Welcome to our blog tour! Here at Crochetville, we celebrate National Crochet Month with our NatCroMo Blog Tour. This year, we’re interviewing crochet designers, teachers, and hobbyists throughout March and our theme is crochet memories. You can browse all of this year’s blog tour content on our page NatCroMo Blog Tour 2020.
About Linda Dean
Please allow me to introduce our featured crochet teacher of the day, Linda Dean of Linda Dean Crochet. Linda says, “I teach a variety of crochet classes, however I am primarily a techniques instructor. Meaning that instead of teaching specific projects, where you walk away with an actual completed item, I teach the ins and outs of various techniques and stitches within crochet, and other fiber related hobbies. I want to help students gain knowledge in the skills and techniques of crochet. As such, I have many in-depth tutorials on my blog about various technique topics.
“I teach weekly at my local yarn store, Lofty Lou’s, in Placerville, CA. In this weekly class I teach each student where they are at, and what they want to learn, in a group setting.
“I also teach more focused classes at various conferences, fiber festivals, and retreats across the United States. In addition I host specialized retreats a few times a year. These vary by time and location, but I regularly keep update this information though my newsletter.”
Today we’re focusing on Linda’s crochet classes, but earlier on the NatCroMo Blog Tour we also featured her as a crochet designer. You can purchase her self-published patterns in her Ravelry store. Today Linda will share more of her crochet memories with us and we’ll showcase three of her crochet classes.
Linda’s Special for Our Readers
As a special treat for the NatCroMo Blog Tour, Linda is offering, on her blog, a tutorial for working short rows in both standard crochet and Tunisian crochet. You can use the technique to create your own pot holder or wash cloth with Linda’s free pattern, Tunisian Short Row Washcloth/Potholder, also available on her blog post today.
Linda’s Crochet Memories
Would you share with us one of your earliest memories of crochet?
“I am self-taught since the age of ten, when I picked up a “How to Crochet” book. I spent a summer sitting in the yard, or meadow, playing with a hook and a skein of yarn. So, my earliest memories are really just images and feelings. A cool breeze, a smell of fresh cut hay, the sight of a small meadow flower… all of which make me smile.”
Would you share with us one of your memories of becoming a crochet teacher?
“The story of how I became a crochet teacher starts the same as how I became a designer (see this story on the March 9 post of the tour) but with a little twist. After I completed and successfully passed the Crochet Guild of America‘s Master Program for Advanced Stitches and Techniques, my friends and family actually believed I knew what I was doing and asked for lessons. My first student was my son’s art teacher; she offered to trade lessons in crochet for art lessons for my son. This then grew, as my work colleges wanted to learn too. So I began teaching weekly at a local coffee shop. These drop-in style lessons have become a foundation of my on-going local teaching style, having grown from the coffee shop to my local yarn store.”
Would you share with us one of your most memorable experiences as a crochet teacher?
“There are so many different memories, such as the first aha moments of students, or the teachers I bonded with during my Craft Yarn Council Instructor Certification, but the one I think I will share is one that I feel I was testing myself, the first time taught at a national event, the CGOA annual conference in Charleston, SC July 2016.
“I had practiced three-hour structured classes at my local yarn store (in a sense my focus group) but teaching at a large, respected, and recognized event that felt like something different. One of the reasons is that most of the students I had in my classes, just the summer before were my peers in various classes I was taking.
“My first class was filled with familiar faces, and each of them told me they wanted to be there to support me in this new adventure. I recall each face in class, and how they were so supportive of me and my instruction. I recall one student, Stacey, who wanted to give me my first dollar for my class material fee. She had folded it into a bow tie, I still carry it in my wallet as a reminder of how much students give to their teacher, it is so much more then I had ever realized.”
Showcase: Crochet Classes by Linda Dean
Crochet University
Take the class: Weekly, ongoing, at Linda’s local yarn store, Lofty Lou’s in Placerville, CA
About the class: “This ongoing class welcomes all levels. You are taught what you want to learn at the level you are at in a group setting. Every class opens with general instruction about crochet and an opportunity to discuss your goals and accomplishments, it is then followed up with individual attention to advance your crochet skills.”
Openwork Crochet
Take the class: Openwork Crochet at Interweave Yarn Fest, Loveland, CO
About the class: “This class is an all-day event teaching skills in Broomstick Lace, Hairpin Lace, and Mock Hair Pin Lace. Essentially creating large loops to create an airy open fabric. Students will learn traditional methods of the above listed techniques as well as a more modern twist on each.”
Interweave Yarn Fest in Loveland, Colorado was originally scheduled for April 20-May 3 and is now postponed to August 28-31.
Crochet with Linda
Take the class: Subscribe to Linda’s monthly newsletter for the release of the next event.
About the class: “This is a quarterly crochet retreat that I host. The retreat features a pattern scaled for beginners, intermediate and advanced skill levels, at a local business. In the past retreats have featured wineries and chocolatiers, with plans for locations at yarn dying studios, and potters currently being in planning stages. The retreat gives instruction in crochet, while gaining knowledge from the local business own about their craft.”
Follow Linda Online
Here’s where you can connect with Linda online so you can keep up with what she is teaching!
- Website/Blog: lindadeancrochet.com/blog
- Ravelry: Linda Dean Designs Ravelry Store
- Pinterest: LDeanCrochet
- Facebook: LindaDeanCrochet
- Instagram: @lindadeancrochet
- Twitter: @ldeancrochet
- Newsletter: Subscribe to Linda Dean’s crochet newsletter where she highlights what has been happening in the month prior and what she is excited about in the month to come.
Notes: Linda would have taught the CGOA Masters Program at DFW Fiber Fest in Irvine, Texas. DFW Fiber Fest was originally scheduled for April 2-5, 2020 but is now cancelled. She will teach Openwork Crochet at Interweave Yarn Fest in Loveland, Colorado. Yarn Fest was originally scheduled for April 20-May 3, now postponed to August 28-31.