NatCroMo 2016, March 17: Jennifer E Ryan

Blog tour posts may contain affiliate links.

The Crochet Express National Crochet Month Blog Tour

Crochetville_Blog_Tour_728x90

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!)

[button-blue url=”https://www.facebook.com/groups/nationalcrochetmonth/” target=”_blank” position=”center”]Facebook: Click Here[/button-blue] [button-green url=”http://www.crochetville.com/community/forum/469-the-crochet-express-crochetvilles-4th-annual-blog-tour/” target=”_blank” position=”center”]Crochetville: Click Here[/button-green]

Jennifer E Ryan, Celtic Knot Crochet

Crochetville is very proud to have designer Jennifer E Ryan with us today as one 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 Jennifer, check out our post from last year’s blog tour.

About Jennifer:

Jennifer E Ryan is an award-winning published crochet designer and homeschool mom who teaches crochet and the Russian language in her hometown. Her designs can be seen in a variety of crochet publications (Crochet! Crochet World, I Like Crochet). Jennifer’s specialty is combining Celtic Knots with crochet. She has won awards for her unique Celtic garments in the CGOA’s Design Competitions of 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. She enjoys spending time outdoors, photographing wildlife, and performing. Jennifer is very excited for her trip to Ireland as a crochet expert with Annie’s and Craftours this coming June.

You can see all of her work at: www.celticknotcrochet.blogspot.com

Tell us about your favorite travel destination.

Hawaii and Russia are my favorite destinations – both are wonderful places to visit but for different reasons. I loved the tropical paradise, powerful ocean and beautiful underwater life of Hawaii while vacationing with my family. I also loved practicing the Russian language, making Russian friends and seeing hundreds of year of history and unforgettable architecture in Russia. But I think after this summer with Craftours, Ireland will become my new favorite destination!

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

There are so many wonderful places in the world – I would love to visit Australia or the Virgin Islands some day.

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

I am still discovering great yarn stores in my home state. I love to see how they decorate and what kind of projects they have on display to inspire their customers.

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

I love to pack crocheted jewelry and cowls/scarves when I travel. They are very versatile – working with many outfits and for many occasions. Plus, they don’t take up a lot of room in your suitcase!

TIP: I always use twist ties to secure the various zippers that are on my luggage – it helps to prevent against theft or your bags accidentally opening on the conveyor belt. I simply thread the twist tie through both zipper pulls where they meet, twist the wire together and bend it over several times so it does not stick out. This works great for backpack zippers, too when walking through a foreign city.

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?

If I know I will have some quiet time to myself waiting or in a hotel room, I might take a project that requires quite a bit of planning and figuring. But if I am going to be on the go and surrounded by people that I would love to talk with, then I take projects that have easy repeats or ‘brainless’ stitches in them. Although, sometimes design deadlines dictate which projects I would choose!

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

When I was in high school I lived in Moscow for a month on a student-exchange. One weekend all of the Americans in our group traveled to St. Petersburg on an overnight train. By mistake we ended up staying in the least expensive cabins that had very uncomfortable beds and no privacy. At midnight the lights went out and we were forced to figure out everything in the dark. But since we were all together and enjoyed each other’s company, it turned out to be a great adventure and one of our most fun memories of the whole trip. We laughed all night.

A few years later I took the same train but had much fancier accommodations and ended up meeting a professional ballroom dancer who invited us to his competitions and other fun events in Moscow. Don’t miss your next opportunity to travel by train – who knows what kind of story you will be able to tell!

Visit Jennifer’s Site: NatCroMo Specials

I will be offering a new Celtic Knot crochet pattern for FREE until 4/17. It is a small and simple project that you can make quickly for yourself or a friend who loves to read.

A Few of Jennifer’s Designs:

Feileacan Shawl, Crochet! magazine, Summer 2015

The Feileacan Shawl won an award (Technical Merit) in the 2014 CGOA Design Competition. It features unique Celtic Knot butterfly motifs down the center framed by a stitch that mimics the patterns of a butterfly’s wings. It was published in the Summer 2015 issue of Crochet! so you can try your hand at making one, too! (www.crochetmagazine.com) (Photo courtesy of Annie’s)

Ombre Celtic Knot Necklace

This statement necklace won Honorable Mention in the Accessories Category in the 2015 CGOA Design Competition. A complex decorative knot woven in two colors sits slightly off-center with an ombre cascade of openwork stitches in which there are over 50 glass beads. (Photo courtesy of Susan Lowman)

Snow Crystal Cowl, Crochet! magazine, Winter 2015

The Snow-Crystal Cowl shimmers like real ice crystals. Published in the Winter 2015 issue of Crochet!, it is a beautiful one-of-a-kind accessory. (Photo courtesy of Annie’s)