1. What inspired you to start crocheting?
Back pain, and a love of TV- haha! I trained at uni as a knitter and was mainly a machine knitter. During my studies I also worked as a production machine knitter for a designer at the same time. This meant that I was at a machine for way too long every day and I started getting really bad back pain from my posture. In order to mix it up, I started including more crochet in my own work as a break, as I could sit in a comfy seat, and I also loved that even if I had to pull long hours I could do all my uni work in front of the TV-I never looked back. I soon fell soooooo in love with crochet, it wasn’t very popular at the time for clothing (this was in 2010) so I liked that it was different. I loved how much control you had with it and how you could sculpt with it, it was a very different process- much more organic then I was used too. And that’s why I still love it, I feel I can be free when designing- plus I still love being able to work in front of the tele!

2. What are your favourite crochet patterns to make?
I don’t think I have a favourite Pattern , but I definitely have a favourite process. I love a CAL! I love the community aspect of all working on something together as a group. I did one with Hobbii this year which was so fun , as also terrifying as a designer, as it was a Mystery CAL! People signed up and were joining in but had no idea of what the end piece they were making, every week I was excited and equally scared if they were going to like and enjoy it! But even with the fear, its so nice to work together on something- that’s my fave bit- the crafty community!

3. What are some of the challenges you've faced as a crochet designer?
Paying my bills, but I think this is just the general struggle of a creative freelancer. Making a consistent living can be very very challenging, and I suppose because of that its keeping the love of it when its your job. When the passion that used to relax you from anxiety and stress is the thing that then can cause this- it can be hard. I support my business by lecturing and working on projects for other brands, having your fingers in many pies I think is a must. A fun challenge I find is designing pieces for brands that are completely out of your personal taste or comfort zone for other people, it can be tricky- although this is a challenge I like! It’s like a good problem-solving game and lets me play around with crochet in a way I wouldn’t if I was just designing stuff for my own brand.

4. How do you stay up-to-date on the latest crochet trends?
I don’t think I do really, trends haven’t ever really been my thing. I make stuff that I like and sometimes it overlaps with a zeitgeist, but I don’t really seek them out. I definitely gravitate to certain styles and I love to keep a sketchbook and a zillion Pinterest boards to save all the things I like and curate them into categories- This helps me make my own mini trends in a a way.

5. What advice would you give to aspiring crochet designers?
Just start, start by going off book- if you’re following a pattern- mix up the colours- edit a sleeve, gain confidence in your abilities of using your skill and getting creative with it. Then just start creating from scratch, you might have to frog something 10 times but that’s ok. Do it for the love and do it for you first, and then if you find your groove and what to turn that into a business, work out your USP- Unique Selling Point- also accurately charge for your time!

6. What are your plans for the future of your crochet business?
To keep going! Next year marks my 10 years of having a crochet business, and it’s had many different aspects to it and I have pivoted a few times, but I’m still here and that’s my general plan for the future, to keep going! My aim for my business is always to strive to work in a way that makes me happy, brings joy to others and keeps me financially stable, and when it doesn’t tick all three of those, I switch it up a bit until it does. I really love showing people how to make things and making that process as accessible as possible, so I hope to do more video work to go with patterns, so that’s my current focus.

7. What is your favourite crochet project that you've ever made?
This is a tricky one! I have no idea what my favourite crochet project would be, its usually the one I’m working on- till the next one pops up! I think maybe the one that has meant most to me, was all the crochet bits I made for my wedding. It came at a time where I really needed to fall in love with crochet again. I was wrapping up my ready made pieces brand- this had sucked the love out of crochet for me and I was really lost at what to do. From the outside it looked great as had just had my Selfridges window display and my collection sold there, but the reality of the business was it was failing and completely unsustainable as a business model. I had no idea what I wanted to do next so I threw myself into creating the bridal bits- just for the love of it and to occupy me from panic, and it was here that I just really fell in love with the colour and the craft and the fun again.

8. What is your favourite crochet pattern that you've ever designed?
This sort of leads on from the last one, but for me I don’t have one pattern that’s my favourite, just the fact I started making patterns for others to make. I started out just designing pieces that I made and sold- this became for me very soul destroying as they had to become faster to make, and therefore less detailed to stay more affordable. I love colour changes and details and even though I hate them-lots of ends (or the reason for lots of ends anyway), and these do not make a sellable product! When I switched to writing patterns for others to make it revolutionised my world! It took all the make hours out of the costing so I got to be as free as I liked! It also made the designs way more accessible as they lost the luxury price point and I got to have fun making them with people again and being part the craft community!

9. What are some of the challenges facing the crochet industry?
For crafts in general, I think people want to know more about where their materials come from, where there yarn comes from - the factories it’s made, what dyes are used- general transparency and information on this. I think yarn brands need to do better at making this information available.

10. What are your hopes for the future of crochet?
That people keep making amazing things! I love that it has become more fashionable so a new generation of people are picking up hooks. I think for a lot of these craft skills, my main hope is that they just keep on being handed down and learnt- so they don’t die off! My other hope is that the industrialisation of crochet is better managed, the negative side of the popularity of crochet is that it appears more on our highstreets at ridiculously low prices. The majority is all by hand (you do now get some fake look crochet which is machine knitted or embroidered) but if its actually crochet it is done by hand and what we pay for this needs to be addressed, workers producing these pieces need to be earning a fair wage for there labour!

11. What are some of the benefits of crocheting?
I think crochet can have lots of different benefits for different people- For me, it helps me feel grounded. I get really busy brain a lot and it helps me focus and relax. My hands always feel like they need to be busy so it helps me focus that into something more productive that a phone scroll hole! But mainly it allows mem to be creative and playful and that brings me joy- that’s my biggest benefit of crochet, JOY.

12. How do you think crochet can be used to promote sustainability?
I think crocheting can work to understanding our clothes/homewares to how growing your own veg in your garden can help with understanding food waste. When you grow your own tomatoes in one pot in your garden, you’re never going to become fully self sufficient- but you develop a much greater understanding of the resources, time and effort it takes to produce something. I think this helps us understand food more and be less wastefull, the same can be said with crocheting. Once you make things yourself you are aware of the time and materials and skill this takes, I think this then helps you understand and be connected with your clothes more, and this in turn I think helps you treat garments better, understand value to clothing and hopefully can shift your perspective. I think it’s so helpful to become connected to what we consume, understand it more and what goes into it. Being connected helps us care, and hopefully caring more helps us treat people and the planet better.

13. Anything else you would like to add/share with our readers?
Keep your eyes peeled for the next issue as I have wipped up something very festive and fun for the issue! Also if you like a Granny Square as much as me, you can check out my book Hip to be Square!

coming next issue...