Why I Love Being a Crochet Tester

I've been crocheting over 20 years and I have to admit I was not always so enthusiastic about this hobby. I would mainly crochet afghans, hats and scarfs. After a while I would grow bored making the same type of item over and over. I was stuck in the past when lets face it, crocheting was not cool. One day I was perusing Facebook and I found crochet pages! That was the beginning of the end of boring crochet for me.

After a few months of seeing and trying these exciting new patterns I was seeing all over social media I decided to try to sell some of my finished items. It took me some time and thinking before I finally opened my little business, The Palmetto Hooker. Before that I decided to apply to be a tester.

I never felt confident about my ability to crochet, but so many people were telling me that my work was good. I saw a post by Blackstone Designs calling for testers. On a whim I applied and was ecstatic when she accepted me as one of her testers. My first test for her was the Cora Skirt.

Since that day I've been "hooked" on testing! I enjoy helping a designer recreate something that started out as a sketch on a piece of paper and I love proofing, for some odd reason, because I always hated English class. I also end up getting the pattern for free, sometimes free advertising for my business and I've learned a lot of new stitches and techniques.

I'm now a tester for a few other designers (AllieCats Hats And Crafts, Creative Threads by Leah, and Kaleidoscope Art & Gifts). All of these ladies have remarkable talent and put so much time and effort into their patterns. I'm so privileged to be able to test for them. I've tried to create patterns myself and have ended up with a headache. I can't see how these ladies do what they do for so little recognition. There are so many people out there looking for a free item and don't take the time to think about how much work goes in to just one pattern. No one works for free so why should we expect designers to give all their patterns away?

I love being a tester and I hope I can continue to help these lovely ladies with their designs!