I don’t know much about Dot, except that she’s a genius. In the world of doilies and macramé plant hangers, the art of crochet has a distinct age-stigma attached to it but the patterns Dot has published on her blog, aptly named “Patterns by Dot” are a nice break from the norm. Almost everyone I meet asks if my grandma taught me to crochet and I have to respond that “No, I don’t think she even knows how.” Now Dot may very-well be a grandmother (as I said, I know little about her) but her patterns are funky and distinctly ruffle-free. My favorite is her hot pink crocheted Miami cowboy hat featured in the Happy Hooker Crochet Patternbook, but her blog also hosts a goldmine of patterns that she provides free of charge and waives the marketing rights to for finished products (meaning you can sell what you make with her patterns, but don’t try to sell the patterns themselves or claim that you came up with them). In the milling whirlpool of proprietary controversy, this is a welcome change from the “For personal use only” tag on everything these days.

I think my first project from her site will be the Scrap blanket because I have an entire wicker trunk of leftovers that I was keeping, trying to convince myself I would use one day before I give up and throw them out.