CroPatWriMo - Crochet Pattern Writing Month

My best friend participates in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) nearly every year, attempting to write 1600 words every day in the month of November. I recently learned November is also NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), write a blog post every day for a month. Local groups of writers participating in NaNo host write-in events in coffee shops and libraries all over town, nearly every day of the month. I have am planning to tag along with my friend to as many as I can to work on writing up crochet patterns (away from the distractions of home and kids).

My goal is to write out (or finish writing) one pattern every day during the month of November. At a bare minimum at least one pattern every two days, perhaps sketching out new ideas in my notebook on days the kids do not let me sit at a computer. I am working up a list of 30 patterns I would like to write out, keeping them small. There are various things I have created over the years laying about the house which should really be written up. I am counting each small piece in the playsets I have made for my kids and gifts as a separate pattern.

As a budding crochet designer I want to have a stash of patterns to start submitting to magazines. By the end of the month I might even have a book worth of patterns to try to get published, someday. I think I can do it, after all last September I completed 30 UFOs in 30 day! To get myself off to a great start, I am starting an online Pattern Writing Class on Monday! Now to make my list of 30 and do my homework for the class...

The Journey Of The Mystery Machine

I did a series of guest posts on the Crochet Liberation Front's Blog last week. They sponsored the People's Choice Award my Afghan won at the CGOA Competition last month. When I went to write the story of making Griffin his Mystery Machine, and it turned out to be over 2000 words. So it turned into a 3 part story... Check it out!

The Journey of The Mystery Machine
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

"ReCrochetions"

Recreating the World in Crochet!

One of my favorite things to crochet is a recreation of something else. Whether it is three dimensional (like Griffin's Garden) or two dimensional (like his Mystery Machine Afghan), what I truly love is to take up hook and yarn and recreate what I see. I get a thrill every time the yarn forms into the shapes and patterns I imagine.

As I embark on my journey to become a published crochet designer, I thought it was time to come up with a business name. Something catchy. Something clever. I considered several ideas, but I kept coming back to this concept. Recrochetions. It is what I do and what I design.

I dream of someday writing a book by that name on using various crochet techniques to recreate what you see in the world around you. I have tried everything from the Filet Crocheted Grateful Dead Bear I designed from the stamp my husband used to put on all the letters he sent me back in college, to the intricate reversible Intarsia I used on my son's Mystery Machine, and everything in between.

Ever since my designs were recognized in the CGOA competition last month and getting published became more than a far off dream, I find that everything I look at I imagine how I might crochet it. From my little girl's baby dolls to the tree in my front yard, why not recreate it "better, stronger, faster", in crochet!