Introducing Connie Rios-Relyea in my own words……..
Art is a part of my very being! I’ve been honing my skill for 45+ years and hope to continue for the next 45+ years! My absolute favorite thing to do is crochet, specifically Intarsia (Charted) Crochet. I learned how to crochet from my mother and her mother, my Gram. I learned about painting and crafts from my father’s mother, Momma Mia. I think art is in my genes, almost everyone in my family is in to some form of art. The strong talented women in my family taught me to always believe in myself and my abilities in every facet of my life, to never give up on my dreams and to practice, practice, practice!! Also to learn as much as I could and to be self-reliant. Including advanced stitches in crochet, I’ve taught myself some amazing crafts over the years, everything from stain glass, to painting murals, to stenciling, to lanscape & seascape painting, to poster/marker art, to Jewelry Design (steampunk & mixed-media), to clothing embellishment, Sewing, Tatting, Poster Art/Sign Making, Punch Embroidery, Banner/Logo Graphic Designing, and the list goes on and on…. I tried to teach myself something new every year. During that whole time I always had a crochet piece going. I’m a crochet junkie and crochet is my fix! I started leaning how to crochet when I was 9 years old. I would sit in front of my Gram for hours while she crocheted, I was amazed at how fast she went, and I would tell myself that I was going to be just like her someday. If there is such a thing as a professional crocheter, then she was it. She made the most amazing things and sold them and took custom orders, she was one of the “True Talents” of crochet. She told me, “The only way to learn is to watch and to practice,” and that’s what I did, everyday after school I would stop at her house and watch her crochet. I think she saved her projects, just so I could watch her:-) My mom was a single mom, so we didn’t have much money to by yarn, so I would take my Grams scrapes and make strands of my own yarn (I would take regular sewing thread and make yarn strands with them) and use it to practice. It was slow going at first, but I learned. I’ll never be as good as my Gram, but I still practice, practice, practice….. My mother taught me how to do the Granny Stitch, and that was a ton of fun!!!
I have to say that I love everything about crochet! I just love to see the finished product and I love to see what other crochet artist make too. Over the years I’ve been designing and making patterns of my designs and I have thousands of patterns right now, so I decided that not only would I take custom order, but I would also sell my collection of patterns. The only problem I faced was I would have to re-write and put into pdf format all of my patterns and that’s an amazing tasks! I have 1,000′s of patterns! I have made a start though. That’s where my new business comes in, Connie’s PDF Patterns. Soon I will be selling them on etsy and on my stand alone website, PDF-Patterns. I want to share my patterns and my gifts with others and I try to do that as much as I can. I look forward to many years of crafting and of teaching my craft to others.
Thank You all for your interest in the beautiful, time honored art of crochet and I hope you will all join me for my Crochet Course: From The Beginning, which start in July.
If you would like to own the extended version eBook of The History Of Crochet, you can find it here: http://www.PDF-Patterns.com/historyofcrochetebook.html
Photograph by Cherie Kay
FYI, for those who do not know “Jewels Designs” was my former business.
Links:
Blog: http://connies-pdf-patterns.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ConniesPDFPatterns
Craftsy Page: http://www.craftsy.com/user/pattern/store/276692
Website (coming soon): www.PDF-Patterns.com
Email: PDF-Patterns@cyberservices.com
Linkedin Page: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/Connie-relyea/35/866/875
Pinterest Page: http://pinterest.com/JewelsDesigns
Network Blogs: http://networkblogs.com/blog/ConniesPDF-Patterns
Branch Out Page: http://www.branchout.com/Connie-Rios-Relyea
Talent.me Page: https://talent.me/connie-rios-relyea
Copious Page: http://copious.com/profiles/Connie-rios-relyea
Skill Page: http://www.skillpages.com/jewelsdesigns
Twitter Page: http://twitter.com/Jewels359
My Space Page: http://www.myspace.com/Jewels359
Thanks again for your interest in my blog series on The History Of Crochet…… and a special thanks to all of the talented artisans who agreed to be a part of this popular subject.
Happy Crocheting!
