Crochet-a-thon Winner Interview - Crochetgal

Last and certainly not least, we have our final interview from crochetgal! With her butterfly shawl entry!
Enjoy!
-Benji

1) Apart from creating, what do you do? 
On the business side, most of my time now is spent either designing new patterns or
teaching crochet. However, I’m also involved with the Arizona Association of Fine
Woodworkers, the Arizona Soapers Guild and the American Motors Owners Association. 
I can also be found occasionally around the show cars, be it under a car somewhere trying
to determine what’s wrong with it, on a show field or racing at the local track.

2) What first made you want to become an artist?
I learned early in life that in order to remain sane, that you needed to have some sort of creative outlet. It didn’t matter what it was, as long as you were able to express yourself. 

I learned to crochet when I was in Junior school, as well as sewing, knitting, and many
other different skills. My work as a seamstress paid for a good portion of my education. 

While studying for my degree in Computer Science, my creative outlet was my music. I
also started to get involved with the auto sports at that time. Once I graduated I became
more and more involved in the automobile hobby, both as a collector and a backyard
mechanic. I watched and learned as many were working in beautiful metals and paints and
the bug hit. Over the years I’ve worked in different mediums with varying success.


3) Please describe your creative process.

I don’t really have a ‘creative process’ as such. I keep a sketch book handy at all times and try to make notes as I think of them. Sometimes I’ll see something where the colours intrigue me, sometimes it will be a technique (not necessarily crochet) and sometimes inspiration can come from just going on with daily life.

Some ideas will rush to get put down on paper in their entirety all at once and others I’ll just have to let ‘ferment’ for a time before the entire idea comes to me.

People don’t believe me, but yarns do ‘talk’. There have been yarns that I’ve had
absolutely no intention of purchasing until I’ve picked them up and they have said “I’m
such and such”. And its true. Other yarns I’ve purchased because I’ve just liked them but have had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with them at the time. But one thing I have learned in my years of purchasing yarns is to always purchase a good quantity of any yarn if its talking to you. There is nothing worse than trying to find that same yarn years later! 

4) What handmade posession do you cherish the most? 
Two things... One is a crocheted table cloth that was made by my grandmother as a
wedding gift. The second is the time that my mother spent to pass on her amazing creative
talents. 


5) What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy or the CreateCrochet
team?

Don’t try to create what you think will sell. Rather, create what you have a passion for. 

6) How do you promote your work?
I’m involved in a number of teams on Etsy as well as various other online groups. In the
real world, everyone I know knows what I do for a living. When I leave the house, I’m
always wearing something from my personal ‘signature’ collection. 

7) In ten years, where would you like to be? 
Is “alive” a valid response? 

8) What was your inspiration for your challenge piece? 

My challenge piece was an Alpaca and Silk blend butterfly shawl
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43160214

I fell in love with the alpaca yarn as soon as my order arrived and while photographing it, I knew that it would be perfect for some sort of wearable piece with plenty of drape. But I didn’t know exactly what. The yarn was talking to me but I couldn’t make out everything that it was saying. 

When it came time for the challenge, I had been working pure silk the week before and
came across this absolutely stunning spool that I had completely forgotten about. It had
just enough of the alpaca shade and was calling out to become a butterfly. Once I started
the piece I couldn’t put it down.