This Celtic Cross overlooks the Atlantic Ocean from a graveyard on Inisheer (Inis Oírr in Irish Gaelic), the smallest of the Aran Isles.
I want to thank the yarn companies that generously provided yarn to me for this book. Getting boxes of fiber delivered to my doorstep was like having Christmas all year long! I especially want to thank Bobbie Matela and Terri Geck of Red Heart Yarn, Martha Wissing with Berroco Yarn, Jo Ann Walus with Cestari Yarns, Sarah Smuland with Blue Sky Alpaca Yarns and Susie with Knitting Fever Yarns (Phoenix). An extra special thanks to Diane Irvine for the most amazing fused-glass buttons I have ever seen or had the pleasure of adding to my designs.
Berroco, Inc.
1 Tupperware Dr., Suite 4,
N. Smithfield, RI 02896-6815
401-769-1212
Blue Sky Alpacas, Inc.
P.O. Box 88
Cedar, MN 55011
763-753-5815
888-460-8862
Caron
320 Livingstone Avenue South
Box 40
Listowel, ON
Canada N4W3H3
1-800-811-2325
Cestari Sheep and Wool Company
3581 Churchville Avenue
Churchville, VA 24421
540-337-7270
Knitting Fever and EURO Yarns
K.F.I.
P.O. Box 336
315 Bayview Avenue
Amityville, NY 11701
Lion Brand Yarn
135 Kero Road
Carlstadt, NJ 07072
800-258-YARN (9276)
Red Heart Yarn
Coats & Clark Consumer Services
P.O. Box 12229
Greenville, SC 29612-0229
800-648-1479
So Original Yarn Shop
3494 Olney-Laytonsville Road
Olney, MD 20832
301-774-7970
Design by Diane Irvine
Plymouth, MI
Caleb Barker Media
The limestone pavements of Ballyallaban (“the town of the Scotsman”) overlook beautiful Irish landscapes where sheep and cattle graze.
I first picked up a crochet hook when I was seven years old. I watched my neighbor crochet a granny square that kept getting bigger and bigger until it covered her full-sized bed as an afghan, and I was so impressed that I just had to learn! She patiently taught me the double crochet stitch, and by the time I was nine I, too, had a giant granny square afghan on my bed.
When I was about ten, my best friend’s mom began teaching me how to read patterns. I loved the beautiful ponchos and shawls my best friend Becky wore to school and longed to learn how to crochet like her mom. Her mom was incredibly patient with me when I would show up unannounced on her doorstep and ask her to clarify confusing language in the pattern.
That was many years ago. I have now been crocheting for more than forty years, and I have been teaching crochet to the next generation through the church (Girls’ GEMS Club) and home school communities for more than a decade.
My family and I have been volunteers at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair, working in the home arts building where the crocheted entries are showcased. The first year I won best of show for the crochet department, I received a call from a woman who lived in New Jersey. She wanted to know where I had bought the pattern for my afghan from the fair so that she could buy one, too. It was then that I decided to try to get some of my original patterns published. Before then, I had no idea where to begin the journey into the publishing world. Since that time, I have given a lot of people a chance to tell me, “No,” to getting my patterns published, and to my delight some have actually said, “Yes!”
I am a graduate of Hialeah High School (Hialeah, Florida) and the University of South Carolina, where I earned a Bachelor’s degree in music education. I occasionally teach music lessons in my home and love leading worship for preschoolers at our church. I have learned to enjoy teaching algebra, geometry, history, government, chemistry and, of course, crochet classes. Life is full, life is good, God is amazing!
