Interweave Crochet Accessories

© Harper Point

I have to admit that I never expected to see my designs published in Interweave Crochet. When I first began thinking about submitting designs to magazines last year, I thought the sort of toys and blankets I tended to design, mostly for my kids, did not belong among the beautiful runway-worthy garments that fill the pages of this magazine.

When I took a pattern writing class through Crochet Insider last year, the instructor Charles Voth pointed out that Interweave was among the few publications which often feature new and unusual techniques. I knew that the editor of the magazine, Marcy Smith, had been one of the judges of the CGOA Competition in 2011, so she had seen my work up close. My Mystery Machine Afghan won several awards, and was the design on which I first developed the Reversible Intarsia Technique.


© ReCrochetions

I was very excited when I saw in the call for Accessories that they were looking for toys and small items (like a book cozy!). Just my cup of tea. I pondered what sort of toy I could make using reversible intarsia, and decided on the Playmat. I had crocheted various playmats for my son, and was excited by the challenge to make it reversible.

When they asked me to write a technical article to accompany my patterns, I made a few changes to my original "Reversible Intarsia Book Cozy" sketch, to make it the ideal project to learn everything you need to know for completing any of my other intarsia designs in half double crochet. But if you want go straight for the "Happy Day Playmat", that also begins with straight stitches, before introducing each of the different angled stitches. Check out my new Reversible Intarsia Resources page for more help getting started!

It is quite exciting to see my first pattern published in a US publication, and even have it mentioned on the cover. I truly appreciate the opportunity Interweave gave me as a first time designer and writer, and am really looking forward to working with them in the future!

© Interweave