The Cookie Snob (http://thecookiesnob.weebly.com)
What specific skills/services/products/expertise do you provide?
My blog covers my adventures in crocheting, knitting, baking, and crafting. But most of the posts revolve around crochet. I mostly post my own original designs, with a mix of both paid and free patterns.
How + why + when did you get started? Did someone teach you, or are you self-taught? What other key elements help to tell your story?
I had about 30 minute crochet lesson from someone when I was 12 or so, and I've been completely self-taught ever since. I didn't quite know what I was doing at first, so I created some...uh...interesting projects at first. But after some trial and error I'm pretty happy with where I'm at. I'm also a self-taught knitter (thank you, library books with pictures), and I'm a bit more in the trial and error stages on that end. But I LOVE the challenge of learning something new.
What do you love about what you do?
I love being able to take a doodle or a picture of something in my head and turn it into an actual 3D object I can interact with. It's amazing to me to think that I've made something completely new and tangible with string just by moving around my crochet hook. It's basically as close as I'll ever get to going to Hogwarts, because it feels like doing magic!
What is your favourite medium to work with? Why are you drawn to it?
Any and all yarn that I can get my hands on. I love experimenting with different gauges, so I love to create projects with different yarn widths and textures. Chunky yarn is probably one of my favorites, even if I rarely get to use it. There's just something swoon-worthy about big bulky stitches.
Greatest accomplishments?
The design that I'm the proudest of at the moment is probably my plushy camera toy. I spent a lot of time figuring out how to match the shaping and dimensions of my real camera as closely as possible, including some of the more irregular features like the popup flash and the grip. So it's sort of like a small feat of engineering as well. It may just look like a simple toy, but a lot of brain power went into that thing.
Biggest challenges?
For me, I think the biggest challenge is just not worrying about what other people think. Every now and then I'll find myself stuck in the "but what pattern would everyone ELSE want to see" trap, and it just turns into a giant creative block. I find I do my best work when I just worry about doing what I enjoy and what makes me happy. Either people will like it, or they won't. But it doesn't really matter, because it's my creative outlet and no one else's opinion really matters in the end.
Who is your biggest supporter?
My husband is definitely my best supporter. He always encourages me to try new things, to be creative, and to not give up on a project. But my most enthusiastic supporter is definitely my 3 year old. I'm currently designing a monster amigurumi and he keeps stealing it to check the progress and to snuggle with it. He calls dibs on everything I make and he asked me to crochet him a working skateboard the other day, so I'm pretty sure he thinks I can make literally anything.
What are some of your short-term goals?
I've got a couple of designs that I'm either in the middle of making or about to start working on that I'd like to finish up. I'd also like to create more tutorial posts to help people learn new stitches and techniques.
Long-term goals?
I mostly just want to keep doing what I'm doing. I blog and design as my personal creative outlet, so I hope to keep enjoying it and creating things I love. Although, if anyone wants to fulfill my secret life's ambition and send me yarn to make something with, I certainly wouldn't complain.
Wise advice for any beginners out there?
It's a somewhat hackneyed phrase, but I think it really is the best advice I can give: Create things that YOU love! Make the sorts of things that YOU enjoy. Doing what makes you happy is always the better option.
Any last things about you or your small business that you'd like to share? (Really, anything at all. Like, you could tell us about your cat, or what you ate for breakfast this morning, or about why you don't like your lawn mower, or what you planted in your garden this year, or what time you normally go to bed, or...)
I have a BS in Genetics and Biotechnology and a MS in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, so I'm basically a giant nerd. And I love bad puns, so if anyone knows of any good biology jokes, please send them my way.
Check it out, here:
http://thecookiesnob.weebly.com/home/designer-spotlight-abigail
Thanks, Erin. :)