BREATHE IN, CRAFT OUT
Vickie Howell has taken crafting to a new level with her enthusiasm for making.
For Vickie Howell, memories of learning to crochet are wrapped up in the cosy nostalgia of her childhood. “When I was eight or nine years old, I made a doll-sized granny square blanket,” she says. “My mom – with the patience only a career schoolteacher could have – guided me through each step while we watched episodes of The Bionic Woman and M*A*S*H. I still have that blanket, which acts as a special souvenir of my stitcherly beginnings.”
These early crochet tussles were to shape Vickie’s lifelong attitude towards crafting. “That experience instilled in me a value in sharing time and craft with people,” she says. “Crocheting evokes an openness that lends itself to community. It’s my passion to inspire people to be creative and embrace the global community of crafting that the internet now affords us access to.”
Vickie was also determined to make the most of every break she got. “After I became the host of a television show called Knitty
Gritty in 2004, I decided that when the universe gives that type of opportunity one should run with it!” she says. “The show hadn’t even aired before I’d pitched my first book. From there, I wrote a book or booklet every year for over a decade. I’m a huge fan of new media, but there’s still nothing like holding a physical book filled with great information and beautiful pictures!”
A PORTFOLIO CAREER
Today, Vickie’s output as an author comprises more than a dozen titles, including Wee Garter
Stitch, published by Sixth & Spring in April 2016, and Pop Goes Crochet, published by Lark Books in May 2009. Her presenting work also goes from strength to strength, encompassing hosting and producing as well as guest appearances and, increasingly, ‘webisodes’ – online television shows. In fact, from writing books and presenting craft shows to motivational speaking and teaching, Vickie has so much going on that we have to ask how they all fit with each other.
“It’s an interesting question, as I can’t imagine one part of my creative work life existing without the other,” she says. “In part, that’s because it’s really difficult to make a living in the knitting and crochet industry – and near impossible as an independent contractor to do this through only one trade,
such as design, writing or vlogging. To have a viable career in craft, more often than not, means being a Jane of all crafty trades.”
She thinks for a moment, then adds: “There’s also for me a fluidity in designing and creating projects, and then using those projects to get people talking about knitting and crochet. In a way, I see the inspiration and encouragement aspect of what I do as equally creatively fulfilling as the making aspect of it. They feed different parts of a creative whole, if that makes sense.”
As a result, work days can vary greatly depending on which aspect of the job Vickie’s working on. “After the kids are off to school, and if I’m not travelling, then I’m almost always in my studio working on pitches, answering emails, writing articles or blog posts, playing with new yarns or tools, dreaming up and then making new designs, recording interviews for my podcast, CRAFT*ish, or shooting video tutorials. And when I’m not doing one of those things, I’m on social media promoting projects and interacting with the craft community as much as possible.” Phew!
At the time our interview takes place, Vickie is in the process of preparing a big Kickstarter campaign. “It’s for The Knit Show
with Vickie Howell, the first studio quality, crowd-funded, internationally accessible episodic knitting and crochet web series,” Vickie explains. “I’m so excited about the possibilities that producing this show will offer for our yarny industry – keep your hooks crossed for me!”
WORK LIFE BALANCE
Vickie admits that balancing all these ventures with her home life can be a challenge. “It’s really important to me that we as women are honest about that,” she comments. “There are those days when all things work – family and life come together in perfect union – but that’s a rarity. On most days, we all just do the best we can, right? I try to prioritise and fit everything in where and when I can. This often means fitting in a few stitches while in the car line to pick up my daughter from school, or posting on Instagram while grocery shopping.”
It’s an outlook that informs many of her designs. “I approach them with the mindset that we are all likely to be busy people, trying to balance home, family, career, or whatever,” she explains. “It’s hard to find the time to fit creativity into our lives and as a designer, I don’t want to give you one more thing to feel like you’re not going to be able to finish. Most of us spend enough of our time feeling behind. I want crocheters to feel a sense of accomplishment and joy over being able to produce something cool and wearable, and in a reasonable amount of time.”
As far as aesthetic goes, Vickie’s design preferences veer towards strikingly vivid. “I like simple, with a dose of funky. Stripes, cool angles and a pop of colour are usually my go-to design elements.” She also remains loyal to her early crochet favourites. “After all of these years, I’m still gaga for granny squares! I’m really into hexagon motifs right now, too.”
Living in Austin, Texas, Vickie laments that it’s “almost always too hot for wearing yarn. Because of that, I rarely make sweaters. I prefer great layering pieces – funky shawls, chunky cowls, slouchy beanies and the like.”
Her instinctive approach to design has led to a number of minor disasters, but Vickie remains unfazed. “They happen all the time as I tend to design as I go, rather than writing the pattern first,” she says. “This process leaves a lot of room for mistakes. Sometimes that means ripping out hours of crocheting when you realise something isn’t working. Other times, something wonderful and unexpected comes from a mishap, which then becomes a design feature!”
When it comes to her crocheting location, “I’ll either work on my designs in the studio or, if it’s something more time- consuming, I’ll head down to our living room for a comfier space where I can binge-watch a show while I’m stitching!” Sounds perfect to us!
“IT’S MY PASSION TO INSPIRE PEOPLE TO BE CREATIVE AND EMBRACE THE CRAFTING COMMUNITY. ”