Meet Tamara from "moogly"

It's been a while since I've had a guest over here in k-town, and so I'm happy that Tamara from moogly has followed my invitation to chat about her blog today. I've already recommended Tamara's free pattern round-up in my Like List last week, but let's hear it from herself what else we can discover on her lovely blog!

"Hi everyone! I'm Tamara Kelly, designer and blogger at Moogly. When Barbara asked me to be a guest blogger on Made in K-town I was thrilled - it's a huge honor to be here! I'm 30-something (mumble mumble), and I live right by the Mississippi River in Iowa, USA. I grew up across the river in Illinois, but I love living in Iowa and am pleased as can be that Fall is finally here! Great crocheting weather is finally on the horizon - though of course I yarn all year long. While I'm most known for crochet I do knit a bit too, though I like the speed and flexibility of crochet best. In addition to blogging and designing I stay busy with my 3 kids, 1 husband, and our new puppy, Loki. Just like his name suggests, he's quite a handful! In my spare time (haha!) I love gaming - computer games, board games, X Box, you name it! And believe it or not, I still can't relax during a movie or TV show without a yarn project going at the same time. 

 

I started crocheting shortly after my oldest child was born - almost 12 years ago! I always enjoyed being crafty and had taught myself to chain from a book years earlier, but the rest didn't click until my sister-in-law taught me how to work the single crochet stitch. That 2 minutes changed my life, though it wouldn't be obvious until much later. For a few years after that, depending on babies and the craziness of life, my crocheting time waxed and waned. But it was always my favorite hobby, and I returned to it again and again, getting better with each project. A couple of years ago, thanks to social media, I was finally able to show someone outside of my family what I was making - and the response was so positive, Moogly was re-born! Re-born? Well, Moogly started off as a mommy blog. But I wasn't very good at it. I was too busy being a mommy to write about it... and not very good at turning funny kid one-liners into whole blog posts. But one thing I did do was publish a very simple crochet pattern for a washcloth/dishrag. And lo and behold, it got views! So when I realized that I could turn my passion for crochet into something more, I went back to Moogly and deleted all the old posts except for that pattern, and relaunched as a commission crochet and pattern site! Eventually the blogging and designing took over, and the commission portion ended - and I've never been happier! 

 

At Moogly I focus on a few different types of posts. There are my free original crochet (and a few knit) patterns. When I was learning to crochet, I was so excited to discover free patterns online - and it's been so fun to be able to give back to the crochet community in this way! I also have one pay pattern, the Sven Sweater, which has been a great learning experience for me in many ways. My patterns are of all sorts - hats, cowls, baby clothes, household items, toys, I love to design them all!

 

There are also HD video tutorials on Moogly, which my husband helps with (aka does all the video-ing and editing, he's amazing!). I also do free pattern roundups every week, where I pick a theme and present the best free patterns that fit that theme. The most popular roundup to date is one I did last winter on 30 Last Minute Gift Crochet Patterns - it gets lots of views still every day. I also co-host a bi-monthly link party with My Merry Messy Life for fiber arts bloggers. 

 

And last but not least, Moogly has gotten big enough now that I've been able to start hosting giveaways, which is very exciting! I love being able to give things away, and the sponsors so far have all been fantastic, from indie designers to big yarn companies. I couldn't have done it without the fans - both the ones who were there at the beginning, cheering me on and spreading the word about Moogly, to the new fans who are excited to discover the site - I love them all! So a big shout-out to all of YOU in the interwebs who've helped make Moogly what it is today! To continue to help give back, I've recently launched a Moogly Makers page, where sellers who make FOs from Moogly patterns can have their link right on the blog!

 

The Moogly Facebook page is super active, and a great place to share! I also have a Twitter, Tumblr, and a great set of Pinterest boards! In addition, signing up for the weekly Moogly Email Newsletter gets you exclusive content and keeps you up to date with all the blog posts. I hope to see you around the web, and on the blog! I read every comment and am always ready to help with crochet questions. Thank you again to Made in K-town for the invitation and space to tell you a bit about Moogly!"

Thank you so much for this interesting guest-post, Tamara! And dear readers, I hope you all liked this little glimpse into Tamara's world of crochet, if you're on your way to visit her, please tell her hi from me! :)

Have a great Sunday everyone!