Crocheting with Debi K.

Have you wondered why my patterns are so unique? Well let me tell you. It's for two simple reasons. One - I hate following patterns; and two - why buy it if you can make it.

As a young girl I watched my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother crochet. (To this day, I have all my grandmother's and great-grandmother's patterns.) I thought it was fascinating how they could take that tiny hook and some wool and make it into something extraordinary. How all those little ins-and-outs could make a piece as delicate as an edging on a hankerchief or as bulky as a sweater or blanket.

As I grew older I also wanted to try my hand at crocheting. But, little did I know - it wasn't as easy as it looked, or at least that's what I thought at the time. Every year I tried and tried to learn to crochet but to no avail. You see, my mother held the hook in a fashion I found very uncomfortable, awkward and almost impossible for me to see what she was doing. Also, this was long before all the know-how books, tapes, and videos. Oh sure, books were available, but mostly you learned from others.

Well I think I tried to crochet from the time I was seven on, and I just couldn't figure it out. I could knit, but I couldn't crochet. And being the impatient person that I am, knitting just took too long - not to mention those nasty dropped stitches.

Any way, I persevered and one day - about six years later, I picked up a crochet hook and a ball of would and voila! Suddenly I knew how to crochet and have been doing so ever since. And, all because I decided to hold the hook in a different manner than my mother did. My way was much easier and it worked, so why not?

So now, I can crochet! I think my first project was an afghan - you know the one with the V pattern and four-inch stripes of colour. You know, I still have that afghan. I crocheted everything I could find patterns for. Over the years, I've made five or six table cloths from crochet cotton. Well you can imagine how long that takes, but the worst part is I only have one of these tablecloths - the one in shocking pink that doesn't match anyone's dining room. What possessed me to give them all away I'll never know. Maybe it was for the shear pleasure of someone else enjoying what I could make, or maybe it was just to keep me crocheting another project. I don't know.

As years progressed, I joined all the crochet clubs, and have bookcases full of patterns, but I could never find something I really wanted to make. The patterns were either ugly, weren't the size I needed for the area or just boring. So I started designing my own patterns. My biggest downfall though, was I didn't take the time to document the pattern - I just crocheted until the project was complete. Oh, I made mistakes alright, but heck, that's the fun part - figuring out where I went wrong.

Over the years, I have designed and made ruffled curtains complete with valance and ties, glass door curtains, diaper bags, capes, house coats, runners, tablecloths, wall hangings, doilies, sweaters - you name it, I've designed it. But yes, you're right I didn't write the pattern down. And to my detriment, one of the other things I detest doing is making the same thing twice. So, the chances of me remaking these designs to document the patterns are slim to none. I now know better and document everything.

About the time I was in my mid-twenties, I did design a pattern for a pot-pouri wall hanging. Being a graphic artist, I designed the printed pattern and then proceeded to advertise it. Well that cost me a pretty-penny (this was pre-internet). But to my surprise, the pattern sold, but only by just enough to cover the cost of the advertising. Consequently, I quickly dropped that idea. (Looking back, and now having more business sense, I would have developed more than one pattern before trying this). In 2001 I started selling my patterns again and that was because I had designed a fly bonnet for one of my horses. And yes, this time I was smart enough to write the pattern down as I did it. Everyone I knew in the horse world wanted one of these fly bonnets. But as most of you know, you can't make a good dollar by crocheting unless you want to work for $3.00 per hour. So, I quickly snapped a photo of the fly bonnet on Joker, my partner's horse (he was the most photogenic of the herd) and set out to get the pattern in print. I've sold hundreds of these.

Since 2001, I've designed over 15 patterns or so, mostly equine related. My patterns are equine related for the most part because I spend so much time with the horses and we always need something. The other reason, equine related patterns do not seem to be readily available - and you already know my theory. "Why buy it if you can make it."

So, this is my story and I'm sticking to it. Watch for me at horse shows crocheting along the side-lines and please share your stories, whoa's and especially your finished projects with me. I love to see what others are doing and especially how my patterns have been used and adapted.

You know, I do believe, this is the start of my third book - oh please don't go looking for the others, they were self-published one on learning how to use a computer and the other on how to write a resume - this one was fairly successful. Heck, I'll just have to decide what a book on crochet should be about - how to? History? Style? Who knows? Food for thought though.

Unitl next time….

Debi K.