Rachel learned to crochet and knit as a child. She dabbled with a few projects in high school and college, including a blanket of bright squares that is still unfinished today. In the years that followed, she continued to crochet and knit. It wasn’t until several years later that Rachel found crocheting to be a great stress reliever and a way to take a short break from the work of graduate school. She began designing patterns while working on her dissertation and has not stopped since.
Rachel has always liked to make projects her own. Even as a beginner she liked to modify patterns to suit her vision of a project. This naturally led to designing patterns. When she couldn’t find patterns to match her ideas, Rachel created her own patterns. Most of her baby blanket patterns were created for family and friends’ new babies. One of these blankets, the Baby Blues Blanket, was her very first written pattern, though it wasn’t the first one published.
To keep crocheting and knitting interesting, Rachel strives to try new techniques in her designs and takes inspiration from the world around her. She seeks to create high quality patterns that can be customized to suit each maker’s needs. Many of her patterns include picture tutorials or charts. Rachel loves patterns, gradients, bright color combinations, soft yarn, and all things purple.
A Michigan transplant to the east coast, Rachel is a proud Michigan Wolverine. She loves to read, bake, and travel. In her professional life, when she’s not designing or playing with yarn, Rachel is passionate about mathematics education.