Friday Focus: Lee Mac

In the world of crochet it sometimes takes another crocheter to properly appreciate your work. A project that might elicit an "oh, that's cool" from a random friend or relative might very well get a "WOW, holy crap!" from a fellow hooker or brocheter. When you know just how much work must have gone into an object or pattern to make it possible, when you can feel the tingles of all of those stitches being made in your own hand... it makes you a bit more appreciative.

I don't know how anyone could look at Lee Mac's work and be anything but amazed. Also known as totallee, Lee has created some freaking sweet tapestry portraits that surely make fans everywhere squee. So many colors, so much detail, so much nerdy-ness. If you crochet you will intimately appreciate just how much effort goes into her pieces. If you don't crochet I want you to understand that the patience and effort that Lee is putting into her art could be likened to a person moving thousands of grains of rice from one bowl to another with a pair of tweezers. Really, I don't even know why I'm still talking. I'll just let Lee show you how incredible she is. She's been featured in many more illustrious places and I'm honored to have her here. Let's welcome her as today's featured designer!

Who taught you to crochet? How long have you been doing it?
My Mum was nagged into it when I was about 7 or 8 years old -_^! I saw her crocheting a massive granny square rug with every colour of yarn you could imagine and instantly nothing else in the world mattered except for learning how to do it. I made a massive granny rug of my own in some really pretty pastel shades (full of zillions of holes that you could fit your freaking head through), then BAM, excitement over and I think I took up tennis. Which lasted a week. I think after that it was beaded friendship bracelets. Lasted a week. Pretty obvious pattern in my personality is coming through here now isn’t it?! -_^!

In December of 2008, I came across the AMAZING world of crocheted portraits courtesy of Todd Paschall over at crochetbynumbers.com on a random surf one day and BAM! That instant AGHH-I-HAVE-TO-LEARN-HOW-TO-DO-THIS-LIKE-RIGHT-NOW feeling came back. I bought a few patterns from Todd, learnt the awesome cut and tie technique and BAM! Addicted. For longer than a week this time!!! Three cheers for progress!!!

Why do you crochet?
Oh man, too many reasons!
I love the freedom of creativity it brings.
I love the endless possibilities.
I love working with every shade of colour I can get my hands on. Colour = happiness.
I love the sense of peace and relaxation that comes with curling up in bed, with a cuppa, a good Korean drama and balls of yarn dotted about the place.
I love finding out half way through a complicated colour-changing-nightmare of a row that I’ve completely stuffed up and get to hurl my hook at the wall with great force.
* I love crocheting as a stress relief. *see previous sentence.
I love the amazing friendships that have come with sharing my projects on the world wide web. Finding other folks who love all things Harry Potter, Back To The Future, Monkees and Star Trek related is a really tough ask!!

I guess I keep crocheting out of the pure joy you get in creating a finished piece to be proud of, but also in the awesome and always surprising journey you take in starting a piece, watching it grow and then getting to share it with the world.

Crochet Favorites
I’m a bit boring and uninformed when it comes to brands, hooks and basic materials in general! As I mainly stick to crocheted portraits, the key is finding the right shades of colours, rather than what brand to use. I’ve been known to use crochet cotton, yarn ranging from 4 to 8ply, and also string in one portrait alone!

The majority of my pieces to this point have been made with an el cheapo plastic grey 4.5mm hook. However at the start of this year, my chubby little hands decided to give a 3mm hook a try and my god the friendship has blossomed. Services for the 4.5mm hook will commence once it has completed duty on a few works-in-progress.

What are you working on right now?
I have a number of projects on the go at the moment (said every crocheter EVER -_^). I have a MASSIVE Beatles piece that is currently at 20% that will probably take approximately 20 years to complete, as it measure 260 stitches wide. One row takes around an hour and a half to complete on that big boy.

 
I also have projects depicting folks such as – KPOP superstar G-Dragon, Uhura from the Original Star Trek series, Mary Poppins and Bert, and Wayne and Garth from Wayne’s World on the go!!

A few finished objects...
Gone With The Wind: Was completed in 2010. After experiencing the film for the first time, I was exploding with the need to make a piece in tribute <3 What a film!!!

The Hogwarts Bunch Blanket: Was a complete labour of love! I am a self-confessed Potterhead and had the idea of making separate portraits of Harry, Ron and Hermione with the intent of turning them into 3 fun cushions for the couch. However, when I lined the three panels up for a picture on the floor, I got a flash of the opening credits to the Brady bunch as it looked like each character was stuck in a box. So I then went ahead and created the ‘Hogwarts Bunch’ and turned them into one almighty double-sized blanket!

Twinkie Chan!!!: Since re-entering the world of colourful crochet back in 2008, I have been an avid blog reader and admirer of all things Twinkie Chan <3!! She’s an absolute superstar and her creations never cease to inspire me and make me smile.

I have a website where I blog about current projects and also share some free patterns ^__^

There you can find links to my Facebook page and my ravelry.com group ^__^

I would like to take the opportunity to thank Sara for thinking of me and giving me the opportunity to share my work! Thank you!! xox

Isn't she just so vivacious? The words 'totes adorbs' come to mind. Thank you so much for the shout-out, Lee! However, it is I who is all too pleased to be featuring your incredible tapestries. Thanks for joining us today!