about vce
Hello and welcome, dearest visitor!
I’m Kristin, founder and owner of the Vintage Crochet Emporium. I’d like to introduce myself and tell you a bit about my little store and how it came into being.
VCE started with a dream and a life situation that opened up an opportunity to make that dream a reality.
I was born and raised in Montana in the US, but have lived in two other countries, and I’m currently living in Norway, where I have lived for many years now. I have explored many different directions in terms of study and employment as I journeyed the path of life in my attempt to learn and experience as much as possible. So, when I found myself in my 50s and suddenly unemployed, I realized that it was time to think again in new directions. It was an opportunity to change my life. So, I asked myself, “What is your passion? What is your dream? What do you really want to be doing right now and the foreseeable future?”
Well, the truth is that I have many passions, the craft of crochet being among them (taught to me by my mother). I also love history and archives (preserving history), so it follows that I adore almost anything old, antique, vintage. I particularly love the Victorian and Edwardian periods, a time in history when many women crocheted, and homes and wardrobes were filled with absolutely beautiful, delicate crocheted items, which were truly works of art in their own right and highly valued. I really wanted to create these items, but I found that many of the patterns were extremely difficult to decipher for a variety of reasons (varied crochet terminology, omissions and errors in the texts, etc). However, I was determined! And employing my research, writing and translation skills, as well as my ability to pay very close attention to detail, I began to succeed at deciphering, or “translating”, these patterns into a language that I could understand, so that I could then follow those reworked instructions and create these exquisite works of art. This is an incredible amount of work to accomplish in some cases, not only due to the translating/deciphering work itself, but also the testing and retesting that goes along with this process to make sure that the pattern actually works as written, and if it doesn’t, then corrections have to be made. A great deal of effort, love and attention to detail goes into these patterns, and it is a fun and amazing process!
I then realized that I wanted to share these reworked vintage patterns, which could now be followed easily, with other crocheters. In my mind, passing them on in this understandable form, which could hopefully be used for generations to come, was a way of helping to preserve them and the cultural heritage and tradition that they represent. I loved that idea, and I loved deciphering, correcting and reformatting the patterns, and then creating the pieces from them. I found that I was passionate about doing this work. When I realized that, an idea of the new direction I wanted to take in my life slowly began to take shape. A plan began to form. I knew what I wanted to do. I would open up a store, creating the things that I love to create, which combine both history and crochet, and offer this work to others, so that I could also make a living doing what I love. Thus was conceived the Vintage Crochet Emporium, and before long, my dream became manifest, and the store was born.
So, here we are. I am “livin’ the dream”, as my dear brother always says when I ask him what he is doing. It is his motto…and mine…and I encourage you to do the same. Live your passion. Live your dream, so that you can be happy. It is the only right way to live.
Love and blessings to you. ❤
