We love handmade gifts here at the CraftSanity Headquarters, so it’s no surprise that Abby was thrilled to received a crocheted Mario on her 8th birthday from Christy Ackerman, my mom and Abby’s “nana.” My mom made this excellent gift on an extreme deadline using this awesome pattern posted for FREE on the Wolfdreamer blog. I told my [...]

This mini basket pattern is inspired by my Great Grandma who used to crochet little baskets around butter tubs for the little girls in the family. Read on for the pattern and happy stitching!

Now that the print edition of CraftSanity Magazine issue 6 is in circulation, we’re ready to release the PDF edition. It features all the great projects from the print edition – including Maria Stout’s super cute felted crochet chick basket shown above – plus links to websites mentioned in the text. You can purchase an instant [...]

We’ve been hard at work on issue 6 of the magazine and very happy to report that we’ll be picking it up from the printer March 23. You can reserve your copy here. This issue is packed with people and projects that I hope will inspire hours of creative time this spring. We’re covering everything [...]

A couple weeks back when I thought my column writing days were numbered, I had a bit of a panic because I came very close to blowing my opportunity to write about one of the nicest people on the planet. A newspaper reader had sent me a tip about Bob Roskamp, an 82-year-old West Michigan [...]

Seasons greetings from CraftSanity! I hope you’re enjoying the holiday season with family and friends. The Christmas Eve snow didn’t stick here in West Michigan, so I crocheted some handmade snowmen stand-ins. I think it did the trick. : )

It was love at first sight when Lisa Gutierrez sent me her Willow Doily Blanket pattern for CraftSanity Magazine issue 4. Isn’t it lovely? Before pattern testing this design, I had never bothered to crochet a doily of any kind and now I’m completely hooked. And who knew that I would actually enjoy working with [...]

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that I published a fun and easy crochet pattern in CraftSanity Magazine issue 3 to pretty up your jam jars after you try out the strawberry jam recipe. I can’t crochet fast enough to make a lid cover for every jar of jam, but I’m sure enjoying [...]

Spring break is over and I’m in denial. I love it when we can wake up on our own with no alarm clocks and let our days unfold as they will. There were a few squabbles during our staycation, but for the most part we had a great week. And today we ended on a [...]

This crocheted vessel by Juliane Anderson was one of my favorite things to photograph for CraftSanity Magazine issue 2. The colorful mix of roving and yarn come together to form a wonderful coiled structure that is doubles as functional art and handmade eye candy. Don’t you love the colors?! And the wonderful thing  about this [...]

Wow do I love to crochet! I just finished another Easter basket while we were watching “Toy Story 3″ with the kids. I used the crochet pattern by Maria Stout that is on page 16 of CraftSanity Magazine Issue 2. (You can download the magazine pdf for $3.99 on the left sidebar of this site [...]

This blog has led me to meet some truly inspiring people since my husband helped me launch CraftSanity in early 2006. And it still amazes me how one rather spontaneous decision to become a craft podcaster has so dramatically changed the trajectory of my life and enriched it so. Alessandra Hayden is one of the [...]

Tonight I’m working on my column while Jeff edits the Maker Faire Detroit highlight video we shot yesterday. In the meantime check out the view of the West Michigan sky in the evening looking up through a bloom of Queen Anne’s Lace. Huh? I admit I’m procrastinating. This is what I often do when I’m supposed [...]

This Sunday my newspaper column will feature West Michigan crochet enthusiast, Kendra Wineman. After meeting Kendra and seeing her colorful stash of reclaimed yarn and cute, crochet nesting bowls, I decided to unravel a sweater and make some bowls for my daughters to organize trinkets in their room.

Happy Spring, everyone! It’s snowing here in West Michigan. And waking up to a blanket of white was a crushing blow after we were spoiled by nearly a week of sunny, spring weather. Ah, well, those of us who live in Michigan are used to this kind of teasing by Mother Nature. We often complain [...]