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THE DESIGNER

Courtney

my story

Hi! I’m Courtney. Crochet enthusiast, coffee lover, yarn hoarder and tech junkie!

So let’s start at the beginning…growing up in Winnipeg I was always a crafty person; drawing and cross stitch were my main two focuses.  I remember doodling the Robins Donuts logo on napkins every time I waited for my mom to get off of work.  I dabbled a bit in knitting as well, but never really caught on to it.

In 2010 my dad made a bet with me to get me to quit smoking by the end of the year.  So I tried the “cold turkey” method… let me just say it was a stressful few days, and it did not stick.  Near the end of that summer, a friend of mine started crocheting.  Her mom taught her how to crochet, and so I asked if she could teach me.  So there I was with my first ever Boye 5mm aluminum hook from Michaels … you know the one 😉 … and my 1 skein of Bernat Handicrafter cotton yarn, and I started to make a dishcloth.  This is where I fell in love with crochet.

I finally picked a quit smoking date (Nov 1, 2010) and I started crocheting.  And I mean I crocheted A LOT.  Crocheting helped me keep my hands busy and distracted me from those pesky cravings.  Quitting smoking was a VERY hard road for me, and I give anyone who has ever had to go down that road a huge pile of credit cause it is not easy.

Fast forward a few years (still smoke free, YAY!) and I was crocheting stuff for my family and friends.  I  was learning new techniques through the amazing power of YouTube, and getting all the awesome free patterns on Ravelry.

I enjoyed crocheting and making things for others so much, that I decided to take the leap into the world of business and started my Etsy shop in 2014!

It actually didn’t take long to think of a name for my business.  I am an absolute tech junkie – specifically, I am in love with all things Apple.  I also work full-time as a Research Software Specialist at the University of Manitoba (yup nerd over here).  So smashing the two main things in my life together just made sense, and iHooked was born!

It did take a while to really figure out what I wanted my brand to be, and I had this vision in my head of what I wanted.  I love bright colours, different textures and materials.  I also wanted to incorporate my tech-love in there somewhere.  Sometimes technology itself can be a very overwhelming and intimidating thing. My goal is to bring my love of crochet into this world of technology, so anyone can learn something new, and that computers and technology can be something fun. This is where the names of my products come in. Each one is named after a specific computer/tech term, and the definition of the term is stated in the description of each item. This was a really fun process, I just started jotting down terms and matching them with my products where they seemed to fit.

Well, that’s me! Thank you for taking the time to read about me and my business.  Make sure you stay in touch, and sign up for my newsletter.  Also check out my Facebook and Instagram pages for upcoming sales and giveaways, or just come say hi!

Be Bright, Be Bold!

Courtney