Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

As you have probably noticed, I regularly post to my blog on Tuesday. Hearing the news today that Marinke, aka Wink , succumbed to suicide last Friday, I feel compelled to post today in the hopes that reading this will underscore the great support from the crochet community that we all know and understand. Wink was featured in Kathryn's book, Crochet Saved My Life , which I reviewed in 2012. Depression was a long and difficult battle for Wink and her creative endeavors greatly comforted her and motivated her to reach out to other crafters through her blog, A Creative Being .  This time unfortunately, being creative and reaching out was not enough. For those of us who so believe in the healthful benefits of crochet and crafting, this is devastating. Seeing her blog which is brightly colored and happy-looking is so sad and ironic when the realization sinks in that she was suffering deeply. My contribution crocheted from Wink's pattern: Spoke Mandala Crocheting one of ...

Kathryn Vercillo Even though I have previously blogged book  reviews of two of Kathryn Vercillo's books, Crochet Saved My Life   Crochet Saved My Life and When Grandma Isn’t Crocheting, She’s Hunting Big Game ; By Kathryn Vercillo promoted her Hook to Heal project and invited her to be a Guest Blogger  here. It seems that I just can’t get enough of her!  She has a presence on the internet and her website, Crochet Concupiscence  radiates energy and joy from the community of crocheters that she covers. Recently, Kathryn has embarked upon a new assignment to bring crochet content to crocheters, so I thought it would be fun to touch base with this interesting and generous person again to bring you up to date on her exciting crochet-life. There are a few key areas of crochet that interest Kathryn: health benefits; organizations that offer people in third world countries the opportunity to use it to support themselves; all aspects of crochet art...

Wednesday, June 25, 2014 Kathryn Vercillo well known as the #crochetblogger at Crochet Concupiscens e is fast becoming the expert when it comes to the health benefits of crochet as she studies to become a psychologist. Her book Crochet Saved My Life has been reviewed positively across many media site. If you happened to miss it, I hope you will look back and read my review . Kathryn has now launched a new crochet health survey  to study how crochet heals people. This is a 27-question survery (mostly multiple choice) designed to gather detailed information about the physical and mental health issues that are helped through crochet work and to what degree the craft is helpful. In her book Kathryn shares her own story of crocheting to heal from chronic depression. She also interviews two dozen other women who share their stories of hooking to heal. In addition, she aggregates the available research into crafting to heal. Several formal studies have been conducted tha...

Tuesday, October 15, 2013 I met Liza when I was a volunteer at a community clinic where she worked as the social worker. I admired her spunk and her professional knowledge which always guided her to remain calm in the face of tragic situations. Even though the work we did was serious, we still managed to have fun, share a laugh and our interest in crochet. The clinic closed in 2008, but we’ve kept in touch.  Liza has a passionate story to share with you. Reading it had me in tears. How will you react? Liza An admirer and pupil of the Crochet Kween, I count Gwen as one of three women, including my mother and mother-in-law, that I thank for my obsession with crochet. At the age of ten, my mother taught me how to crochet an afghan, and single crochet was the only stitch I understood well for several years! My father made me my first metal hook because I was forever losing my mother’s priceless hooks. The hook’s groove was not smooth and it would catch on the yarn fibers;...

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 Do you spend time in online crochet communities? Is spending too much time lurking or surfing the Net your weakness? I disagree with those who insinuate that spending time on Facebook means one has “no life.” Sometimes a stand-out person comes along in an online version of a cocktail party and the sharing of our interests/passions and knowledge creates a sort of click that resonates with the heart. Kathryn Vercillo is that "click" for me. I can’t remember where or how we “met", but I do remember that in December 2011 she honored me with her “Awesome Crochet Blog Award” for Free-form Crochet on her blog, Crochet Concupiscence . What’s not to like about Kathryn for doing that for me? Seriously though, I feel as though by virtue of our interests and our spirit of needing to shout crochet from the rooftops, we are friends even though we have never met face to face. When I did the following interview with Kathryn by phone, she was working on he...