Designers don't design in a vacuum. We always design based on a precedent, sometimes from personal experiences, sometimes from observations from the world around us. But there's always something behind a design. As I've said in many places on my website, I get a lot of my inspiration from architecture, mathematics, and graphic design. In these disciplines and others like them, you get the creativity and spontaneity of art, and the exactness and precision of math. Even within

Surprise and wonderment. That was how I felt when I finished my first ever crochet project at twelve-years old. My crochet mentor, Patricia Maycock, was an older woman from my church, and it was through her influence that I was propelled into the world of crochet. Every Sunday afternoon, I diligently went to her house for about two hours to crochet. She didn’t start with simple swatches, rather she introduced me to the basics and complexities of crochet through a shawl with m