Laurinda Reddig Reversible Crochet

Laurinda Reddig, Reversible Crochet author, was the guest today on the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird. Clearly she has some talent with a hook and fiber as Marly has claimed Laurinda as her very own!

Laurinda called in from Portland, Oregon. She told me in the chat room this was her first time on a podcast, but she didn’t admit that before the show, she sounded like this was what she does every day! Perhaps because she’s been listening to the Yarn Thing Podcast since she discovered podcasts, she knows how it’s done…

In Junior High, her Campfire Leader’s house was on the walk home from school, teaching Laurinda to crochet left-handed by sitting in front of her (mirror technique) without making a big deal of it and in fact, Laurinda did not realize she was crocheting differently till years later. She spoke about picking up yarn at K-mart… While in High School, on a roadtrip through Mexico, her father (who is a knitter!) found a little town known for crochet lace and they were invited into a local’s home and she learned to crochet lace. In College, hair nets and snoods were popular and she incorporated that into her wedding attire.

She worked at Michael’s Craft Stores and taught crochet, even though she was unsure at first since she crochets left handed, but that worked out until she started having children. When her son was about six, he wanted a Scooby Doo birthday party. According to her Blog, she considered yarn bombing her own car, but in the end creating an afghan she submitted to the Crochet Guild of America which was very warmly received. In fact it won First Place in Afghans and the People’s Choice in the competitions. She began submitting to magazines and one of the contacts she made was with Marcy Smith of Interweave, who asked Laurinda to write an article about the technique involved in reversible crochet…

Another project that has gained Laurinda much acclaim is her Reversible Rowan Tree Vest.  It was created in memory of her newborn daughter who lived for a few hours after birth. The fabric she’s created is so precise it appears to be painted. She added beads as berries on one side, and blossoms on the other, making a difference in both sides, but otherwise completely reversible. She sent it to the CGOA competition and it won the Grand Prize… She was wearing it at a TNNA gathering when Marly found her!

Her new book, Reversible Color Crochet, incorporates techniques using different sized stitches, carrying yarn invisibly and working partial stitches with the different colors of yarn. The book has detailed instructions and graphics to explain the process. When she was working on an earlier publications, Charles Voth advised her as her tech editor to pursue publishers who liked promoting new techniques.

Laurinda Redding will be teaching her class at Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival (OFFF) on Reversible Intarsia and judging the crochet competition, and later teaching at the Astoria Stitch Fest. We’re going to see more of her as she continues to share her love of this art form.

Follow her at her website: www.ReCrochetions.com. Laurinda also has a Facebook page and Ravelry Design Page with Ravelry Group Page