes weren’t profitable for me, but I kept doing it. One time I rented a room from a store…

I love looking at what people are doing in the art world with crochet - taking the craft to its edges by combining it with other mediums, hitting the streets with it, etc. Thought I'd share five of my favorite cutting-edge crochet artists:

1. Anna Krystyna Casey…

Ok.  Pot holders are not something I'd normally blog about, especially not my first post!  But I lost the code when I tried to just share a URL, and it's not a picture, so...  blog post.  Hi.  Don't mind me, I'm new.  ;p

I was open to sharing the pattern though, so as long as the Internet Wayback Machine has it, we're good.  It's an interesting swirl pattern done in thread.   Yup, thread.  #10 even.  I'm not sure how sturdy thread would be, but there you have it.  Oh, and a…

I am just in love with the colours and patterns of South America this year. Don't know why, but yes indeedy, I am. 

The last few years I have been quietly working on crocheted cables and other traveling stitches. The few items of clothing that I have designed for myself have been very traditional to…

I appreciate that people are excited to to be here, I know i am excited to be on Hookey. I want to make something very clear...

THIS IS A PLACE FOR CROCHET. That means no compare and contrast discussions, I don't want to hear how we've been done wrong, I don't want to hear how we're faster, better, etc, I want us to CELEBRATE our craft here.

We do not need to allow the very loud and few negative jerks out there to live in our heads. They don't live here, ok? We…

I think I've read more ranting about the rantings of knitters than the actual knitter rants themselves. I guess Ive never really entertained those points. Sometimes they are valid and half truths, sure.

However, according to my research so far, there is one important point that really trumps most all a knitters occasional catty comment.

It is that there is NO man-made machine out there right now, nor in the history of time that can Crochet at the level of any human hand let…

I recently hooked up (pun fully intended) with a group in my area that is/was supposed to be a crochet group. YAY, I thought, about time!! I don't do knitting groups, because, well, I DON'T knit -at all- and although those groups say they're fine with me coming (aww, how nice) the reason WHY I'd want to socialize with stitchers in the first place is to share ideas, get/give advice, etc. Can't do that so much with knitters. In any case, I started this new group because the leader is a full-on…

REPEATEDLY. Gosh, I hope Hookey ends up being a community of cutting edge thinkers and fiber artists who have NEW and innovative ideas, rather than be a place where worn out, redundant topics are hashed and rehashed.

But elsewhere... and this is where my rant kicks in...



Topics I could do without reading anymore, ever ever again: acrylic is for crocheters, crocheters don't spend $$$ on "good yarn," and how knitting is so much better or…

I always say that I wish there were more hours in the day, so I could make my family happy AND have all the crochet time I want. I never really appreciated how precious time was, until I became a mother! I used to spend all day cooking and crocheting.  I once went 6 months without making the same meal twice! 

Now that time is limited, I am finding ways to use every spare moment. Planning is key! I make a weekly plan, listing what I would most like to accomplish in crochet. Then, I…

I have been very stubborn about joining the big social sites like Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest. I still don't even have a cell phone for Pete's sake (who is this Pete anyway?). I joined CrochetMe back when it was still indy and cool and a revolution. Then I found Ravelry and the CLF. I am so glad I did! I have made amazing friends and had tons of fun. I started a store on Ravelry for the patterns I create. People are buying my patterns! Joining CLF 3.0 as an IndyProPlus member is my…

I have recently received several (ok, 2) complaints that people can’t make one of my patterns. They claim to be a crocheters of 25 years experience, but still can’t make that one... so, i’m to blame – that’s what they think. At the same time I have received many great comments about that same pattern – „it was very understandable, well written and easy to make” etc. And several people are already wearing it.

So – where’s the truth in this whole situation?

I…

If you are able to get to Portland, Oregon for the Rose City Yarn Crawl March 1-4, do so! We're gathering hookStars together to show that we really are interested in having quality crochet in our local yarn stores.

We hear tell that there are still some LYSes in the dark about our love of yarn and all things crochet, that they think we aren't interested in their wares. 

Monica Lowe, Laurinda Reddig and myself (Laurie A. Wheeler) are heading to Portland to show…

Glad I popped on in here, finally. I hope to keep in touch with those friends I already have actively cultivated friendships with, and hope to meet some new folks, too:)

Not really sure what else to put here, other than I hope some of Laurie's industriousness rubs off on me!

http://aberrantcrochet.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/dont-pin-me-bro-the-saga-of-copyright-and-pinterest/

I thought about recopying the whole article to Hookey, but then decided not to since it's so link heavy for all the research content inherent.  Instead of re-copying the entire text here, I'll refer you to my blog (Aberrant Crochet) where you can read it in…

"I would loooove to do what you do, but I just don't know where I could ever find the tiiiime. I'm just soooo busy."

This was said to me by a client the other day, during her manicure, when she spied my freeform monster scrap sticking out of a bag. This particular client said this, after giving me the lowdown on every prime time show that she never misses. Never. Not a chance, according to her. She probably spends easily 20 hours each week watching…

A week ago there was a referendum for/against russian as a second language in Latvia. It is height of absurdity, of course - that I would have to speak foreign language in my own country. The majority (75%) voted against it - me, too. But that's not the story...

This was the second time I arranged a CAL in Latvia. First time - it was at another election - I was waiting for results and came up with a shawl and beret.

The next time I decided to invite fellow hooksters to join me…

Hi everyone.  I finally had some time to spend exploring this site and its companion.  I'm excited to be a part of it.  Big decision of 2012:  Spend some time creating the designs that have been swimming around in my head, write them down - get them out into the hooking world!  In short, I'm a designer in my head; now I want to be a designer in the real world.  So many thanks to the many who've inspired me --- our Fearless Leader, Laurie Wheeler chief among them.  xxoo

Wow! I'm actually super glad that the social side of CLF 3.0 didn't work on our website! I love this platform, I don't have to code anything, I can just be a crocheter here!

I am so blessed that the CLF 3.0 experience is shaping up as I envisioned and dreamed. I guess I'll always be Fearless Leader over on the Crochet Liberation Front website, it's a moniker that works for me there. But, here on this site, I want to be me, Laurie A. Wheeler.

Who is this Laurie A.…

Okay! Here goes my first blog post ever, folks! I am Sarah, aka MsBusyFingers of MsBusyFingers Designs on Ravelry.com.  I love crochet so much sometimes I think it is a baby bunny or a puppy or something - I wanna hug it and kiss it and squeeze it and call it George - that is the kind of love I have for this craft.  I am feeling euphoric about this new Hookey site too and I do believe we are all headed…