The Crochet Crowd's only book came out in September 2021 after a year of development. Featuring Michael Sellick, Daniel Zondervan and a list of other friends to make some patterns for the book. Those people included Jeanne Steinhilber, Anita Grover, Megan McHugh and Kathleen Nolen.
You can pick it up at your favourite bookstore and/or order it online. Our book identification is:
ISBN: 978-1-77276-160-3
Known Mistakes in Book
Please Visit Errors for The Crochet Crowd Book article here for the errors that were found after printing and what the fixes are. Future editions of our book will have these fixed.
Free Tutorials Now Available
You can follow the instructions in the book to follow along if you wish.
Our book is a summation of what brought us to Nova Scotia, Canada, with a brief history of the journey it's taken to get here. In the yarn arts, unless you have a book, people behind the scenes don't really give you the time of day. To us, it's old-school thinking as today's crocheter is most likely digital-driven.
The Backstory
Over the years, as early as 2011, I have been approached by several publishers to write a book. I took a workshop in 2011 about writing a book and low and behold, it's an eye-opening experience. I left the conference at the end of the day and immediately told Daniel, we have to be crazy to write a book.
It's a minimum of a year process, and the hours of dedication to planning and writing it are astounding. So, over the years, when a publisher reaches out. I decline without much thought. I have a unique situation on my shoulders. I have to run a significant digital footprint in crochet in between doing the bookwork. Content always has to flow, so my time cannot stand still on anything for long without being noticed.
Interestingly enough, another publisher happened to contact me while this was going on. John MacIntyre from MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc. here in Nova Scotia. He just wants to talk to me on the phone and because Jonah's writer had been talking to me, I was open to a discussion with John.
Long story short, we have an opportunity to write a book about any topic we wish. An associate of John had been watching us since our move to Nova Scotia.
So I figured, I'll try to write our story. But there is a problem.
- I am too detailed.
- I get into the minor details that have little significance in the grand scheme of the story.
- The book has a negative perspective as I am writing about things that upset me. Not about the focus of the joys as well to keep a good story balance.
My story isn't a straight line. While I may be having success in the public eye, my life behind the scenes can be falling apart. How do you write a story with multiple sub-plots at the same time? It's confusing and is it necessary?
I gave it a couple of months. I contacted John to tell him I cannot do a book. I cannot balance my time and I am not a great writer. So that's that. Done. Opportunity on the table then slid off the table and I am back to that opinion of a book is too hard to do.
We wrote the book during the time of Covid-19 and it was challenging with interviews and photography without the risk of making someone else ill.
We decided that if we have a factual storybook, we need to pair it with patterns. Why would you buy the book of a crochet host without patterns? I know I wouldn't. So, that kick-started the journey for coming up with patterns.
The first pattern right out of the gate would be another signature textured afghan. I sat for a weekend at the dining room table trying to get the first 2 feet of it done. One section of just 5 rounds took me honest to gawd 8 hours to figure out the math so it would sit flat. Four months on and off designing. How many roadblocks I don't really know. Three blankets later, the testing team with another 4 blankets. It was completed in a 4-month time frame. Picking it up, putting it down. Doing the Summer SAL for JOANN and other content to keep the ball rolling. It was never a straight shot at trying to get this done.
In one of the projects I did, the yarn got discontinued and so it had to be redone but I had the original already written but tweaked it going through it again a second time.
Jeanne originally had 2 patterns in the book but she did this incredible version called Into the Light Afghan that was extremely personal. The attention to detail and texture are second to none. Soon as Daniel saw it, get that ready for the book. I think you are going to love this afghan, truly.
Kathleen has an amazing hat pattern and she specializes in craft show. Anita worked out two unique patterns with so much yarn play, I think her hands may have been raw with so much play! haha. Megan worked with Daniel on a combination series together. Daniel has a beautiful scarf he actually crocheted all by himself. haha.
A week before the deadline, Daniel booked us a resort for a few days here locally. Have you been to a resort where there is no one there? Creepy! The Quarterdeck allowed us to use their conference space at no charge. Honestly, we all by ourselves in the complex building where our room was. We sprawled out over 3 days and went through all of the content, yet again.
In the end, we had a working dinner with our publisher to discuss the name of the book.
I was set on the idea of the book being called The Journey. However, John thought that our company name is highly searched that the book should be called exactly what it's meant to be, The Crochet Crowd. However, we needed a second byline. Daniel created the name of The Crochet Crowd back in 2010, two years after I had started this journey but it was me that did the byline. Inspire, Create & Celebrate. It's the crocheter's journey from the inspirational process of online and friend recommendations to creating the idea and then taking a few moments in time to celebrate it. I shared with John our slogan and he was immediately said, "That's it... that's the right addition". He was pretty excited by it. We had been racking our brain for weeks trying to think of the byline and yet it's been our slogan all along! Who knew!?
What You Can Expect
You will see real-life situations play themselves out. I think people want to see what the seat looks like from my perspective. The book isn't a coming-out story, though it's part of it, you will learn how naive I really can be. It's a story of finding myself through a community connection of the yarn arts. Flailing in the wind trying to find life's balance. Realizing, nothing in life is ever perfect, nor is perfection should ever be the goal.
Being in an industry where I didn't initially fit in and cried in a restaurant over a beer after a trade show that I was completely rejected. I still don't fit in today but I have come to embrace that. What makes me unique is what works but you couldn't have told me that in the beginning.
Deborah Akerman says
How crochet makes me feel.....comfy & productive & creative! I can't just sit & watch TV, I have to be doing something and its usually crochet & I feel I'm 'getting something done' and not wasting my time. But when I picked it back up,( after many, many years pause& finding your page on FB) I was using it as an escape. An escape from doing something about a waning marriage, an escape from going thru all my boxes stored in the basement from a move 20 years before, an escape from packing to move because I had to sell my 'dreamhome' I designed years before....all those things I knew Needed to be done (I had no help) instead I crocheted!!! I made so many afghans.....no one wants one....I've kept them all, they remind me of those times, I know when I did them, how I was feeling, etc. I started crocheting 50 years ago, my mother taught me, but she mostly knit. I spent many hours in the 70's making those funky tops & vests, I didn't date so it was my escape & keep busy hobby. I requested my local library stock your book,,since they have a large fiber arts section. I just checked its on order, but I'm not first on the list; apparently someone beat me to it!!!!
Kitty says
Hi Mickey
Would you consider making a lid for the lovely basket you made a while back and turn it into a you tube tutorial?? I'd love it! I enjoy watching your videos as they are so easy to follow! Thanks!???
All the best
Kitty??
Mikey says
I don't recall which basket that would be.
Pamela Inskeep says
Mikey, I have been crocheting since I was 12 years old. In the beginning, it was fun and kept me from getting bored during summer vacation from school. When I was in college, it was a great stress reliever, especially during finals weeks. As an adult, I found crochet to still be a great stress reliever after hard days at work. Now, as a 60 year old, I rely on crochet to keep my mind sharp (reading patterns and diagrams and counting stitches) and keeping my fingers nimble. Crochet has been with me my whole life and I have loved every minute of it. Crochet means the world to me
Brittany says
How Crochet makes me feel. I can not sum it up into a single feeling.However, It makes me feel accomplished the most. I did not grow up or mature in an environment of the "you can achieve your goals". Instead it was make fun of you for trying. With every finished project and every stitch Crochet guides me to mentally to break away from the toxic mind set of I can't do this.