Get to know Jessie Rayot, the designer and blogger behind Jessie At Home. Read about her artistic journey and deep industry relationships..
This interview was originally published in the February 2024 Digital Edition of Crochet Foundry Magazine.
At the end of December 2023, Crochet Foundry got a new owner, and we couldn’t be more thrilled! Meet our owner Jessie Rayot, the designer-blogger-business owner behind Jessie At Home. Jessie’s connection with Crochet Foundry is more than a business venture; it’s a convergence of her artistic prowess, teaching enthusiasm, and deep industry relationships. Let’s find out more about Jessie in this interview.
Can you give us a bit of background about your craft & crochet history?
I’ve always been an artist; it’s in my blood. My grandmother was a well-known jewelry designer, Vada Beetler. I thought I was going to be a jewelry designer like her, then she passed unexpectedly when I was 8. She had taught me some origami, which is why I have always loved origami.
My passion for creativity never left, and I went on to earn a BFA in costume design from The Theater School at DePaul University. I worked in theatre and film for a while, and also earned an MA in studio art.
After getting married and having twins, I became a stay-at-home mom and started my blog, Jessie At Home, as a way to share about the twins with my family. Then I realized other people were sharing craftiness on blogs, so I started doing the same. I loved it, and the crochet and knit part of the blog started taking over. I found a community of other crochet bloggers and we started sharing information and helping each other grow.
That’s when I met Lorene Eppolite and we became fast friends. One day she suggested we join the CGOA, go to the conference, and enter the design competition. I said “OK” and ended up winning 2nd place in the home décor category with a crochet blanket I had made years earlier and had to swipe off my daughter’s bed. After that, I had no choice but to keep going, I was having way too much fun!
the floor and a blanket made by their great-great-grandmother above.
Right: Vada and Jessie Dancing
What do you love most about Crochet Foundry?
I love that Crochet Foundry has a style that can fit into nearly any wardrobe. Play with colors and what you wear with the crochet creations to make them fit your style. Of course, I am very passionate about representation and inclusion, so I also love the representation within the models and the size inclusion within the patterns.
What made you want to buy Crochet Foundry?
For the last decade or more, I have been building relationships with some of the most talented, kind, amazing individuals in the yarn industry. For my entire life I’ve been an artist. I also enjoy teaching and helping others succeed. Crochet Foundry provides me with a way to put all of that together in the most beautiful way possible. What else could I do but buy it?
What are you most excited about for the future of Crochet Foundry?
Growing the community and adding more interaction with and among the community. In the next few months, I hope to add some live Zoom Sit & Stitches. I also will be changing the platform that Crochet Foundry is on. This will not change the URL, what it will do is move the URL to a platform that is able to have a members only area. Once that is active, anyone with an annual subscription will have access to the members only area which will include bonus tutorials, mini-classes, and other perks.
I also would like to add a knit version of the magazine. First, I need to make sure that Crochet Foundry is running smoothly for a while, then the set-up of a new magazine will take a while longer. So, as much as I would like to say 2025, it may be more like 2026.
And some crochet questions:
How did you learn to crochet?
My Great Grandmother, Vada’s mother, taught me to crochet when I was 8 or 9. I loved it from the moment she first put a hook in my hand, and it has been a hobby ever since.
My Great Grandmother was also a professional seamstress. So as much as I thought I would grow up to be like her daughter, I think I turned out to be a wonderful combination of the two of them. They were 2 of the most talented, smart, strong and beautiful women I’ve ever known, so I’m pretty happy with that outcome.
What is your favorite crochet technique or stitch pattern?
I am always a big fan of the linen or moss stitch, and of the Jacob’s ladder technique. I’ve made quite a few patterns using Jacob’s ladder. You can find them here: https://www.jessieathome.com/category/Crochet-patterns+jacobs-ladder/
I even figured out a way to imitate the Jacob’s ladder technique in knit and have made several patterns with that technique. You can find those patterns here: https://www.jessieathome.com/category/knit-patterns+jacobs-ladder/
What are a couple of fun facts about you?
I was a wardrobe intern for part of season 2 of Early Edition on CBS in 1997.
I bungee jumped at 16.
My brother, Alex, is an amazing musician in Ann Arbor/Detroit MI. You can find him at https://anestmusic.com/
I have a woodshop in my garage and almost all the tools are mine, not my husbands. My father is an amazingly talented woodworker, and he taught me so much.
I once changed a tire on the side of the 10 in LA using a 4” wedge shoe as a wedge for the diagonal tire.
I’ve lived in Maine, California, Massachusetts, Ohio, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey, and I spent a summer at summer stock in Kentucky.
Right: That same bassinet used as a prop in a photo of Jessie’s Dancing Mushroom Blanket.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I know that as a cis, straight, white, middle-class woman, I am basically the definition of privilege. I strive to use that to elevate the voices of, and help out, those with less privilege, because less privilege does NOT mean less.
In that spirit, I am proud to be part of the volunteer staff of Knit the Rainbow https://www.knittherainbow.org/
With that said, I am still well aware that I make mistakes. If I, or anyone representing Crochet Foundry or Jessie At Home, makes any mistakes to do with diversity, please let me know. I want to keep and expand the welcoming atmosphere of Crochet Foundry, but I know my privilege sometimes causes me to miss important things.
Thank you so much for being part of the Crochet Foundry Community. We are nothing without all of you.
