About Pepper

Disclaimer- this was not written by AI… it's just my own rambling and you’re welcome.

Hi! My name is Pepper and I have been crocheting for over 20 years. I still have a vivid memory of my aunt teaching me to crochet when I was 9 or 10 years old. Later, my mother signed me up for crochet classes with the local 4-H. For years, crocheting was only something I did when the leaves started turning. My grandmothers, mom, siblings, and friends would receive random (albeit not great) Pepper Originals for birthdays, holidays, and/or just because. Growing up in a small town afforded me the opportunity to be able to just walk (or ride my bike) down to the local store where I'd buy whatever acrylic yarn was available to make my creations (you could also buy a fishing license at the same time).

Over the years, my crocheting was very sporadic due to college and building a career in museum collections (lucky enough to be full-time… stay strong my museum friends). During 2020, I lost my favorite lady who developed my interest in not only history and museum work but also crafting. She had created a family museum containing heirlooms passed down from generation to generation. For example, my logo is a hand sewn quilt(?) square created by my great great grandmother (excellent upcyclist) out of dresses she had sewn for my grandma and her siblings. Grandma was the original (un-diagnosed) ADHD crafter in my life. After retiring, and the death of her mother, she took on EVERYTHING! She completed hours of family genealogy research, travelled to the birthplace (the actual house) of my great great grandfather. She also devoted a lot of time to her gardening, home renovation, photography, scrapbooking, sewing, and quilting which were all very inspiring to me and I was blessed to have her live down the street from me, so I could help her with some of her projects*. Her death took a toll on me and the whole family. It was doubly hard because of COVID. I was living alone with my dog at the time, so wine became a companion.

It took some time and a lot of support from family to kick the heavy drinking and come out of my depression hole. One doesn’t realize how much time you waste while you’re drinking – not just during the night, but also the hangover the next day. As time went on, the creativity started to return, and the projects just started rolling out of me. As someone who rarely utilizes patterns, I start creating based on some random inspiration I have written down or just f*****g around and finding out. However, if I think that a project may be something someone else may benefit from, I will create a pattern (ADHD friendly- typically less than 4 hours and a lot of switch ups to keep you interested, haha).  I have expanded my skills to include embroidery, knitting, and sewing. In addition to my grandmother being creative, my mother is also excellent at interior decorating, designing, gardening, and sewing (my dad is the king of innovation - he built a two car garage by himself). She made all her own prom dresses, cheerleading uniforms, and A LOT of my stuff including insane Halloween costumes. Recently, she gave me her sewing machine that she bought when she graduated from high school (of course we still have the receipt… it will go in the family museum’s archive) and taught me how to use it.

At the end of 2023, I decided to share my creations and patterns with a larger circle than my family and friends who are probably SICK of the amount of knotted yarn they receive. I love utilizing upcycled materials and natural yarns (all materials are listed in the descriptions). In addition, I have embraced my love of mixing yarns and hook/needle sizes. I am open to custom orders. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out via email or IG. Enjoy!!

*My grandfather (recently deceased) would go on an annual fishing trip with my uncles leaving my grandma behind. One year after they left, my grandma came to me with a devious plan to paint the eyesore that was my grandpa’s grass trailer (the trailer you’d put your yard debris in and haul it off to the dump) while they were gone. She had designed some floral stencils and we proceeded to paint the grass trailer with the leftover paint from the house (brown and off-white/yellow). We both signed our names on the trailer as well. I can’t remember what my grandpa’s reaction was, but he never painted over it.