PROFILE: POLLY PLUM

Some people love to crochet and others live to crochet. It’s obvious from talking to her that Justina Schneeweis falls into the latter category. From using crochet to manage her anxiety to thriving on the ‘magic’ of designing her own projects, it’s clear that Justina is at her happiest with a hook in her hand. “I did learn to knit a few years ago and I enjoy it a lot,” she says, “But I’ll always go back to crochet for the rich texture and colour combinations. At this point I believe my mind thinks in crochet. It just makes sense to me.”

She continues, “Crochet is, ultimately, my art form. It’s how I express myself creatively. It’s how I connect with other people. Even when I’m taking a short break from designing, I usually have something on my hook from another designer. I love to sneak in a little amigurumi project or the occasional afghan block. It’s relaxing to take the decision making out of the process and just follow a pattern that’s been figured out by someone else. Also, I find it keeps me fresh and reminds me of how it feels to be on the other side of the pattern.”

BLOCK BY BLOCK

Afghan blocks are something of a specialism for Justina. “Afghans are definitely my thing,” she agrees. “But I hate doing the same thing over and over and I love to challenge my design skills, so I try to change the type of afghan I design. If I did something really pretty for the last project I’m likely to switch to something simple and geometric for the next one. I love to do complicated motifs, but they are huge exhausting projects so I usually follow them up with something simple done in rows.”

“Afghan blocks are like little works of art, “she enthuses. “Each one is unique and beautiful. I find designing them is some of my favourite work. I tend to sit down with some scrap yarns, picking colours as I go, and just play. I’m never quite sure where I’ll start or where I’ll go with them and I find it exciting.”

The many annual afghan block crochetalongs (CALs) are another highlight for Justina; “I love designing for these events! The participants have so much fun and you can make your design in so many new colour combinations and give it new life. There’s always new crocheters trying their first crochet-along and they are so enthusiastic, which revives my own enthusiasm.”

To ring the changes further, Justina’s afghan variations have included her unique ‘texture-ghans’ and motif afghans. “The texture-ghans are a series I designed to be a relaxing type of crochet,” she explains. “The design is created entirely with texture – mostly made with chain spaces, popcorn stitches and post stitches – so that colour can take a back seat. The goal is to free you to hook and hook and hook without worrying about how colour is affecting the pattern. I also try to find a comfortable balance of stitches that vary just enough to keep your interest but aren’t so complicated that they get frustrating or slow you down.”

“My motif afghans are pretty much the exact opposite. They are all about colour changes and fancy stitches. This is where I see just what I can do with crochet. Typically I’ll be designing for something different, but I’ll like a small piece of what I came up with so much that I’ll want to make a bunch of them and turn them into an afghan.”

ARTIST’S EYE

Justina doesn’t have to look far to find inspiration for her designs. “When I started designing it was Julie Yeager’s afghan blocks and Dedri Uys’ Sophie’s Universe that inspired me to see what I could do with crochet, “she recalls. “Julie has a keen eye for design and I love the way she uses stitches and colour. Dedri’s use of such a variety of stitches in so many new ways opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities.”

“Art and nature inspire me the most,” she adds. “I rarely look at something and say, ‘Oh, I want to imitate that.’ But I like to look at a lot of different forms of art, let them fill the cup, then when I’m ready I just sort of see what comes out. I also spend as much time as possible in nature. Nature is full of beautiful colour combinations, patterns, shapes and lines. There’s always something inspiring.”

It was art which ultimately led Justina on the path to crochet as a career. Finding her Fine Art degree course stressful, she sought solace in crochet, even after she’d dropped out of college. “I felt a lot of shame and guilt for not making art. When I felt bad I would crochet,” she says. “This went on for a long time. But I kept crocheting through it. Eventually, one day, I was crocheting to avoid dealing with thoughts and feelings I didn’t want to deal with. I was thinking the same old things about how I should be making art and how wasted my talents were, when finally, I opened my eyes and looked at my hands. I realised I’d been making art the entire time. Not the art I thought I should be making. But, maybe, I thought, maybe this could be what I do? Maybe crochet is what I’m supposed to create? I finally tried my hand at designing something of my own. When I did it was like magic. Everything came together. I loved all of it. I loved designing, crocheting, writing the pattern, designing the PDF, and even the publishing and marketing work. A year later I started designing full time. That was over four years ago and I’m still in love with what I do.”

HAPPILY HOOKED

These days Justina is content balancing her crochet work with home activities. She juggles family life with her young daughter and partner at home with running her website, Ravelry and Etsy shops, plus social media accounts to boot! “I gave up my craft room when I got pregnant a couple years ago. Since then I’m either crocheting at the dining room table or the couch. I also love to sit outside in the shade when the weather is nice. All I really need is my Tulip Etimo hook set and I’m happy. I get time to relax and create most afternoons. Evenings are family time, but I’ll usually try and sneak some hooking time in after bedtime.”

It’s certainly a routine that suits Justina perfectly as her new crochet creations continue to grow. “Next up for projects I’ve got a hexagon motif afghan in the works, a couple of texture-ghans, and a lot of ideas floating around. It’s all up in the air right now so we’ll have to wait and see how everything plays out.”

Written by Lucy Evans