Lion Brand Notebook ®
Corin Purifoy from Milwaukee, WI, USA
Just one? Touch of Alpaca. It’s so lush and soft, it’s like touching a cloud!
I desperately needed something to do with my hands. I’m an anxious, fidgety person and needed to learn to put that energy into something productive and creative. Plus, I get something warm and cozy out of it.
I taught myself to knit using the internet, but I was lucky enough to have multiple crochet teachers. I learned while I was in the hospital, looking for something to fight off boredom and anxiety. Some other patients suggested crocheting. I told them I wasn’t “domestic” enough to do something like that, but lo and behold, 3 days later I was working on my first blanket!
I love to make shawls and blankets – anything you can wrap around yourself like a hug!
Linen stitch, or anything involving back- and front-post double crochets in crochet; seed stitch in knitting. They’re all so simple and clean, but offer a lot of interest and texture.
The first thing I ever crocheted was a single-crochet striped multicolored blanket. I couldn’t get a hold of how to start a new row without adding or subtracting stitches, so the edges looked more like winding rivers than straight lines.
There’s so many choices, and I can be sure that no matter what yarn, fiber or color I pick I’m going to get something high-quality and beautiful out of it.
After a few years of crocheting I decided to try my hand at designing and releasing my own patterns. Though I’ve only written a few, and some are more successful than others, they’re all highlights of my crocheting career. It’s amazing to see other people making something that began as little more than a spark in my head!
Want to submit your yarn story?! Learn how you can submit your My Life In Yarn story HERE or send an email (don’t forget to include a photo!) answering the above questions to: MLIY@lionbrandyarn.com
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Sandra Nichols
Oh how I love your story. People engaged in positive and warm-hearted communication teaching skills to last a lifetime.
Will Lion Brand please publish one of your popular patterns? Of course they will feature a Lion brand yarn.
Carol Derbis
I, too, learned to crochet when my chronic back problems prevented me from most normal activities. I was forced to sit for hours (usually reclined to relieve pressure on back) and I was becoming more and more anxious and fidgety! I learned from the many sites online – I was amazed at how many awesome designers were willing to share their knowledge and skills with the rest of us. I learned that this yarny community is almost like a “family”! So many are so cheerful and willing to help. I preferred learning from photo tutorials, as trying to follow a video required that stopping and starting and rewinding the video – which meant taking a hand from my stitches. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to go to England for a “Crochet Retreat”! Ladies from all over the world were there and all seemed to be new “best friends” as if we’d known each other for years! Dedri Uys was the instructor and was so generous with her time, patience and willing to share and even share her ride from her home outside of London to the south Coastal Town where the Retreat was held..
My favorite thing is learning new stitches and stitch patterns – I love lots of texture, color mixing and just that feeling of accomplishment when a project is finished! One of my first “learning experiences” was Dedri’s Sophie’s Universe! Her tutorials made all those beautiful textures and patterns easy! and made it so fun to learn what seemed to be very complex stitch patterns!
I’ve made countless hats, scarves, cowls and even a couple of simpler sweater patterns!