Crochet Anniversary

It is almost a year since I started my crochet journey, and although this is neither my crochet nor my blog anniversary, this month feels the right time for me to review my crocheting for it was about this time last year that I decided I wanted to take my crochet designing up a gear. It was a chance conversation that I had with my partner while waiting for the vet to see our cat that got me started. I’d said that I had an idea for a cushion cover that I would love to crochet, but I was unable to find a pattern. He asked if I could just make it myself without a pattern and after a little thought, I realized that I could. Or at least give it a shot.

That was my snowflake cushion, which I made in its first incarnation in blue and snow white last October, and so I see that as the start of my crocheting journey. It took me a few attempts to get the pattern just right, for working with lash yarn gives you many possibilities for texture, however it also means that patterns can become a little blurred in real life – so finding the balance between blocks of colour and the fine snowflake legs took some fine tuning. But I think I got there in the end. And with that I was certainly hooked on designing.

Just before Christmas, I saw a call for commissions for the Spring Edition of Crochet Now, where I had my Daring Dragonfly cushion accepted. Over the summer I also took part in the Simply Crochet Designer Challenge, where I was given the specified yarn and a brief to design a summer cushion. It was a lot of fun working in this way and I was so grateful for the opportunity to show my designs to a wider audience. I was also just thrilled when my designs for colourful baubles and the Dala horse were accepted for one of the Christmas issues of Simply Crochet; they are my favourite issues because nothing says Christmas like crochet.

And in the midst of all this crochet joy, I decided I would like start a blog. In fact it was my New Year’s resolution to write the Crochet Cloudberry blog, and I think although it is just October, this is one New Year’s resolution I have kept. I have loved every minute of it from choosing the colours and designing the pages to sharing my crochet related thoughts. But the biggest joy in it, is coming up with new ideas and translating them into crochet to share with an audience who is just as enthusiastic about crochet as I am myself.

One year ago, while sitting at the vet’s waiting room, did I think that I would be writing a crochet blog and have designs appearing in craft magazines? Did I even think that I could stay enthusiastic about designing crochet for over a year? Or that I would want to crochet a cork gnome for each month. The answer is no, I could not even have dreamt it, but I am certainly glad that it has turned out this way and it shows dreams are there to be pursued.

So what does the future hold for Crochet Cloudberry? Well you are stuck with me, I’m afraid. My brain is still full of crochet designs that I am dying to share from the range of Christmas baubles that I’m hoping you can hang on your tree this year to some more crochet accessories for both men and women that would make the perfect Christmas gifts. Come the New Year I have plans to release my first CAL style posts to make the Winter Jewels Lapghan comprising of four granny squares. So make sure you stay tuned.

Thank you for all your support.

Cat xxx