Why *Knits* is in the name…

I'm working on coming up with 6 or 7 new designs for Fall 2010—trying to keep it equal between knit and crochet. I enjoy them both equally, so it seems only natural to do both. I'm planning a photo shoot for July or August, and crossing my fingers that I'll be able to make all the projects before then…

So, I suppose you'll be wondering why something called *Caterpillar Knits* would be including crochet projects. Well, I'll tell you:

The name Caterpillar Knits *came* to me. It wasn't something I sat down and pondered about for days. This name has been with me for years, and it's been waiting for the right opportunity to present itself.

During a camping trip in the summer of 2007 there was a moment while I was doodling in my sketchbook—I remembered something I read in Ram Dass's book, "Be Here Now". What he wrote was: "You can't rip away caterpillarness". Meaning our lives have a path, and a destined speed at which that path is traveled. It's not possible to force a caterpillar to become a butterfly any faster than it's going to happen… just as it's not possible for us to force anything to happen in our lives any faster than it's meant to—thus, you cannot rip away caterpillarness.

On that day, while doodling in my sketchbook, what Ram Dass said was interpreted in my head as "You can't rip away caterpillar knits". Of course, at that time I thought it was funny, but the Freudian slip has stayed with me and morphed into something meaningful. It goes along with my previous posts about being true to myself and honest about what I do. Caterpillar Knits represents that… therefore, the name cannot change to be politically correct and include crochet. I've thought hard about this… thinking of changing it to Caterpillar Stitches, or Caterpillar Designs… but they just don't hold the same meaning to me, and that's what this venture is all about–being true.

So, I apologize if having the term *knits* in the name offends any crocheters out there. Believe me, that wasn't my intention. I love crochet equally, if not more than I love knitting, and I mean it no injustice by omitting it from the Caterpillar name.