>As the proud holder of two previous Flamies (scroll down the sidebar to see mine!), I have personally experienced the flood of happyhappyjoyjoy that comes from taking home… posting on one’s blog or website… these beauties. But however the voting goes and whatever the world may think of the Crochet Liberation Front’s Third Annual Flamie Awards, the winner has been, is still and always will be crochet.
There is no other event like it, created for and by crocheters, that specifically recognizes excellence across all these areas of crochet. Not tied to any company, publisher or industry “suits”, we just want to have crochet fun, jump up and down {squeeee!} on awards night and thump each other on the back for jobs well done. And at first, as CLF Fearless Leader Laurie Wheeler will admit, that’s what the Flamies were all about. A wink-nudge take on Oscar night. A lark. But as the reputation of this award has spread and grown over the past two years, so has the weightiness of the crown.
Now the event is under closer scrutiny by yarn execs, editors and the media. Past winners in corporate categories have taken to displaying and, yes, flaunting their Flamies in ads and newsletters, taking the focus of the award far beyond what could be accomplished by individual crocheters. YIKES! The feeling of competition among the nominees is palpable and continues to snowball as the voting draws nearer. Now it sort of matters who wins.
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| Bozena, nominated for Best Design Adult Garments |
On the strength of my design work in 2010 and my book, Crochet Lace Innovations, I have received multiple Flamie nominations, an embarrassment of riches. Honestly I would be totally overjoyed to take home just one this year. But that I leave up to you, the voters. So please check out the list of nominees and cast your ballots when the voting commences on 15 March. The eyes of the yarn industry are upon you!
Doris Chan Crochet 
>That's a great garment! The Flamies are so fun. I'm nominated under best crochet blog this year.
Can you help me understand the first 4 rounds. The instructions don’t seem clear. Any help would be appreciated. I book Doris’s book but now am really stuck and would love to make the Bozena dress. Thank you.
>While I'm uncertain how I feel about the Flamies (and the fact that the CLF is now recruiting corporate sponsorship – although I do understand why), there's no doubt that everyone in the crochet community recognizing your efforts last year is completely well deserved.And yes, if crochet is indeed the winner, then it's all good.
Doris,
Your post made me smile! It’s still about the fun, and even though I am seeking corporate sponsorship, I am proud to say that when I put up our sponsorship ads, the biggest support has come from the designing community itself; as in numbers. That humbles me.
I remain committed to fairness, integrity and in your face realism when it comes to crochet. I can guarentee you I would send back a check before I would allow the integrity of our CLF awards to be dishonored by silliness,(because frankly none of those sponsorships are big enough money to sell my soul; the price tag is about $50 million USD +/- a gillion).
I leave it to the crochet community to decide what they want in the winners. I get my two Fearless Leader Awards that I can pick and choose who wins from, good enough for me ;D
Thank you again for your kind words and your support. Good luck and congratulations on your nominations!
>Your dress is win worthy, I love it!
>I have followed the Flamies from their inception and am glad that they have grown in popularity – love the CLF also. You deserve to be nominated. I not only love your work, I also love your blog and the way it makes me smile when I read it. minimomes1 (Ravelry)
As usual, I just love every thing you do and voted for you several times. I even got a pre-nomination myself this year (never made it to the final nominations). Shocked the helloutta me! LOL
I just love the Flamies – I love the positive attention they bring to the fabulous art of crochet. The only thing that frustrates me is that I keep seeing the same names each year. Hopefully the quality of designers/nominees like you will inspire new creative greatness this year.