Hello Teamies, how do you do?

There were so many wonderful entries for the Spring team challenge that rather than have one winner we thought it would be fun to have mini-interviews with all of the contestants. What better way to get to know our teamies! Every couple days I’ll be posting some mini-interviews with all of the shops who entered an item in the challenge so be sure to check back often!

 

Alix from ALTernativeCreations‏ entered this lovely granny square ring.

The inspiration for her challenge item was "spring is on my finger ring". The design was actually the typical granny square. But was also, watching tv and saw a girl wearing an oversized cocktail ring on her finger. So Alix thought... "hey! i could make a granny square oversized ring with thread!" She gave it a try and vwala! it was born.

Alix said if i were to crochet something for herself it would be a lacey blouse. (she is actually am working on that right now!)

One piece she is the most proud of was a shawl that she made for her best friend for her graduation which was a bunch of flowers sewn together. It simply is stunningly gorgeous. Alix is also very proud of her mousie – Myrtle, but she is proud of everything in her shop as we all should be! 

Angela from http://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyCrochet4Kids entered these adorable hats!

What was the inspiration for your challenge item?
My inspiration was simplicity. I chose to make a simple white baby beanie (because what baby doesn't look good in white?!) and added a lovely hot pink flower. I love pink and Spring is the perfect season to embellish baby items with big pink flowers! Plus, I think my daughter is adorable and I love looking at her sweet face in the pictures I took for that hat! =)

What was the first thing you made after learning to crochet?
The very first thing I made after I learned how to crochet was a pink and white striped beanie. My Aunt taught me how to crochet when I was 6 years old, so this was a pretty adventurous project! But, it turned out pretty good and I still have it today! In fact, I have passed it on to my oldest daughter (who is almost 5 years old) and she LOVES it! She is very eager to learn how to crochet, or to "hook" as she puts it, and I can't wait to teach her! Its going to be very special to spend that time with my children and pass on something that I love doing! Maybe my shop can morph into a family business when my children get older.

What is your favorite hand crafted item of all time?
Its so hard to choose only one item! I love everything that I create because I wouldn't make it if I didn't love it. But, if I absolutely HAD to choose something, it would either be the set of backpacks (4 of them in coordinating colors, each with a matching hat) that I made for my niece and nephews for Christmas a few years ago, or a baby blanket I made for my son when he was born. The blanket isn't anything special, in fact it isn't even all that good looking, but I love it because of its special meaning to me. He's almost 3 years old now and he still loves using his special blanket that his mommy made for him. Every time I see him with it, it reminds me of the love I felt for him when I made it while I was pregnant! Its going to be a very sad day for me when he finally outgrows his special blanket!

 

Julie from http://www.etsy.com/shop/stitchesbyjulie4kids….. 

To see how Julie made this blanket, check out her blog here.

What was the inspiration for your challenge item?
I made a dress from a pattern and it was worked from the top down. I liked it a lot, but i thought, "wouldn't it be cool if I could do one like a rainbow"! But I didn't want the rainbow in a horizontal fashion, I wanted vertical stripes. So, I worked the bodice and ended off. Then I joined the yarn at the side seam and chained a certain amt. of stitches and worked my way back up to the top. But I Wanted it to flair out at the bottom so I devised a pattern that started with longer stitches, getting smaller and smaller as I got closer to the top. Once I established a pattern that worked, I just continued around the bottom of the bodice and changed colors to give it the rainbow effect. I loved it when I was done.

Do you have any advice for aspiring crochet designers?
Write everything down! Even if it ends up that you tear out stitches, you can go back and erase and modify what you've done. Too many times I thought I would remember, only to set the work aside for some reason, come back to it later.....and I can't remember what I had done.
How do you promote your work?
I promote on etsy, in etsy groups, facebook, to my friends, emails, flickr....wherever and however I can.