Malice

Next week I’m off to Washington DC for the Malice Domestic mystery conference. I’m on a panel about mixing crafts and mystery. I decided that while it is great to talk about crafts, it is even better to offer a visual aid. So I’m taking the Worry Doll on the road with me. The pattern for her is in the next Yarn Retreat book, WOUND UP IN MURDER, which definitely makes her relevant to the panel.

I thought I’d bring along a baby blanket I made for a friend’s grandchild. Since the whole idea for mixing mystery and crochet came out of my desire to learn how to make granny squares, the fact that it is really a big granny square makes it relevant as well.

I thought of bringing a work in progress that is part of the next crochet book I’m writing right now. I have been talking about how wonderfully one of my characters mixes yarn colors since practically the first book, but this is the first time I am going to be giving instructions on how to do it.

I am very excited about being on this panel because I really like mixing yarn with mystery. I enjoy coming up with the patterns. It is so amazing to me that at the beginning I didn’t know how to make a granny square and now I can think in crochet. I am getting to love knitting too. It is like magic watching how a ball of yarn can turn into a beautiful scarf or a shawl to keep you warm.


Usually I worry about what I’m going to say on a panel, but with this one I know I’ll do fine because I truly am wrapped up in yarn.