It has taken me forever to get around to translating this interview with Stephanie, the lovely lady behind OBEY CROCHET. I have no excuses and am not going to attempt any.
If you are unfamiliar with Obey Crochet, hit the website right now. It’s awesome! Crochet humour? A LOT of crochet humour? Yes PLS! If you head over and like what you see, consider sending your photo for the Hooktopia section, or purchasing an item from the store. Also, make sure to follow via rss or facebook to never miss your dose of hookie sarcasm.
Oh … and free shit!
1. Do YOU crochet? If so, what is on your hook right now? If not, why not? …and more importantly, do you KNIT?
Crochet all the way! I think I knit once and did not really get into it. I just started making some tentacles and mollie flowers and I have 20 days to finish some kind of flowery octo monster for my friend’s daughter’s birthday. I have an idea in my head; we’ll see how it turns out. I just hope she doesn’t cry or, worse, I hope it isn’t so cool I want to keep it.
2. Do you ever get hate mail from knitters? What’s the strangest feedback you’ve gotten since starting Obey Crochet?
You would not believe how many people send me email about stretching the gap between knitters and hookers and promoting divide. I never knew my potential for pure evil, apparently. If they knew anything about me, it’s not about segregating knitters, it’s about crochet. It’s about a crochet community that has inside jokes, too and just wants somewhere to let loose. It’s fun. And FYI, save yourselves the email, I ain’t changing. Start your own blog.
3. Did you have any idea these drawings would get you such a huge fanbase – it seems like you exploded in terms of recognition (featured in Crochet Today – wow!)… did you think/hope/dream this would happen? Why do you think that is?
No, I never imagined any of it because it was all for fun. Life was crazy at the time and craft/art has always been an outlet. It all seemed to happen overnight or at least in a week. Obey Crochet was my first serious attempt at a comic, at creating a website, at just barfing a “shoulda coulda” idea into the universe and seeing where it landed. I’ve never even considered myself funny. Corny, yes, but funny? No.
I did it for myself first and told friends about it later. I like that most of my fans are random hookers out in the Interwebs chuckling at doodles. I just wanted crochet to be fun, to be proud, to wear a shirt no one understood to help people understand. I think most hookers feel that way because I’ve heard it before, “no, this is not knitting.” If no one knows what crochet is, who cares? but, to be mistaken for something else? Annoying. I just wanted something for us and I wanted it to be fun.
And I get really awesome emails!
4. What do you hope people are getting out of your blog? Where do you hope the blog takes you?
I hope a hooker sees it and laughs. I hope a non-hooker hears and through a series of steps I will not explain dabbles into crochet. I hope someone buys (or makes) their crocheting great grandma a shirt with “OBEY CROCHET” on it and then sends me a photo.
I hope to keep making drawings and in the future do more complex panel comics. Also, I want to self-publish a volume of drawings. I hope this becomes something I’d never expected because it mostly already is.
5. Any underground crocheters you want to shine a light on – someone you think we NEED to know about?
It may sound typical, but there are really so many. I follow over 1000 people on twitter and most of them are hookers. That blows my mind and they are constantly creating, posting patterns, making new stitches, digging up vintage designs, and telling the history of crochet. They work so hard, they are so inventive. I just stand by,
work on birthday presents, and jot down ideas for drawing.
I guess, I am grateful for the people who noticed me in the very, very beginning: Julia Chambers at Aberrant Crochet, Sara Delaney at Chicken Betty, Monica Lowe at Craftwich Creations, and Laurie Wheeler at Crochet Liberation Front
Those ladies are hookers for life!
Thank you for the interview and for asking questions I’ve never thought about until right now.
…and thank you for answering them =)
[warning]Want to be interviewed for this series? Send me a message via the contact page![/warning]
