“Saturday Night Share” Feature #3

The “Saturday Night Share” featured guest this week is Kristina Smiley of Creative Endeavors. I think you will truly enjoy reading her wonderful story and getting to know a little more about her. So….let’s get started!

 1.  Name   

Kristina Smiley

2.  Name of business (Facebook, website, Etsy, etc.)

The name of my business is Creative Endeavors. I started Creative Endeavors in 2003, but only opened shop on Etsy in 2011 with the shop name of CreativeEndeavorsKS. On Facebook, you can find me at CreativeEndeavorsGiftShoppe. Just last month, I decided to expand my crochet shop to include my handspun and hand dyed yarns but chose to open a separate shop on Etsy to not take attention away from my crochet. The name I chose for my yarn shop is Wallflower Yarns.

 3.  How did you learn to crochet?

Funny story, my grandmothers, aunt, and mother all crocheted for as long as I can remember, but it was my parents’ neighbor who taught me. She used a basic granny square to teach me a couple of stitches and made me make squares until she was satisfied with my tension. She told me that my squares had to be perfectly shaped and made me practice (a lot). I was finally able to make squares good enough to suit her (and ended up with enough misshaped squares to make a couple blanket – one I still have today). She then moved on to teaching me about thread crochet appliqué.

It wasn’t until this summer that I learned that my mother also learned from the neighbor. We had taken a trip to my grandmother’s in another state and was on our way back home, knitting and crocheting as my hubby drove. I noticed that mom holds her hook the same way I do (different from both of my grandmothers) so I asked her who it was that taught her to crochet. I wonder if my mother had to make all those squares!

 4.  How long have you been crocheting?

I have been crocheting for the past 20 years

 5.  What is your favorite thing to crochet?

My best sellers are my convertible fingerless mittens, but what I really enjoy crocheting is clothing. I like to experiment with different stitch patterns by making shrugs, tank tops, and sweaters. I would love to design an entire clothing line made up of different crochet stitch patterns.

6.  Is crocheting a hobby or business for you?

Crochet began as a hobby and an outlet for my creativity, but became the main focus of my business when I opened my Etsy shop in October 2011.

7.  Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

I see myself still in the crochet business in the next five years as a designer and an author of a pattern book.

8.  Tell me something personal about yourself.

I live in the Midwest with my farmer husband and our three adopted children. I have a Master’s degree in teaching and am licensed to teach Economics, Government, Geography, US and World History, Psychology, and Sociology. With the budget cuts to our local schools, it has been difficult to find a teaching position so I put all my energy and passions into my crochet business and have utilized my teacher training to help teach my daughter how to crochet. I am also planning on creating crochet tutorials for different styles of learners.

If you would like to connect with Kristina on Twitter and Ravelry , the links are provided below:

Twitter – CreateEndeavors

Ravelry – kristinarene

Thanks for sharing a small piece of yourself with ELK Studio and our readers Kristina, and I wish you much success in the future.  By the way, I want an autographed copy of your pattern book!

If you have a blog, you can grab the “I’ve Been Featured” button below!

Have a great day and be blessed!

Kathy