Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

In the Spring 2006 issue of Interweave Crochet Magazine, my article about Erika and Monika Simmons, “ Double the Fun,” was published. Before I knew them, I was excited by their pizzazz and sense of fashion and I wanted to know more. It took me a while to track them down; and what I learned when I visited them in their studio was even more inspiring! Erika and Monika are “spreading their magic to the younger generation in their neighborhood and “double-handedly” giving crochet its due as artwork in the form of adventurous, one-of-a-kind flair that IS Doublestitch. Once my article was published, the young ladies told me that, as a result, they had been offered a contract to write a book of crochet fashion for the same publisher, Interweave Press! They expressed sincere gratitude and from there I waited patiently, looking forward to the unique and exciting kind of book that I knew they would produce. While working on their book, the twins became the local spokespersons for the Chicago...

February 19, 2008 This story relayed to me by my daughter, Bethany: She sings in a band in Lincoln Square, a neighborhood of Chicago, at the Bad Dog Tavern with two of her college roommates, Sarah and Kate. The band is known as Chameleon World One night the singers were getting ready to perform and their "dressing room" is the bathroom. While in their another couple of young women entered and they were talking about crochet. Kate piped up and said, pointing to Bethany, "Her mother is the Crochet Queen of America!" One of the young women, replied, Do you mean Gwen Blakley Kinsler?, as which point Kate and Sarah screamed YES!! Later they told Bethany, "I knew your mother was famous, but didn't realize she was THAT famous!! Who knows where my fame could spread from a bathroom in Lincoln Square! To read more about Bethany's band, go to Google and search Ray St. Ray on MySpace.

January 5, 2008 Alan and I were leaving Panera after a delicious soup and sandwich when I spotted a former Beginning Crochet student from Continuing Ed. I went over to her and said, "Hi Miss Crocheter." (Sadly, I couldn't remember her name, as it had been a year at least since she took the class). She was so happy to see me and exclaimed loudly, "We were just talking about you" as she gave me a big hug!! Then she called across the room to her daughter, who had also taken the class and pointed to me and said, "Look who'es here!" The daughter came quickly my way and also hugged me. At this point my cheeks got all flushed and I was embarrased, but I DID feel like the ROCK STAR of Crochet! It feels really good to get that kind of validation and I interpret it to mean that they enjoyed the class, learned alot and think highly of me as a teacher. Alan, who I usually think of as objective, said that the camaraderie was obvious as well as the appreciation ...