Our June Issue

I like to read the credits of television shows and movies. I don’t know why, perhaps it harkens back to my days when I was a crew member on school shows and college TV programs; the visual enjoyment of the show isn’t complete without seeing the names of the actors, directors, producers and everyone else down to the hair and makeup artists. What can I say?...I’m a detail-oriented woman. (This quirk is very helpful at trivia games!)

So in keeping with this obsession, I read the names of who-does-what in Crochet World and Crochet! magazines and it never surprises me to see this pattern byline repeatedly: “Design by Michele Wilcox.” Michele and I have been friends for many years through our work. In getting to know her personally and professionally, I can see why her patterns are popular and appear often in these magazines. They’re usually rated as “beginner,” “confident beginner,” or “easy” skill levels and are often quick to make. They vary from blankets and scarves, toys, dolls and figures to hats and all kinds of holiday decor, even unusual objects such as cupcake favors for showers! I can personally attest to the pleasure of stitching her designs as I made one of her more spectacular pieces, Enchanting Unicorn for Red Heart (www.yarnspirations.com), as a baby gift. Her husband, Dick, lovingly described why Michele’s designs, especially animals and dolls of people, are special: “The thing she does the best is the character she gives to everything she makes, especially the faces.” She’s truly a natural at her craft and loves what she does.

Read the entire article in our April 2023 issue!

There are times that I get stuck in a rut and just don’t want to crochet. I often find myself turning to puzzles as a distraction when this happens. I love puzzles, especially crosswords and word scramblers, but I’ve found that playing the same puzzles over and over gets boring because they tend to have the same common words in every one.

The Crochet Activity Book is a great way to switch things up and find some crochet inspiration at the same time!

This book has over 100 puzzles and brain teasers, including word searches and word scrambles, logic puzzles and trivia games, cryptograms and mazes, picture-matching games and drawing games, sudoku and even find the numbers games. There’s something for everyone in this book, whether you prefer working with numbers, words or photos. And, other than sudoku and find the numbers, everything is crochet-related.

This book isn’t just fun for the crafters that love puzzles, but it’s also an incredible gift for beginner crocheters! It’s a great tool to get used to common crochet terms, such as names of stitches, projects and tools that they’re going to come across. The book has fun trivia about the history of the craft, industry standard information, information about selling at fairs and quotes about crochet.

The puzzles are harder than they look too—mostly because these aren’t words you’re used to seeing scrambled! And if you’re ever stuck, there are clues and solved puzzles at the back of the book.

Next time I get stuck in a rut, I plan on grabbing my copy of the Crochet Activity Book and finding a little crochet inspiration hidden in one of the word scrambles.

Make sure you get your copy! Visit www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com to pick one up.