About the Artisan
El inherited her artistic style from her grandmas. Her Japanese grandma was a professional knitter. She held classes and had her own boutique. El’s American grandma was a costume designer and owned her own costume shop. With the help of both grandmas, El always had a cute warm sweater and the best Halloween costume on the block. Unfortunately, El took her grandmas' talents for granted.
El first remembers crocheting at seven years old when her Japanese grandmother (professional knitter with sticks) gave into El’s incessant begging to learn to knit with a hook. Although her grandmother was never able to teach El how to hold the hook properly (pencil style), she managed to teach El to crochet a granny potholder. From many years on, El was only able to make things square and in the round. And, to this day, El hooks knife cut style.
Her dad (learned crochet in the Navy) taught her how to crochet a line and then turn but the width always narrowed.
Then finally, in college, El’s roommate opened El up to the world of patterns.
Realizing that there was more to granny rounds and patterns, El began to create what she really liked about crochet – THE COLORS and TEXTURE. Intricate crochet stitches were great but many patterns don’t emphasize color design or provide an avenue to contrast crochet with other textiles.
And with this, El created the Elephant Dance Collection.
El first remembers crocheting at seven years old when her Japanese grandmother (professional knitter with sticks) gave into El’s incessant begging to learn to knit with a hook. Although her grandmother was never able to teach El how to hold the hook properly (pencil style), she managed to teach El to crochet a granny potholder. From many years on, El was only able to make things square and in the round. And, to this day, El hooks knife cut style.
Her dad (learned crochet in the Navy) taught her how to crochet a line and then turn but the width always narrowed.
Then finally, in college, El’s roommate opened El up to the world of patterns.
Realizing that there was more to granny rounds and patterns, El began to create what she really liked about crochet – THE COLORS and TEXTURE. Intricate crochet stitches were great but many patterns don’t emphasize color design or provide an avenue to contrast crochet with other textiles.
And with this, El created the Elephant Dance Collection.
Our Affiliations
The Elephant Dance Collection is the creative division of Tantalizing Stitches and is proud to be affiliated with Crafting for Animals, EFA: Artists Helping Animals (etsy for animals), California Crafters Club of Etsy (CCCOE), SFEtsy (San Francisco Bay Area) and the Arts & Crafts Cooperative. If you are interested in joining any of these fine organizations, you can contact El at el@elephantdance.net.
copyright 2010 Elephant Dance, San Jose, CA
