Artist Confessions - Victoria of the Mad Helmeteer

Wecome to another session of "Artist Confessions"! This week, we're talking to a creator of crocheted goodness. Meet Victoria of Mad Helmeteer:

1. Your Name: Victoria

2. Shop Name: The Mad Helmeteer http://www.madhelmeteer.etsy.com/ Dundas, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

3. Anyplace else your products can be seen (online and IRL)? I've just opened an ArtFire account (yesterday, in fact) and I hope it too provides me with some traffic. I do sell my items locally in select areas and I sell at Mom-to-Mom sales and my town's local summer festival. I find, though, that most of my selling succes has been through family, friends, acquaintances, and word-of-mouth. Lots of people approach me with wholesale offers but because 98% of my items are one of a kind, I don't think that this is a good option for me. I delight in being able to tell my customers that the hat they are getting cannot and will not be duplicated or found anywhere else.

4. Tell us one thing - as it relates to your craft - that would be surprising. I am a crocheter and I do not knit (not very well anway) and I am always so surprised that most people still view crocheting as a grandmother-doily-craft. There are so many fabulous crocheters and knitters out there who are creating hip, funky, and modern items. Move over Granny!

5. What's your favorite item? What's your least favorite item? Why? After much debate, I have decided that my favourite item is the elephant hat. I love it because it is so unique and I have yet to see anything quite like it. I love the craziness and the whimsy of it. It is the item that always attracts peoples' eyes. My least favourite item is the Warm Me Up Scottie neck warmer. Although it may be ideal for that one person out there, I don't think it is quite my style. It was actually a piece that sat around here for a very long time because it had not felted the way I wanted it to. Finally, I added the closure and found a use for it as a neck warmer. I'm still not overly pleased with it though. I find it particularly interesting that, in my experience, the items that I love are not generally popular whereas the items that I do not like are snapped up immediately! Strange.

6. Tell us about the mistakes you've made that have turned out well. Almost everything I have done has turned out despite the mistakes and I think that is the most special part of my growth as a crocheter. I see mistakes as a strength rather than a deficit. I never, ever throw anything away. I tried to do ears on a cat once and they were disastrous so I detatched them and they sat around in my crochet catch-all for about a year. Then I found a use for them on a dinosaur hat. They were no longer used as ears! I still have trouble following a pattern and I don't know how to write one. I just sit with the yarn I have and start making until I get something that I like. I am forever practicing new stitches and techniques so that I can explore the relationships between colour, texture and pattern.

7. Who's work - in your genre - do you envy? Although he is a knitter, I am very much drawn to Kaffe Fassett. His work with colour, and texture are so fabulous that he has single-handedly changed the craft of knitting to an art form. Crocheting all started with my mother. She made for me when I was a little girl a huge pompom hat and matching sweater, which I saved and dressed my two little boys in. I got so many compliments that I wanted to make a set for my son. And that is how it all began. She recently made a white tuxedo-style jacket for my first son's baptism. It was stunning.

Thank you for sharing, Victoria! Don't forget to grab the button for you blog! And readers, be sure to check out Victoria's blog!