Kim Werker - Crochet Me

Kim Werker

PHOTOGRAPHY: Jeff Navarro UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
COVER AND INTERIOR DESIGN: Karla Baker
ILLUSTRATIONS: Cynthia Frenette

Text 2007 Kim Werker

Photography and illustrations 2007 Interweave Press LLC

Patterns 2007 by individual designers

All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Werker, Kim P.

Crochet me: designs to fuel the crochet revolution / Kim Werker, author.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-59668-044-9 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-59668-959-6 (PDF)

ISBN 978-1-62033-252-8 (ePub)

1. Crocheting--Patterns. I. Title.

TT820.W373 2007

746.434041--dc22

2007015111

Acknowledgments

The designers featured here dove into the depths of their creativity to make the patterns youre about to enjoy, and I had the pleasure and honor of working with them on this project. Their friendship and inspiration are more special to me than I can say.

Tricia Waddell told me something any writer dreams of hearing from her editor: Dont hold back. Her valued support, guidance, and partnership resulted in the greatest creative experience Ive ever had. Thanks also to Linda Stark, Rebecca Campbell, and Marilyn Murphy, who were as much a part of this wild ride. Finally, to Jaime Guthals, Laura Levaas, and Annie Bakken, for the excitement thats to come.

In addition to designing two projects for the book, Julie Holetz technical edited the whole shebang. Given that that we went out of our way to break out of normal approaches to crochet, I certainly handed her a doozy of a manuscript, and she thoughtfully attended to it.

To the Fiber League, crafty friends and colleagues, thank you for the constant stream of ideas and support. Hugs to my bff, Emma Jane Hogbin, for taking CrochetMe.com to the next level with me, and for making it such fun along the way.

To friends near and far who are as much family as fun-makers, high fives all around. Thanks to the Werkers, Feldmans, and Geffens for making me a part of the family from the get-go, and for sharing your excitement and support for this crazy crochet adventure.

Mentions of my parents and grandparents grace many pages of this book, just as they have infused my life with love, support, creativity, and laughter. I love them as much as you might think, and likely more. I also love my brother, who isnt really into the yarn stuff, and so doesnt play as large a part in this book as he plays in my life. Finally, my gratitude and love to Greg.

To Greg:

Maker of laughs, giver of hugs, keeper of whats said around the kitchen table.

Contents

by Amy ONeill Houck

by Chloe Nightingale

by Robyn Chachula

by Amy ONeill Houck

by Julie Armstrong Holetz

by Melissa Hills

by Chloe Nightingale

by Kristin Omdahl

by Julie Armstrong Holetz

by Annette Petavy

by Cecily Keim

by Robyn Chachula

by Megan Granholm

by Cecily Keim

by Carol Ventura

by Donna Hulka

by Kim Werker

One word, dear crocheters:

Empowerment.

Thats the thing that motivates me most: Its what drove me to start CrochetMe.com, the website that inspired this book, and its what then drove me to write this book.

Cue the cheesy TV harp music and join me on a bit of a memory bender...

Picture this: One Saturday during the winter of 2004, I was sitting in my basement office surfing the Net. I was desperately seeking crochet patterns. I wanted to make pretty stuff. Stuff with attitude that reflected my attitude. I wanted cool crochet. What I found, though, were 1996-era purple, blinking sites with better photos of peoples cats than the crochet projects they claimed to be showing off. I searched harder and looked deeper. Finally, in a fit of frustration and boredom (do you know how dark it can be during a winter afternoon in Vancouver?), I set up a subdomain on my freelance Web design business site and CrochetMe.com was born. I had barely finished my first crochet project in several years, so I wasnt prepared to churn out wicked patterns to share. I confess I was as motivated to make a nonblinking, nonpurple, noncluttered, non-petriddled crochet site as I was to find cool crochet patterns to publish. I posted about the new site on a few message boards, shut down my computer for the day, and went about my weekend business.

Within two weeks I was getting e-mail from women in the United States, Europe, and Australia. I started receiving patterns, articles, and tutorials to publish. It was way fun. Months passed. Then it got to be time-consuming and in fact a bit all-consuming, and I found myself in an all-or-nothing situation. I consulted with my partner. I lamented having managed by age 27 to be a twice grad school drop-out, an adult summer camp counselor, an overworked underpaid community center employee with stress-induced stomach aches, a substitute teacher, and a mediocre-at-best freelance web designer. We figured, why not?

So I made CrochetMe.com an online magazine. Annette Petavy (one of the first crocheters to contact me when I started the site) agreed to write for it regularly. Some months later, Julie Holetz took on technical editing, later to be helped out by Chloe Nightingale and Jenna Nelson.

All the while, new and returning designers submitted designs for publication. All were interested in pushing crochets boundaries. Some had never designed anything before the project they submitted. Some had been designing for years but had never considered having their patterns published; others were intimidated by the formality of print magazine submission requirements and found less stress in submitting to an informal website. With one exception, all were women.

A community developed. Contributing designers and writers brainstormed ideas for themes, for site improvements, for ways to push crochet further and to reach a wider audience. We started to find opportunities to meet each other face to face. I started to get paid work in the crochet industry, as did many other Crochet Me-ites. It was like living a dot-com dream while also making friends and being crafty, although without a billion dollars.

Eventually, I started to feel like a fairly competent editor. I started talking more with designers about their designs, the yarns they chose, and the colors they featured. Then in a profound and fortunate turn of events, I became the editor of a print magazineInterweave Crochet. It was all that I wanted to be when I grew up.

So CrochetMe.com isnt an online magazine anymore. The back issues are still live, and theyre still worth several hours perusal. But now the active site is an interactive community that continues to push the boundaries of crochet, just without print-style editorial oversight. Its a crocheters playground, overwhelming enthusiasts with free patterns and offering new and experienced designers a forum for their work. Go have a look. Well welcome you warmly.