CreateCrochet: October 2010

Sunday, October 31, 2010

October Etsy Grant Winners!

The CreateCrochet Team is proud to announce that we are an October 2010 Etsy Grant winner - Thank you Etsy!!!

Etsy started the team grant program as a way to help great Etsy teams like ours by providing funding to help promote and represent ourselves while spreading the Etsy message. Grants are awarded each month and being selected as a recipient is quite an honor considering the large number of applicants that Etsy receives.

We all know that our team is dedicated to supporting our fellow crocheters through our open discussions, sharing ideas, and our team contests. But our members are also a very generous big-hearted group of people. Here is a look back at the projects and donations our team has participated in that helped us to be selected as this months grant winner:

In June of 2009 the team participated in a crochet project for Operation Gratitude and made scarves to donate to care packages that were sent to service men and women. Many members of our team participated in this project and made it a huge success by crocheting over 50 scarves!

Our team opening its hearts once again in January of this year for a charity event HeartsforHaiti, an Etsy shop made up of sellers donating items with 100% of the proceeds being sent to Doctors Without Borders to help with the relief efforts in Haiti. This project was a terrific success with the shop ultimately selling 2,641 items, and our team contributed to the $33,803.32 that was raised.

Another successful charity project took place in April to support the Relay for Life program. The team made chemo caps and other goodies to sell for this program and raised $1,010 to benefit the American Cancer Society.

Congratulations to the entire CreateCrochet Team for being such an awesome and generous group of people that allowed us to win the October Etsy Grant. The prize awarded to us was $100 to purchase prizes for the October Pink Challenge winners. Because of this generous grant we will have 10 challenge winners this month and each will receive a prize worth $10 - how cool is that! The prizes will be a combination of yarn and patterns. The Pink Challenge entries will be posted tomorrow, be sure to check them out and cast your vote.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Halloween Challenge interview – Liz McQueen of PlayinHookyDesigns

Your Name: Liz McQueen

Where are you from? Originally Arlington, Tx, but now I live in the mountains of Colorado in a town called Salida.

Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/PlayinHookyDesigns

Website: http://www.playinhookydesigns.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/PlayinHookyHats

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PlayinHooky

Favorite crochet hook? My square handled I hook (yes, I said square!)

Favorite fiber to work with? Alpaca is my favorite fiber when I can get my hands on it, but for the most part I use Vanna's choice acrylic yarn.

How long have you been crocheting and who taught you?

My sister in law taught me how to crochet (and knit) when I was pregnant with my daughter, 4 years ago. I got addicted quick! After she taught me the basics I taught myself all the more complicated stitches because I couldn't get enough and I wanted to keep learning!

How would you describe your own personal style and how is this reflected in your crochet designs?

I would say I'm funky, bright, textured, and fun! I really like using bright colors and I have to tell myself to tone it down a little sometimes. I like designing hats that are interesting to look at and also functional (it's cold here in CO!).

What was the inspiration for your challenge item?

Hmmm...well, when I designed my "Avalanche Hat" I always thought the inside looked like a spider web b/c you carry the unused yarn at t he back of the work instead of crocheting over it. So I had a lightning strike and thought it would look cool to take that design and run the yarn on the Right Side instead of the Wrong Side. When I was making the hat for the competition I almost frogged it and did something else. But I trusted in my original idea and kept going even though I wasn't sure it would look good. Since then I've made 7 of them as custom orders! And to think I almost gave up on it! That was a great lesson for me - trust your ideas; if it doesn't work then start over, if it does GREAT things can happen!

What, in your opinion is the best thing about crochet?

You can always start over! I love "making string pretty" (I wish I could take credit for that quote, but I can't) and working with all the amazing fiber out there. Recently crochet has brought me to some amazing people too!

What's on your hook now?

A custom order - Along Came a Spider Halloween Beanie (of course!) in Spiderman colors (Red background, black spiderweb, blue edging).

Monday, October 25, 2010

Halloween Challenge Winners!

The Halloween Challenge had so many entries that it was really hard to pick the favorite one! However, we still have to announce the top 3 winners of the popular vote! Congratulations to our 4 winners!

1st Place - PlayinHookeyDesigns