http://www.crochetnow.co.uk | 23Interview
First up, tell us a little about
you and your everyday life
Well, I’m born and raised in the Pacifi c
Northwest of the USA, growing up in
Washington and Oregon. My husband,
two children and I currently live in Salem,
Oregon (the state capital) where my
husband grew up and owns a tattoo shop.
After learning that our son is allergic to cats
and dogs, we no longer have furry friends,
but my husband surprised me for my 30th
birthday with a ball python snake that I’ve
been wanting for a long time. His name is
Basilisk (or Bas) and is the perfect pet for an
introvert because he is super quiet, calm
and totally cool being by himself on those
days where you just need to ‘be’.
During the days when the kids are away
at school and my husband is working,
you can usually fi nd me at home in my
offi ce working, or in meetings, or making
an outrageous number of lists that I may
or may not eventually check off. In the
evenings, my husband usually makes
dinner and then we will all hang out as a
family afterward. Weekends tend to be hit
or miss with Saturdays usually our day to
do things that we didn’t get fi nished during
the week, and Sundays are hopefully for
church, laundry and groceries. I know, I live
a very glamorous life.However, I really love to read and am
looking forward to having more availability
to dedicate to books. I also love a good
red wine (usually Cabernet Sauvignon or
Malbec). I have a massive sweet tooth and
love brownies, cupcakes and sweet breads.How did you come to begin
designing crochet patterns?
I started dabbling with designing
crochet patterns several years ago
after learning how to crochet with the
support of a private Facebook group.
I found that I wanted to make things,
garments specifi cally, but couldn’t fi nd
projects that appealed to me. I played with
shapes, stitches, yarns and hook sizes and
eventually got the motivation to make my
own garment top which ended up being the
Nolan Top. After I created my fi rst garment,
I was so proud and excited and realised
that clothing is my favourite way to express
myself, both with crochet and in my daily
life. I love to be able to turn an idea into
something tangible!How would you describe
your style?
Well, it took me a long time to
fi gure out my style. For a long time, I tried
emulating others that I was inspired by,
until I fi nally found out that it’s ok to like
things that are a little bit different than the
norm. I love textures, shapes, oversized
fi ts, small and intentional details, and
incorporating different mediums or fi bres.
For me, I try not to hold myself tightly
into a ‘style’, because I really enjoy being
able to ebb and fl ow and like new things.
More than staying within a style, it’s most
important to me to always move forward
with things that feel good and are a true
expression of myself in that season. I think
when we place too much importance ontrying to stay the same, it can limit your
expansion of yourself, your creativity and
your business. Give yourself permission
to explore.Tell us a little about your
design process
I’m a ‘mood’ maker. Sometimes I will have
an idea for a project and will fi nd the yarn
I want to use with it, but more often than
not when I am able to freely design without
deadlines or requests, I love to fi nd the
yarn fi rst and play around with it for a bit
and then just work it up. I love doing this
because, as I work the stitches, I’ll come up
with ideas as I go and will implement them
as I work it up. This is how I created theWe sat down with Jessica Carey, the mind behind The Hook Nook,
A Maker Community, to fi nd out more about her creative process,
why she loves what she does, and to feel inspired by her
beautiful world of yarn
http://www.thehooknooklife.com
Jessica Top
I try not to hold
myself tightly
into a ‘style’,
because I really
enjoy being able
to ebb and fl ow
into new
things