Eight Legs and a Crochet Hook?

If you know me at all, you know I'm terrified of spiders.  I mean seriously afraid.  If I see one, I must leave the room.  I won't go in a pet store if they have one of those eight-legged horrors in a cage.  So, the fact that I am really into crochet patterns by someone who uses the name Spider Mambo is just plain odd.  But so am I.

I was lucky to "meet" Laurie Kahn on Facebook recently.  I lured her into MY web and asked some questions.  BUT I didn't ask WHY she uses the name Spider Mambo.  I prefer that some things in life remain a mystery.  Like why I... uh, never mind.

When she was about 8, Laurie's mother taught her to crochet.  Laurie thinks old Mom may have regretted that idea when stuffing began to go missing from a mattress.  Our spider lady was busily crocheting little toys and stuffing the heck out of them.

From tiny toys, Laurie graduated to reading sewing patterns.  I asked her how she KNEW she could design apparel.  She says being able to read patterns helped her to create an open work sweater when she was about 15.  From there, things snowballed.  Her crochet patterns feature many different designs but there has been some emphasis on skulls.  Skulls?  Yep.  Skulls.

Now you know we have to know the why of that.  Here you are making a cute sweater and suddenly you're into dead stuff.  I asked Laurie about this.  She said she noticed skulls were popular.  She's right.  They are very popular and there are tons of skull things showing up on Facebook daily.  Laurie dabbled in fused glass skull pendants and various other media.  She then decided to turn those creepy heads into some crochet amazement.  

Her patterns are featured on many well-known craft sites.  Her prices are AMAZEBALLS and reasonable.  I wondered why.  I loved her answer.  She's appealing to the "impulse buyer".  We all know how that goes.  You're cruising along on Ravelry and see a pattern.  You immediately check the price.  Whoa, baby, a buck???  Click Add To Cart NOW.  I have worked up some of Laurie's patterns and was honored to be included in her testing group on Facebook.  Her stuff is great.  If you haven't "found" her yet, visit her on Facebook.  Laurie hopes her future includes being discovered and turning to making custom items for boutiques.  I have no doubt this will happen!

Like all of us who crochet, Laurie loves yarn, especially the tie-dyed versions.  I asked if she saw a skull Christmas tree skirt in her future.  She seemed intrigued.  LOL, gotta love that!  Her inspirations for design come from her own twisted head but I just couldn't help but add a little weird thought for her to ponder.

I hope I've put a few of your spider fears to rest.  I know I have for myself.  Spider in bathtub - bad juju.  Spider doing crochet - good stuffs.

Visit Laurie on on Ravelry and on Craftsy and  on Etsy.  You'll be glad you stepped into her web of delights.

And you can visit MY Pinterest board here devoted to all things Spider Mambo.