Let's give a warm welcome to Shelle, owner of Chain Two Crochet and inventor of Threadfolio.
All About Shelle
Where are you from?
San Francisco, CA
Do you have a job outside of this?
Yes! I am a software engineer by day, and work at a well-known tech company in Silicon Valley. I needed a creative
outlet so it was great to discover fiber arts!
What’s your dream vacation spot?
I absolutely loved traveling through Europe and I would love to go back some day, and spend more time getting
immersed in the culture, particularly Italy!
What’s your favorite color(s)?
I LOVE shades of turquoise, but lately I’ve also been enjoying more muted tones and earth tones, like deeper greens,
rusty browns, yellows and beige.
What’s your favorite food/meal?
There’s too many to choose from! I love Italian food, Chinese food, sushi, Indian, Mexican, a little bit of everything!
What’s your least favorite food/meal?
I guess I’d have to say anything with meat, since I’m a vegetarian.
Do you have a favorite movie or TV show?
I absolutely love Gilmore Girls, it’s probably by far my favorite show because it’s so real, relatable, wholesome for me,
but I also love The Office, Friends, Law & Order, This is Us, etc. Too many movies, but I love thrillers (recently
rewatched Hitchcock’s Vertigo, one of my all-time favorites).
What’s a quote that you live by?
Haha, this one’s for my fellow Gilmore Girls fans:
“I want to live my life so I can read an in-depth biography about myself in later years and not puke.”
Paris Geller (Gilmore Girls)
Do you have other hobbies?
I’ve been getting more into knitting, and I love reading psychological fiction, going on hikes, working on Threadfolio
(more on that below), hanging out with friends and family!
What’s 1 weird fact about you?
I am not athletic at all but I’ve enjoyed some pretty extreme sports like skydiving, surfing and wakeboarding.
If you had a theme song, WHAT would it be?
Tough to pick just one but off the top of my head, maybe Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane or Across the Universe, by
the Beatles.
What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve done in your life?
I’m usually not a very spontaneous person, but one time my boyfriend and I spontaneously decided to travel to Mexico
and Belize. Since we couldn’t find last-minute flights, we decided to rent a car and drive from Cancun across the border
through Belize City, San Ignacio, Hopkins, took a boat to Caye Caulker and drove back! We ended up putting several
thousand kilometers on the rental car. It ended up being the adventure of a lifetime! We blew a tire in the middle of a
highway in Mexico, drove a sedan off-road through a flowing river to find ancient caves where we saw preserved human
remains, swam with sharks, and slept in a shed on a stranger’s farm!
Do you have a favorite holiday?
I love Christmas and the whole holiday season, closely followed by Halloween!
Do you have a favorite season?
I wish fall was longer, but I also love summer.
What inspires or motivates you?
As a crochet designer, nothing is more motivating than seeing other makers follow your patterns and enjoy/flaunt them!
It almost feels surreal. I am definitely inspired and motivated by the community of fiber artists I’ve discovered through
social media and local yarn stores, I love meeting new people and getting to know them better, as well as bonding over
our love of fiber art!
If you could do one thing for the world, what would it be?
2020 has been a crazy year. I’d love to eliminate COVID-19, but I think the best thing we could do to change our world
today is just have more empathy for all other beings around us.
Anything else?
I live with my wonderful boyfriend in California, we have no pets but LOTS of yarn. I love We Are Knitters The Cotton,
and have really been enjoying hand-dyed natural fibers, specifically Handmaiden Casbah these days. My lifelong dream
was to visit outer space!
All About Chain Two Crochet
How long have you been crocheting?
Not long at all, I started crocheting around December 2019, and have been obsessed since!
When did you start Chain Two Crochet?
I started my Instagram a few months ago, around March/April, and started designing my own patterns in May!
Why did you start?
I honestly just needed a creative outlet, and I remembered that when I was a child I was fascinated by crochet and
knitting, since I knew my grandma used to love them, so I decided to teach myself using YouTube tutorials. And here
we are!
What’s your favorite thing you’ve made?
I think I’m most proud of my Carmel-by-the-Sea bag pattern! It not only brought back lots of great memories while
designing it, but it was also the most technically challenging piece I designed. I loved the colors, textures and
techniques I used there.
What’s a piece of advice for someone just starting out in your field?
Since I’m also near the beginning of my journey, this is probably peer advice, but I’d say there’s no wrong way of doing
things, just try to figure out what works best for you! Don’t feel like you need to conform to what other makers are doing,
embrace your personality and creativity! And stay connected with your crafting community!
Does your company have a mascot?
My IG profile picture has become pretty iconic, even though it was originally meant to be a placeholder. It was originally
a picture of me holding a giant wheel of cheese, but I replaced the cheese with an animated ball of yarn, with a space
background since that’s something I love!
What was your most memorable success?
I was definitely overwhelmed by the support and encouragement on my tester call for the Carmel-by-the-Sea bag
pattern! So many people reached out to me to help out with it and showed the pattern so much love! It was truly
amazing getting to work with so many awesome people, and was so heartening to see so much support on a pattern I
was originally not too confident about!
What was your most memorable challenge?
I think this continues to be a challenge, but staying motivated on projects I start and not comparing my journey to that of
other people.
How did or are you overcoming this challenge?
Constantly reminding myself to go at my own pace, because good things take time, but also finding ways to motivate
myself when I’m feeling overwhelmed. Having supportive people around me is key!
What’s next for Chain Two Crochet?
I’d love to further grow my community and find new people to engage with on Chain Two Crochet! I’m working on some
new garment patterns that I’m really excited about as well! And of course, Threadfolio!
The Future for Chain Two Crochet
What’s your latest project?
I’ve been working hard on a new fiber platform https://threadfolio.com.
Threadfolio which aims to be the minimalist, easy to use and personal platform for sharing, discovering, buying and
selling patterns.
On Threadfolio you can:
* Create an online portfolio for all of your fiber projects
* Upload free or paid patterns with no listing fee, and only a small transaction fee
* Download beautiful patterns from other talented artists or save them to your bookmarks to view later
* Browse new patterns in the feed and show your appreciation by liking patterns
* Follow other artists and see who is following you
* Link people directly to your profile or even directly to your Threadfolio patterns from other sites
Where did the inspiration come from for this project?
I started this project because as a female software engineer, avid designer and passionate maker, I was so
disappointed in the current options for sharing and selling patterns. I believe the fiber art community deserves a top-of-
the-line experience for buying and selling patterns, and no current platform has done that.
Have there been any challenges with this project?
Creating a platform like this is a tough technical challenge. I had to prioritize what the community thought the most
important features were to launch the site. It was really tough to narrow it down and prioritize the most important things
first.
Balancing the needs of sellers and buyers is always a challenge because the site needs to be a joy to use on both
sides. That’s why I’ve been so happy to get feedback from so many great people in the community.
Will this be free or paid?
You can list both free and paid patterns! There is no listing fee for putting up paid patterns and only a small transaction
fee.
Where can we find this project when it’s finished (i.e. Etsy, blog, website)?
You can visit the site today at https://threadfolio.com
When will it be finished?
The website is live and fully functional! However, like all websites, I’m constantly improving the site and adding new
features.
Go and give Shelle some LOVE! Like, share, or add your own pattern on Threadfolio. Remember, supporting Shelle is supporting a small business and a local maker’s dream.
Here are the links:
Instagram: @chain.two.crochet AND @threadfolio
Websites: https://www.threadfolio.com/chain.two.crochet AND threadfolio.com
If you’d like to purchase a pattern or add your free pattern to Threadfolio, I know Shelle would appreciate it. She has been working hard on that wonderful website!
Comment below if you have any questions for Shelle or Chain Two Crochet or Threadfolio.
And THANK YOU so much for reading and joining along on our Maker Spotlight. You can see a new maker right here EVERY Monday. I have some AMAZING makers lined up and I cannot wait to share them with you.
xoxo, Lindsey
#MakerSpotlightMonday #puglovecrochetblog #allaboutmespotlight