Inside: Meet Priscilla Mitchell, the creative mind behind The Stitch Queen Crochet. Discover her easy-to-follow crochet patterns for cute boho and hippie clothing and accessories.
This interview was originally published in the March 2024 Digital Edition of Crochet Foundry Magazine.
Priscilla Mitchell is the highly creative owner, crocheter, and designer of The Stitch Queen Crochet. She specializes in easy to-follow size inclusive crochet patterns that everyone can make! She wants everyone to be able to create cute boho and hippie clothing and accessories that are made to fit them perfectly! We chatted with Priscilla to find out more about her!
Tell us a little bit about your general background.
I live in Florida, and I’ve been crocheting since I was in middle school. I started off knitting first and then I learned crochet and I kind of got—no pun intended, but pun intended—hooked on crochet! You learned to crochet one day when you were at a friend’s house and they had a basket of yarn and a little crochet book.
How did you really take off with designing crochet?
Ever since I started, I literally had been creating my own patterns because when I was younger, I wasn’t really online that much. So I was figuring it out as I went and the first time I ever tried to sell something, I put it in a local corner store in eighth grade, and I didn’t sell a thing, haha!. I released my first pattern, the dreadlock hat pattern, at the end of 2020, and it sold really well, and got great feedback! It made me more excited to make more patterns!.
It sounds like you’ve had quite the crochet journey. Did you have any family members or any other people who you knew crocheted who influenced you at all?
Not a single person.
You totally came to it yourself!
Yeah. It seemed a perfect way to pass the time!
What are your favorite aspects of crochet?
I like size inclusivity, I like texture, I like colors. I kind of focus on all of that hippie boho that kind of feel, and I love being able to create almost anything!
What is your most popular design?
Since the Big Wanderlust Bandana came out, it really kind of took over a little bit which I’m not mad at at all, because I love the bandana… hold on. When my pants pattern came out. I think that actually might have been a bit bigger!
Do you have any tips for people who are aspiring crochet designers?
I think the first thing to tackle is getting over the fear of doing it and imperfection, because your pattern is not going to be perfect. So just get over that at the beginning. And then, if you’re really worried, you have tech editors, you have pattern testers, you know what I mean? People are gonna come in there and help you.
What else is important to you in designing crochet patterns?
I like it when you can use any hook or any yarn because when I first started, I was like “I can’t go out and buy this and this.” I think it’s cool to have patterns where it can fit, literally, any body type. I enjoy creating patterns everyone can make—cute stuff that they actually want to wear, and that they can’t find anywhere else.
You wrote a guide for writing crochet patterns. Tell us about that because lot of people have a hard time getting started with designing.
I think that just crocheting in general is therapeutic and a creative freedom. So in the guide I lay out every single thing that I do when I create a pattern: from getting over your fears, to just knowing how to start it off, to having your materials list. Getting pattern testers, photos, getting your pattern ready for SEO (Search Engine Optimization); really a lot of it is just literally, every single thing that I do and how to do it. Use it if you want to make patterns that are gonna sell!
If there’s a crocheter out there who’s never made a garment before, do you have any advice for them in terms of how to get started?
Choose something simple. And this: have a measuring tool next to you. You can obviously eyeball it, but if you are worried about it, make a gauge swatch.
What about the free spirits who don’t like doing the gauge swatch? Do you have any words of encouragement for them?
I personally don’t like doing it. So, I would say if you’re okay with it, just try it on as you go.
What’s on the horizon for you in the future?
That’s such an interesting question, you think it’d be straightforward. I really just want to focus a lot on making sure that I’m creating things that I am a hundred percent happy with. More patterns that spark joy, that spark creativity, and I really want to get into more embroidery. So, adding in different kind of techniques in my patterns. And I am focusing a lot more on YouTube lately, too. So more vlogs, more tutorials, like fun, funny stuff.
That sounds fun. Anything else you want to chat about while we have you?
Let me see, a lot of people ask about crocheting in a camper, but that’s a whole topic.
You’re crocheting in a camper.
I live full-time in a camper.
How do you manage your stash in your
camper?
A lot of it is downsizing and not buying yarn because it’s pretty. Only getting what you need really makes you think, “Okay, how can I use what I have to create what I want to make?” So, kind of like a minimalist mindset.
It’s been so nice talking to you Priscilla!
This was fun! Thank you.
Find Priscilla’s Pattern, the Flower Power Mandala Bag in this issue (March 2024).
