NatCroMo 2016, March 1: Yarn Twins: Deborah Bagley and Dana Bincer

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The Crochet Express National Crochet Month Blog Tour

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Welcome to Crochetville’s fourth annual National Crochet Month (NatCroMo) blog tour, taking place each day of March 2016. Join us as we take a virtual tour on our passenger steam train, The Crochet Express, visiting crochet designers, crochet-friendly local yarn stores, and yarn companies, and offer some fun giveaways.

Want to Chat about the Tour?

Part of the fun of taking a passenger steam train trip is talking with your fellow passengers. This year, we’re providing two locations where our passengers can get to know each other. We’d love to hear about your favorite things you’ve discovered on the tour and see photos of your current crochet projects. You’re invited to join us daily for virtual cocktails/appetizers and dinner. (We’ll be sharing links to some fabulous recipes!)

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Yarn Twins: Dana Bincer Deborah Bagley, Yarnovations

Yarnovations_Twins-Back-to-Back — Yarn Twins: Dana Bincer and Deborah Bagley

Crochetville is very proud to have designers Dana Bincer and Deborah Bagley, the Yarn Twins, with us today, March 1, as two of the featured designers on our 2016 Designer Blog Tour in honor of National Crochet Month (NatCroMo). If you’d like to know even more about Dana and Deborah, check out our post about them from last year’s blog tour.

About Dana and Deborah:

Yes, we’re twins. No, we’re not identical. We’re a couple of fairly shy girls that grew up in a middle class family as couch potatoes until a friend introduced us to single track mountain biking in 2000. The adrenaline rush of technical riding provides a healthy channel for relieving stress, but it wasn’t until we started crochet designing in 2011 that we found a shared medium to express our creative spirits. Dana is now the Assistant Editor at Interweave Crochet and continues to self publish designs with Deborah who is a stay at home mom of two toddler boys.

Tell us about your favorite travel destination.

Moab, UT and Winterpark, CO are drivable destinations from our homes in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs which makes them our top travel destinations. Moab has an abundance of single track mountain biking, and jeep trails as well as a lot of photography opportunities with Arches National Park. The ski resorts like Winter Park are extra fun in the summer with lack of crowds and convenience of ski lifts to us and our bikes to the top of the slopes.

Tell us about a “dream” travel location that you’d like to visit one day.

Whistler, British Columbia in Canada is supposed to have some amazing mountain biking. What could be better than biking during the day and crocheting at night?

Do you visit yarn stores when traveling? If so, tell us about one of your favorite finds.

We’re generally so exhausted from mountain biking that we don’t take time to explore local culture. While teaching at the Taos Wool Festival in 2015, however, we discovered that we love dining at roadside smoked brisket vendors and locally owned pizza joints.

Packing: Tell us about any crochet clothing or accessories you pack when traveling. Do you have any really cool packing tips to share?

We’re so low maintenance, we generally don’t pack more than jeans and t-shirts. If we need to “dress up” we’ll throw in a crocheted scarf or two to pair up with slacks and t-shirt!

When creating a carry-on bag for traveling by plane, I, Dana, create a separate small bag with a crochet project. I find the thinnest canvas tote in my stash, throw in a stitch dictionary, some yarn and my travel set of hooks and mini scissors. I tuck this into my travel backpack with my laptop, jacket and snacks. When I board the plane, I take the canvas tote out of the backpack so that’s easily accessible after take off.

Tell us about any crochet projects you take with you when traveling: How many projects do you take? How do you decide which ones to take?

Designing while traveling is challenging. Our brains are distracted by the new scenery and the adventures we have planned. But we’re never without a crochet hook and yarn. We usually take projects with repetitive stitch patterns like a scarf or afghan.

Do you have any stories or anything else travel-related that you’d like to share with our blog tour readers?

While living in Bolivia, I, Deborah, got to see many alpacas. Did you know the locals often give their alpacas decorative yarn “earrings” to denote ownership? Instead of tags, the alpaca often had colorful pom poms or other crocheted/knitted earrings. Yarn shopping in La Paz was quite wonderful. They have a small neighborhood of just yarn shops. On both sides of the street I saw yarn shops selling all kinds of yarns, acrylic, wool, and even specialty yarns. There were some fun faux fur yarns I saw for the first time in La Paz that I would later see in stores in the States.

Visit Dana and Deborah’s Site: NatCroMo Specials

Yarnovations-sneak-peek-photo

We’re giving away a dishcloth and placemat pattern set. Each month for 2016 we have a pattern for a dishcloth and kitchen or dining accessory. Only in the month of march is the dishie+ set free. This monthly series is sponsored by Universal Yarn with Fibra Natura Good Earth yarn.

A Few of Dana and Deborah’s Designs:

Owl Set, $9.99

It’s a hoot to crochet a bean bag chair! This playful set also comes with a step-by-step tutorial for the granny tree of love blanket. Baby pants with crocodile stitch cuffs and owl hats to fit the whole family are included in this ebook.

Floral Heart Pillow, Reg $5.99 – On Sale $4.99

This original design was part of the Twins Face Off design challenge Deborah and Dana had with each other in 2015. The pattern includes a beautiful shell stitch pillow pattern, 8 flower patterns with step-by-step photos, a leaf and instructions for making tassels also with photos.

Chutes and Lattice, $2.99

Crocheted lace takes center stage with this beautiful scarf. This project appeared in Love of Crochet magazine in 2014 as Coral Blooms. It is constructed primarily with connected chains.