I am a finalist!

This is a design I submitted to the Berroco Sock Star design contest.  I am so thrilled, I just found out today that I am one of the finalists!  The voting is taking place online from now until Monday (September 28th) at 11:45pm EST. 

Here is the link to the voting:

http://www.berroco.com/knitbits/html/KB311.html

If you like my necklace, it would be great to have your vote!

Purses to match

My daughter is a purse collector, so everytime she gets a new dress I like to make her a matching purse.  I pick out an element of the fabric print and use that as my inspiration.  I usually use a combination of crochet and embroidery.  For the green floral basket purse, I used a large tapestry needle to do a buttonhole stitch around the top edge, so I would have a base to crochet into.  I traced some of the flowers from the dress and cut them out of felt and added embroidery and sequin details and stitched them with invisible thread to the basket.  I also stitched one of the felt flowers to a clip for her hair.

The black purse is the newest addition to her collection.  It is entirely crocheted with embroidered accents to emulate the fabric print. 

These are fun small projects that make the outfit special and I love that she really appreciates it when I make her something.

I have a mentor!!!

Wow, I didn't know it would happen so fast!  I just got an email from the mentor coordinator telling me that the legendary Margaret Hubert has agreed to be my mentor.  I am so fortunate!  Margaret has been designing, writing and teaching crochet and knitting for almost 40 years and is very highly regarded in the industry.  I am going to try to work hard to make the most of this opportunity.  I think my mentor is just the boost I need to get on the path to a professional design career.

CGOA Design Contest Entry

This pillow was my entry for this years Crochet Guild of America's design contest. I was thrilled that it won 2nd prize in the home decorating category. It is freeform crochet with some embroidery embellishment and made up of a large collection of yarns and threads.

Now, I am thinking about next year's entry (assuming that CGOA will continue the contest tradition)! Last year I won 2nd prize in the accessories category. Maybe I will try to make something for the fashion category this time.....

Here are the photos of the winners of this year's contest.

This is the first chapter!

I have been wanting to start a blog for a long time, and I think now is the time! I think the first post is the most difficult, as it is an introduction. I am a definite "newbie" to the blogging world. I love reading them, and I am hoping to love writing one!

In the past 2 months, I have decided that it is my desire to become a professional crochet designer and have been taking steps toward achieving this goal.

I joined Crochet Guild of America, (CGOA) last year just to be able to enter the design contest and renewed my membership this year to enter this year's contest. I just realized how much I have been missing out on! I just found out about the mentor program for aspiring professionals. It is a perk of being a member, so there is no additional fee and after being accepted as an "associate professional" you have the benefit of being assigned a mentor who is a crochet professional. This mentor is a generous person who is giving their time to help others reach their goal of becoming a professional and hopefully elevate the crochet industry as a whole.

I was notified by the professional development chairperson, Robyn Chachula last week that I have been granted "associate professional" status and that I will be assigned a mentor. The same day, I got an email from the coordinator, Ellen Gormley, with a questionnaire about my experience and goals. I sent it back to her and am patiently waiting to be assigned a mentor. It is extremely exciting! I can't wait to "meet" my mentor! I am jotting down things I want to ask my mentor and am anxious to start on the path to reach my goal.