Hi, my name is Ann and I am addicted to Ebay.
There, I feel so much better.
It is true; the day I discovered that you can buy old crochet books on Ebay, I was hooked. No more searching garage and estate sales, junk shops and flea markets hoping to find an old Elizabeth Hiddleson or Lilly Mill's book I didn't already have; I could sit in the comfort of my own home and browse to my hearts content!!! But when I realized you could also buy old crocheted items (often for a pittance!) all hope for me was lost. I saw amazing creations I had never dreamed possible; beautiful Irish crochet, incredible doilies and tablecloths and magnificent filet pieces. As a designer, I was inspired by many of these lovely creations, and dismayed at the fact that they were being auctioned off to total strangers who might not love them the way they deserved to be.

But I digress..

I could spend a fortune buying up all the beautiful things I saw and lusted for; but on a designer's income, one must be selective. So, what is it, then, that I actually buy? What strikes my fancy to the point I actually plunk down my cold hard cash? Well, here are a few examples (and please note, I did not make or design any of the filet pieces shown here, they were all purchased off Ebay, so I do not have any info on the patterns or the talented persons who crocheted them):

A varigated blue deer, gotta love it!!!!

What beautiful workmanship!

I love how spiderwebs are worked into this piece- and the variegated purple grapes. Beautiful leaves and clusters of grapes.

I just wanted to let everyone know I made a mistake on the last option on the new poll. I meant to say "It is how I spend most of my spare time." Maybe that was a Freudian slip or something, because it does seem like I spend most of my time crocheting. But hey, I would rather be crocheting than a lot of other things I can think of!

When my mother taught me to crochet (over 33 years ago now!) she taught me by making granny squares out of yarn from her stash. She held her hook in a pencil hold and her yarn like this:So that is what I did, too. It worked just fine for the first year or so, because I only worked with yarn. But I was longing to try working with thread, even though I was intimidated by it (I don't really know why, but I was.) So one fine day I bought some size 20 thread and a doily book from Perry's (a local 5 and dime store in my home town, Gilmer, Texas) and rushed home to try it out. I loved crocheting with thread, but I was surprised to find that after only an hour or so my hand was tired, and I had to stop. I had been crocheting with yarn for several hours every day, and didn't know what difference working with thread made, but something was definitely going on.

I think Shadow is so sweet! And it was so much fun making Autumn's broom!Here is what the hold up was. I have been working on this doily called "Gothic Lace," which is based on the stitch pattern in Autumn's skirt. When I was making the skirt I thought "wouldn't this make a pretty doily, all by itself?", so the idea for the bonus pattern was born.

I worked on the pattern all weekend, and did the photography this morning. It is funny, now that it is finished, I almost think I like it better than the "Harvest Moon!"

I hope you all like them!

And now, I am going to finish up editing a set called "Butterflies and Roses Pineapple Doilies" and start work on the third in the Fairy/Witch series, which will be a Christmas angel in a wreath. I can't wait to get started on her.

I saw this pattern for sale on Ebay today, and it sent me on a trip down memory lane. You see, this pattern is special to me; it is a pattern that I know and love very well.
This was my very first published design.
20 years ago, this "Framed Flower Basket" was on the cover of Annie's Crochet Newsletter No. 40, the July/August '89 issue. I was so thrilled to actually be published, and to have my design on the cover of the magazine was almost overwhelming. I also had another design in this issue, a night gown yoke in filet called "Flower Filet Nightgown" on page 44.
I look at this picture and I still think it is a pretty good design; if I designed it today I know there are things that I would do differently, but hopefully that just shows that I have grown in skill with time.
It seems so long ago (and in fact it was!) that I nervously walked into the Annie's Design Department in Big Sandy, carrying a black trash bag full of my crochet designs. I met with Deborah Hamburg, who was the head of the Design Department at that time, and showed her what I had brought in. She looked at my designs, and asked me lots of questions about the stitches I had used and where I came up with the ideas. I know now that she was making sure that I actually did design and crochet them; after all she didn't know me from Adam, and I heard later that they had had some problems with people trying to sell designs that did not belong to them. Anyway, she asked me to leave everything with her so she could show them to someone else (I always wondered if it was Annie herself, I never did find out who it was). 
The next day I got a phone call; they bought everything that I had brought in, and had some ideas for some more designs they would like me to make for them.
My career was launched, I was a crochet designer. My dream was coming true.