NatCroMo 2015, March 18: Sara Leighton

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National Crochet Month:

Welcome to Crochetville’s third annual Designer Blog Tour, taking place all throughout March 2015 in celebration of National Crochet Month (NatCroMo). Each day on our blog, you will find 1) in-depth profile posts for two crochet designers, with a link to their blogs so you can see what specials (free patterns, discount coupon codes, tutorials, etc.) they may be offering for NatCroMo, 2) a daily giveaway post with entries open from 8:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST the following day, and 3) during the last week of the month, daily posts from a Crochet Guild of America board member. Join us each day for a new surprise!

Today’s Posts: Sara Leighton, Illuminate Crochet | Abbey Swanson, The Firefly Hook | Daily Giveaway | Halos of Hope Hat Collection | Complete Designer Schedule

Sara Leighton, Illuminate Crochet

Crochetville is very proud to have designer Sara Leighton of Illuminate Crochet with us today, March 18, as one of the featured designers on our 2015 Designer Blog Tour in honor of National Crochet Month (NatCroMo).

Three Truths and a Lie:

Take a guess as to which of the following statements isn’t true. We’ll let you know which statement is “The Lie” somewhere in this post, so keep reading to learn the truth!

1. Sara learned to read when she was a toddler.
2. She used to have a pierced eyebrow.
3. Sara goes out to sing karaoke about once a week.
4. She doesn’t know how to knit.

Sara’s Designs:

If you’re not familiar with her work already, we’d like to share two of Sara’s designs with you.

Sweet As Honey Baby Blanket and Hat Set with Bee Applique, available for $5.00 on Ravelry

Here is a snuggly set for the little honey in your life. This pattern is easy to follow since it uses basic stitches and includes plenty of pictures.

Pink Lemonade Baby Blanket, available for $5.00 on Ravelry

Take time to relax with your hook and yarn as you whip up Pink Lemonade! It’s bright and sweet– just like your little one. Perfect for a spring or summer baby, Pink Lemonade has texture and color worth snuggling up to. A mix of stitches keeps it interesting and produces results that really stand out. Lemon appliques float atop the pink stripes, just like in a real pitcher of pink lemonade. Pattern includes full written instructions, pictures, and a few charts.

About Sara:

Sara has been crocheting for a little over seven years. When she was in college, her friend Katie taught her how to crochet. She was immediately hooked! She received The Happy Hooker as a gift soon after and couldn’t put it down. Her first project was a giant, bright red, not-so-perfect single crochet scarf.

Sara says her most popular pattern by far is her Sweet as Honey baby set which you just saw above. The little bees all over the honeycomb are so precious, she can see why people fall in love with the design. This design, like many of Sara’s other designs, has a certain crispness that just makes it pop.

Inspiration comes from all kinds of places, according to Sara. Her designs are frequently inspired by nature, but she also gets inspiration from books, music, people in her life, and events from her past.

Sara has exciting news to share with us: She has three patterns set to appear in a book in 2016!

About Her Design Process:

I saw a confusing pattern online and compulsively started re-writing it in my head. It then dawned on me — hey…why not write my own patterns? I’ve always been a creative person and crochet became the perfect way to share my creativity with others. I started a blog and then began writing patterns, both for free and for sale. In the roughly two years since that day I have joined CGOA as an associate professional, increased my blog traffic to over 10k views per month, and sold hundreds of patterns. I even have three patterns appearing in a book in 2016! It’s been a wild ride and I know that continuing to work hard will make me even more successful as I move forward.

 

I have a huge list of design ideas waiting in the wings. This is because I have my eureka moments at very random times; in the shower, while driving, in the middle of a conversation, etc. I get a fun idea and have to write it down. When I’m ready to start designing it’s like an avalanche. I start out slowly and then as the design is revealed (it really discovers itself!) things move very quickly and it all comes together. When I’m ready I send it out to my wonderful testers.

Some of Sara’s Favorites:

• Favorite Crochet Reference Books: Harmony Stitch Guides and The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller
• Favorite Designers: Sara says, “It’s hard to choose favorite designers because everyone’s work is so unique to them and deserves recognition. I do want to publicly thank Tammy Hildebrand, Susan Lowman, Kathryn Vercillo, and Edie Eckman for being outstanding examples of the friendliness and talent present in the crochet community. These accomplished ladies were above-and-beyond kind to me as I was just starting out in my design journey. Thank you!”
• Favorite Hook: Inline hooks, most definitely. Sara always seems to come back to her trusty Susan Bates aluminum hooks.
• Favorite Yarn: Sara says, “Yarn is so fabulous, how could I choose? It depends on the project.”
• Favorite Thing to Crochet: Baby sets and women’s accessories

Visit Sara’s Blog: NatCroMo FREEBIE Sneak Peek

You will definitely want to visit Sara’s blog post today! Her Mermaid Cowl pattern shown above will be available FREE for a ONE-WEEK period only, beginning March 18.

Find Sara Online:

Ravelry: illuminatecrochet (must be logged in to see profile)

Illuminate Crochet website: http://www.illuminatecrochet.com

Illuminate Crochet blog: http://illuminatecrochet.blogspot.com/

Ravelry Designer Page: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/sara-leighton

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/illuminatecrochet

Craftsy: http://www.craftsy.com/user/1943502/pattern-store

The Truth:

We didn’t really cover this in our post, but Sara really does know how to knit.

Additional Blog Tour Information:

2015 NatCroMo Blog Tour
Links to All the Info

Daily Giveaway Schedule

Daily Designer Schedule

Learn About CGOA

Halos of Hope: Make Hats

All the Blog Tour Info in One Post