And... now we all have an overly catchy pop tune from last decade stuck in our heads. My apologies. Really. But it's for a good cause - because I managed to snag a quick interview with Laurinda Reddig!
If you don't know that name, you soon will, because Laurinda is taking the crochet world by storm with the clever color changing techniques in her book Reversible Color Crochet! It's one of my favorite new crochet books, because it's not just patterns - it's a new technique that ANY crocheter can use!
And even better, there's currently a giveaway happening for Reversible Color Crochet - right here on Moogly! But first... the interview!
Moogly: What inspired you to come up with these techniques?
Laurinda: I learned to do colorwork by carrying the yarn under my stitches as in Tapestry Crochet. But I never liked the look of the unused colors peaking between the stitches. When I saw my Dad doing knitted intarsia, I liked the idea of separate balls of yarn for each section of color and decided to try it in crochet... making a Mystery Machine Afghan for my son’s 6th birthday. I just did what made sense to me, carrying the yarns up inside the stitches so it looked good on both sides, and didn't realize it was anything different from what most other people were doing.
Moogly: What's your favorite design in the book?
Laurinda: I love a lot of the quilt inspired designs, where I got to play with color and pattern. But I would have to say Tyler’s Space Adventure is my favorite. Like my Mystery Machine Afghan and Reversible Rowan Tree Vest, the Space inspired squares were ones where I just sat down with yarn and a drawing on graph paper and went for it. Once I got the idea in my head to design this blanket for a friend’s son, each night after my kids went to sleep I would sit down and work out one new square so I could show my son the finished block in the morning. Every time I show someone the book, I flip right to page 102 to show them my son’s drawings that inspired these designs, and are hanging on the wall in the photo of that blanket.
Moogly: What gets you excited about crochet?
Laurinda: What really excites me is when I am working on a new design and it begins to form just like what I pictured in my head. Whether it is flat intarsia or three dimensional toys for my kids, I love the flexibility of crochet stitches to get just the effect you are looking for, even if it takes a little experimenting.
Moogly: What are you working on next?
Laurinda: Lately, I have been focusing on my Hooked On Hand Dyed pattern line and Dyers In Their Studios Profiles, featuring hand dyed yarn makers every month on my blog. But, I am also beginning to think about my next big book project. I always seem to have at least 2 or 3 book ideas and a dozen other designs milling around my head, just waiting to take shape.
As you can see, Laurinda does lovely crochet work, and is super nice too! I'm so happy to have gotten to know her, both online and in real life. Her blog ReCrochetions gives a wonderful inside look at her process, and is on my own favorites list. Right now she's on a yarn store book store too - find out if she'll be at a store near you HERE.
Laurinda's latest book, Reversible Color Crochet is available at the affiliate links below....
AMAZON US: http://amzn.to/1up7b3a
AMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/WqF9s2
And you can enter to win a FREE copy of her book here on Moogly!
Just CLICK HERE to go to the giveaway page, where you can read my book review and enter to win! Good luck!
Thanks for reading, and thank you to Laurinda Reddig for granting this interview! Get more Moogly in your life by clicking on the link to your favorite social media site up at the top of the page - and you can subscribe to the free once a week email newsletter while you're up there too!
Leave a Reply