We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachele Carmona and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachele, we’d love to hear about how you met the person you love.
My husband and I met at work and a fast crush blossomed. But we didn’t speak each other’s language! He spoke Spanish, and of course, I spoke English. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time relaxing at the beach, walking in the mall, and dancing in the night clubs while we dated and learned a new language along the way. Fourteen years later, and we have four beautiful children — and we are both bilingual!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am the crochet designer behind CypressTextiles. I’m just like a painter, but yarn is my “paint” and blanket dimensions are my “canvas.” Creating interesting and unique crochet blanket patterns and helping new crafters feel like rock stars along the way is my passion. I’ve written a design book, I keep up with loads of social media, and I produce many patterns every year, but what I really love is the sense of community in the crafter world, and getting to know the people behind the artworks. in 2012, when I left my career to stay with my children as my eldest went into Kindergarten, I decided to turn my hobby into a business. Naturally, I just began making custom blankets for people, for baby showers, wedding gifts, or just to throw over the back of a couch. That was a lot of fun, but after three years and over 300 blankets made, it became very time consuming with an endless sea of deadlines and long hours, so I decided to stop doing custom work, and start designing crochet patterns instead. It was very difficult to give up making custom blankets for people all around the world, as the feeling that folks are snuggling under your handmade blanket is very endearing. I felt like I was abandoning them. But ultimately, it was the best decision, as the digital pattern sales took away the heavy burden of the custom order deadlines. These days, my business is thriving and I find great joy in coming up with crochet blanket designs. Along the way I have also created a crochet education course, and many other learning elements to teach others the craft. The great lesson of all that experience was that sometimes you have to take a risk in your business and turn the boat to sail toward a completely new destination. In taking that leap, I have been able to scale my business to new heights. It has been quite a journey, and I never would have thought that I could make money doing what I am most passionate about. It was worth it to always take the plunge and find out what was next for CypressTextiles!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my bestie were in town for a week, I would definitely take her to the Downtown Aquarium, Discovery Green, and the Museum District. We would also 100% eat at Birraporetti’s and watch a show!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I dedicate this shoutout to my blogger group, the Scheepjes Bloggers. Scheepjes is a family-owned Dutch yarn company, and they sponsor the yarn for my creative works. Without the folks at Scheepjes and the support of the lovely Scheepjes Blogger group, I would have never been as inspired to take my business to new levels.

Website: http://cypresstextiles.net
Instagram: http://instagram.com/cypresstextiles
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cypresstextiles
Facebook: http://facebook.com/cypresstextiles
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnieZlua3EC0CCQC8joVP2w

Image Credits
myself only