Erica Freeman of Sierra Pelona Crochet
August 29, 2009 | By
Meet Erica of Sierra Pelona Crochet who loves the portability of crochet and says she takes a ball of yarn and a crochet hook with her nearly anywhere. She says she has finished many a cat toy while waiting for doctors. Let's find out more about Erica and be sure to visit her etsy shop.
Name: Erica Freeman
Shop Name: Sierra Pelona Crochet
Location: Mountain View, California (home of Google, Intuit, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Nokia, SmugMug, Symantec, VeriSign and SETI, to name a few).
How did you come up with the name of your shop?
Sierra Pelona is the name of an ancient mountain in Southern California, not far from where I attended music school. I liked the idea of an ancient mass of rock that stood fast throughout the millennia, as all else around it came into and out of existence over time. It seemed like a good symbolic anchor for my business.
Tell us a bit about your craft/medium and why you chose it?
My mom was the knitter in my family. She showed me how to knit but I had a hard time getting the hang of it. Crochet came much more easily to me, in part because it worked up so quickly and I could see the results of my efforts sooner than I would with knitting.
Over the years crocheting has become an especially soothing and centering activity during my battles with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia. The gentle rhythm of the stitches often creates a meditative state for me where I am able to focus solely on the little world unto itself taking shape under my fingers in each individual piece I make.
Did someone teach you?
My best friend in junior high school showed me how to make the basic crochet stitches. I still have the first granny square afghan I made. Since then I've taught myself how to do more complex stitches and have branched out to make Victorian-style lace doilies as well as "soft sculpture" items and catnip-stuffed cat toys.
What is the most difficult part of your craft?
Blocking my lace pieces. Every little picot has to be aligned just so, the piece has to be symmetrical, and the starching can't be too light or too heavy. It's very time-consuming and exacting, but well worth it for the final product.
Do you create in more than 1 medium?
I've experimented with plarn (yarn made from cut-up plastic bags), but have nothing yet to add to my thread and yarn pieces. Keep watching my shop, though!
Where can we find your work?
My Etsy store is www.sierrapelonacrochet.etsy.com My work has also been sold in The Soft Touch Gallery in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, as well as in the Lojart Gallery in Morgan Hill, California. I will be stocking my ArtFire shop soon.
What kind of music do you listen to (if any) when you create?
Ambient music in the background is very good for concentrating. I also enjoy listening to women's ensembles singing traditional Bulgarian and Balkan music. That style of singing isn't necessarily what I call "pretty/sweet" but to me it represents the inherent strength present inside each and every woman to endure and prevail over the bitter in life as well as the sweet.
What has been your most successful marketing technique?
Word of mouth from satisfied customers, definitely. My cat toys are enormously popular, and some people have even had to order more because their neighbor's cat stole the mouse they got for their own cat! People also order extras to give as gifts to their cat-loving friends and relatives.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? And why?
I'd live among the tidal marshes that ring the edge of San Francisco Bay. I love being near water, and I love the daily rhythm of the tides ebbing and flowing, cleansing the marsh and bringing in fresh nutrients. Salt marshes have an amazing diversity of life. The greatest concentrated weight of oxygen producers is found in wetlands, particularly in salt marshes. To live out in nature, the sun glinting on the water and the wind racing through the reeds, would be heaven to me.
How about some of your favorites?
Food?
I love beans and rice. It's hearty and filling and only needs a few herbs or spices to make it savory. Add a mixed green salad and that's all I need for a fabulous supper.
Quote?
I have an entire scrapbook filled with favorite quotes! I could fill a whole web page with them. But for now I'll restrict myself to just two:
"I learn more from the experiences I hate than the ones I love." --- Wally Lamb
"Judge each day not by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant." --- Robert Louis Stevenson
Holiday?
That would be Thanksgiving, because I love the autumn, and what better way to celebrate the year's harvest bounty? It's a wonderful time to bake pies, cakes and cookies to share with family, friends and neighbors.
Who is your hero - artistic or otherwise? and why?
Anyone who struggles with a disability or chronic illness yet still summons on a daily basis the resolve not to quit is a hero to me.
Do you have a favorite handmade item that you like to buy for yourself?
I have more earrings than I could possibly realistically wear. I also like to collect items with snail imagery on them, since I keep pet snails and am fascinated by the creatures. (My personal calling card has a snail on it.)
Have you made anything that you just can't bear to part with?
I have a dresser scarf I made in filet crochet depicting two swans surrounded by elaborate scrolls and flourishes. That one took a long time to make, and I just couldn't part with it once it was done.
Where do you get inspiration from?
I'm inspired by the fibers themselves. Colors and textures speak to me. When I can almost feel a yarn or thread in my hands just from looking at it, it's a strong inspiration to use it in something beautiful or whimsical, as the case may be.
What is your supply addiction; is there a specific color or type of supply you just cannot pass up?
I have a weakness for embroidery floss. It comes in such a vast array of colors, and it's just about the same thickness as bedspread-weight crochet thread. It's not cost-effective to make a large piece using nothing but embroidery floss, but for smaller pieces or as an accent in another piece, it's stunning.
What is the best thing and the worst thing about being your own boss?
I love setting my own hours and working at my own pace. I can work as hard as I feel like or take some time off with no one breathing down my neck or watching the clock. Having worked at plenty of office clerk-type jobs, I can't say I see a downside to being my own boss!
Photos courtesy of Erica Freeman.
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