Have you ever noticed that when you get a new (or new-to-you) car, you suddenly notice a bazillion other cars just like it on the road? Whoa, when did everyone get a car just like me? You feel like you just joined the cult of the [insert car here] drivers. You may even feel a twinge of I-can’t-believe-she-wore-the-same-dress-as-me-to-the-party.

I don’t have a new car, I drive a 13 year old hand-me-down Honda Accord. But I do have a new blog about plus-size patterns. Now that I spend a few hours each morning thinking and writing about this topic I’ve noticed that there are some very active communities out there for plus-size crafters!

Whoa, where have you been all this time? I feel like I’ve joined a community where if someone wears the same dress as me to the party, I’ll give them a big high five ’cause we made that dress our own selves!

Here are three hang-outs I’ve found this week:

• Ample-Knitters Yahoo Group: “Topics of discussion include locating large-size patterns, successful & unsuccessful attempts at converting “regular” size patterns, fitting issues of all sorts, designing sweaters especially to fit our proportions, etc.”
• Big Girl Knits Yahoo Group: “This list is a discussion group about patterns and issues in the Big Girl Knits book. I hope to have KALs (knit a longs), and there will be a project gallery so we can all share what we have made!” You can see the book on Amazon here: Big Girl Knits : 25 Big, Bold Projects Shaped for Real Women with Real Curves
• Craftser.org’s Clothing for Curvaceous Crafters forum: Great discussions about plus-size sewing adventures with frequent posting. Be sure to check out the “completed projects” section for you-can-do-it inspiration. And I love the post about creating a duct tape double.

What other communities are out there? Are there any just for crochet? What about local meet-ups?

Take care and TGIF!