Welcome

My name is Joan. I created Sheldon Fiber Designs to share my crochet and weaving designs with you.

Sheldon the Red CrabI learned how to do traditional crochet when I was a child. I remember making those spiral “bookworms” that were popular at the time, and my first afghan that turned out trapezoidal rather than the intended rectangle. There was a long hiatus before I picked up my hooks again in the early 1990s. I remember making a lot of doilies and baby blankets and Christmas ornaments back then, but I’ve recently gotten on the scarf bandwagon where most people start this journey. Once in a while, a stuffed critter jumps into the mix. I learned Tunisian crochet in 2014 and have really been enjoying the different rhythm of working in that technique.

Flowers Along the Fence towelsI’ve been weaving since spring 2015, so I’m still in the learning phase for that craft. As many do, I’ve made quite a few dish towels in this early phase, and a couple of scarves. silk scarfThere is a discussion that often comes up in the weaving community about whether you are more drawn to color and texture or to pattern complexity. I definitely fall more into the latter camp, so I went straight for a Macomber 8-shaft floor loom when one became available, and I love it! I have also picked up an inkle loom and a couple of small tapestry looms that I have just begun to play with.

By profession, I’m a marine scientist, and you will undoubtedly notice the influence that science and math have on my crafting. My first couple of posts will be about a project that is the best example of that so far, but I promise not all my posts will be so nerdy!

You can find me on Ravelry as ‘fishhook’my alter ego. In addition to archiving all my weaving projects and at least the recent crochet projects there, I also moderate the Data-driven Fiber Art group, which is for discussion of projects and techniques that turn data of all kinds (scientific observations, sports statistics, etc.) into fiber art patterns. If you are interested in that topic, please join the group!

After all the years of learning, I’m starting to have a collection of patterns that I can call my own, so I’m creating this website and blog so that I can share them with you and we can talk about our common interests. Thanks for stopping by!

Joan

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