I’ve been interviewed!
A couple of weeks ago Craft Business magazine emailed me and asked if I would give my views on the ‘world of crochet’. Me, I know, had they heard how opinionated I can be?!?
So I happily answered their questions as best I could and emailed it back. But now I’m a little worried, who am I to speak for all the crocheters of Britain? What if I’ve left out something really important? And, do I sound a complete berk?
Embarrassingly I’d never heard of this publication, though it is obvious to anyone who reads this blog ‘business’ is not one of my fortes. However I had a good look at it and it actually seems a good read, its not stale that I’d assumed (in my opinionated way…) but actually quite varied and useful, so I have subscribed to the free online edition and I can highly recommend it, especially the bit by the opinionated crocheter on the One Voice section…
I have cut and pasted the article below, but if you follow this link it’ll take you to the proper page, with my usual embarrassing I’m not looking at the camera your not really there, pose.
The economy is obviously affecting everything at the minute and that includes crochet. People are generally being much more careful with their money and are now less willing to pay for a scarf that has been handmade, despite it often being of better quality and design, and the fact that it won’t be seen on every high street in the UK.
Having said that, the economy has also had a positive effect on the industry and there are currently a lot of knit and crochet garments in the shops right now for the winter 2010/11 season, which many people simply can’t afford to buy and are learning to recreate from scratch.
Have you noticed more people taking up the pastime?
There is definitely more interest in crochet and we now have several UK magazines entirely dedicated to the pastime, as well as a range of more general ones featuring articles on it.
One of the biggest problems for consumers in the past has been the lack of decent patterns available over here, which has meant many people have had to get their magazines and patterns from America. But now, albeit very slowly, some of the big pattern designers are producing small selections of fashionable patterns. There are also an increasing number of groups being formed, such as the Stitch and Bitch ones, that are helping boost its profile all over the world!
What are the most popular things people are making?
Amigurumi – Japanese crocheted dolls – are definitely still very popular and a good project for introducing consumers to the pastime as they are so small, meaning the only limit imposed on crafters is their own creativity.
What are the biggest factors influencing trends?
Crochet fits in perfectly with the whole lifestyle being portrayed at the moment. For instance, vintage is huge right now – something the pastime fits right into – and all the leading shops, books and home magazines seem to be highlighting the benefits of baking and the pleasure of creating things with your own hands. What’s more, prestigious fashion designers, such as Dior and Julien Macdonald, are also featuring many knit and crochet pieces in their winter collections, generating further interest in the sector, and popular blogs and sites like Etsy and Folksy are also helping keep up the momentum.
What would you say are the biggest trends in the market at the moment?
Accessories are definitely very much in vogue, as are big scarves and bags, and anything that is easy to make.
What do you think is going to be the next big thing?
I’d like to think the crochet world is going to continue to grow and, with that popularity, there will be better quality patterns written. There are so many benefits to the pastime; it has even been introduced into prisons as a way of calming and focusing the male prisoners!
A sneaky peek at my new Winter 2010 Collection
You may have guessed from previous posts that I am loving crochet cable at the minute, it is so effective and just plain gorgeous!
Ignoring my stash busting 2010 promise (its only the second time – honest, and I have good reason too!) I mean, I can’t create a whole new range from my poor selection of odd balls of acrylic can I?
So, I’ve bought some gorgeous aran, among other gorgeous wool that I’ll show you soon, and have been playing with some new ideas for scarflettes, cowls and gloves. They were quite a good seller last winter so I wanted to improve on my designs a bit more.
Its still in the early stages, (2 sport mad boys off school FOREVER are not conducive to creativity of the crochet sort) but I am really pleased with how its going so far, what do you think?
I’m working on a couple of different designs and I need to get a friend round so I can photograph her wearing them, not me twisting my arm in the mirror – but hopefully they should be in my shops in around a month!
Crocheted boots – honestly
Before I show you, let me state first that I am well aware that these are a contender for the what not to crochetblog, but I was intrigued and honouring my 2010 stash busting promise. I mean what else was I going to do with 3 odd balls of chunky acrylic?
It began on Friday night, I was browsing my favourites while waiting for the boys to come back from lifeguards, when I saw the link to drops designs, ‘I haven’t been there for a while I thought’. Yes I know – I opened Pandora’s wool box…
I saw this pattern and though it cute, practical, I need some new slippers and also if it was a good pattern it might do for xmas pressies (ha ha, now I’ve got you scared family members who read this!!!!).
http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=123&d_id=24&lang=en
So I turned this lovely, though slightly confusing, though easy, though it may not be right, pattern…
into these.
I’m going with ‘ironically funky’.
crocheted cable
You know I said I took that little detour to Hobbycraft on holiday, well here is a pic of my cable, the wool (though rather pink in this pic?) is a lovely blend of wool, alpaca and silk
It did take a while to figure out, the instructions are not that clear and there was a mistake printed too but I will persever with it. I love the chunkyness of it and that fact it looks like knit. I’m think i’m going to make this into a bag, but this has definitely taken over the top of my list of new projects, especially with winter coming!
Update: I’ve finished my bag! I’m quite pleased with it, if I was to do more I need to tweek it a bit. The handles are off an old favourite bag that wore out last year, It was perfect in size and I wasn’t happy when I really couldn’t repair it any more, but it lives on! I’ve lined it with some thick denim left over from some curtains, which give it a bit more structure and I put a little pocket in side for my phone.
my new bag Ta-darrr!
Crocheted Shawl
But first a bit of eye candy! Have you heard of Gudrun Sjoden clothing? Its gorgeous, as are the catologues. I’ve been getting them for a couple of years now and I love their clothing and photography and colours and shapes…
The latest one came in the post today and it is just beautiful, I can look at the pages for hours. I think this is my favourite
Obviously even if I could afford it, I would look a complete muppet, not an ethereal beauty gliding round the streets of Barry like I’d imagine, but I can dream!
How fabulous is this too!
And now the finished shawl, it’s not my friends birthday till October so I’m going to have to put it somewhere safe and I have a new project to add to my list, I want one in turquoise! The pattern was quite easy and the gorgeous lace weight wool I got from fyberspates was an absolute dream. When I saw how fine it was I was initially terrified, but you soon get used to it and it is definatly worth persevering as it is so soft and light on your shoulders.
(as with all my pictures if you hold your mouse over it you can enlarge them)
Jane
Working through that list!
So far I have:
- finish of the lace weight shawl for friend
- finish of the backs of the 3 cushion fronts I’ve worked while footy has been on
- sew the above cushions together
- finish of crafteroo challange of space invader themed object (don’t ask)
- find a way to open the door to my workroom
- buy cotton and get on with next idea for Beads and Beyond mag before next week
- finish off 2 new scarflette ideas I’ve almost done
- make birthday pressie for niece
- DO NOT START ANYTHING NEW INCLUDING THE NEW PATTERN AND WOOL I’VE JUS T SECRETLY BOUGHT
Not bad, trying to cram it all in 3 days before the monsters are off for 7 weeks. Yes, 7 weeks! Don’t get me wrong I love having them off in the holidays, but 7 weeks!
Well, I know I’m not going to get the shawl finished, but that’s not needed till October and I plan to get on with it this week as we are taking the van to the Forest of Dean and Brecon for the week, its a good transportable project especially if the forcast is right i.e. lots of rain : (
I’m scrapping the idea for Beads and Beyond mag, I just can’t fit that in as well but it will store for another time.
I’ve finished the present for my neice, though I did get a bit carried away with it and what was going to be an afternoon project turned into 3 days, I’ll post some photos when she’s received it but I think she is going to love it, I certainly loved making it!
There are several other UFO’s and god knows how many ideas going round my head also an exciting new magazine project going on but, thats all for now, me hubby and the boys are off cycling, kyaking and most probably puddle jumping – a lot…
See you in a week!
Space Invaders (but not as you know it)
Wahey, I can cross something off my list, I’ve finished my crafteroo Space Invader themed challange!
So, after doing a bit of research on the internet about space invaders, the general idea seems to be black/white/neon colours and boxy shapes. None of that appealed to me, plus, I like to change things a bit!
So I’ve gone soft and girly though If I’m being honest it does look a bit more jelly than invader. However, sticking with the craft neutral 2010 challange (which I’m doing quite well at, my stash is slowly disappearing) I used this bright pink crochet cotton that I really can’t imagine using for, well, anything much. I tried a couple of ideas, but my fave one, a crocheted patchwork cushion in nice muted autumninal colours, with the space invader image picked out in slightly darker shades would have taken till next year. So I resized it to pincushion size I mean, who doesn’t love a pin cushion?!
Carrying on with my crochet patchwork idea would have made a pincushion the size of a pillow so after a bit more thinking I came up with the idea of freeforming it!
Obviously its more likely to gum you as opposed to shoot you, but its definatley a space invader – of the friendly kind!
Crochet and Cannabis!
I am aware that I have been lacking on the posting front. I have been crocheting but I can’t seem to settle to any one thing at the minute, my shops have been neglected, ideas started and left, for some reason I have 3 books on the go at the minute when I’m not particualry doing much reading, even the house is starting to complain about it’s severe neglect.
On the plus side the insurance have come through, so we can finally get the back room sorted which should spur me on. I don’t think I mentioned that before, did I? It turns out our lovely quiet neighbours were in fact cultivating a cannabis factory in their house, £800,000.00 worth.
I used to see these people being interviewed on the news saying that they had no idea that Mr and Mrs A were doing various horrible things next door to them and think, ‘how unobservant can you be’, well errmmm…
I am in and out a lot, we have our bedroom windows open most of the year, I pride myself on my sense of smell though admittidly I’m not that observant, George Clooney could walk in front of me and I probably wouldn’t notice (unless he was carrying a pile of wool of course).
Turns out the police had them under observation for a while – how I didn’t hear them coming and going with SHED LOADS of soil and irrigation stuff I don’t know. The police knocked on my door to warn me they were going to raid it and to ask me if I had noticed anything. The stupid thing is I wouldn’t let them in because they were in plain clothes, I don’t know what a police card looks like and to be honest they looked dodgy the way they were both crowding in the door way! “No”, I said “they’re lovely, polite, friendly and very quiet, we probably make more noise than them I joked!” “Didn’t you smell anything?” they asked?
So it was all very exciting for a day, lots of police, a bit of running about and a lovely smell pervaded the street for a couple of days as they emptied the house - then the water started coming through. Though it did take a couple of days for super observant me to notice. I did notice a shadow on the wall by the door, over a couple of days… then I saw it at night and thought, ‘that can’t still be a shadow’ (I do get there eventually) put my hand on it and the wall paper started to fall away. It has now spread into the kitchen and started to bring the floor up, the lesson being drugs bad, insurance good!
So, that is getting sorted, I however am not, so I thought in my great tradition of list writing, I am going to list not everything, duh, that would take a week in itself, no, just the important stuff – crochet:
- finish of the lace weight shawl for friend
- finish of the backs of the 3 cushion fronts I’ve worked while footy has been on
- sew the above cushions together
- finish of crafteroo challange of space invader themed object (don’t ask)
- find a way to open the door to my workroom
- buy cotton and get on with next idea for Beads and Beyond mag before next week
- finish off 2 new scarflette ideas I’ve almost done
- make birthday pressie for niece
- DO NOT START ANYTHING NEW INCLUDING THE NEW PATTERN AND WOOL I’VE JUS T SECRETLY BOUGHT
There are several other UFO’s but being UFO’s for so long now I don’t think they count?
Finally to prove I am crocheting, a peek at my space invader concoction:
June ATC
Dreams.
I thought this would be easy, ethereal, floaty, pretty even. But when I started to think about my dreams pretty doesn’t come into it! Shopping lists, wool, patterns, hairy legs, journeys, walking, lots of colour, death (though not through some morbid thoughts, I’ve been hooked to the first series of Six Feet Under – brilliant!), confusion and a multitude of scenario’s that I won’t bore you with or indeed scare you!
So with confusion and randomness being a reoccuring theme I went with that.
There are no straight lines as I don’t dream logically, though who does? It is pretty actually because a lot of my dreams are full of lush, deep colours, a bit of randomness and a bit of continuity. Lots going on and finished off with a crocheted butterfly (there had to be crochet!) representing my inability in dreams and life of fluid thought.
Hope Stacey-Ann of the brilliant creativesque likes it, i’m looking forward to seeing her’s, some of her watercolour cards are gorgeous!
Crocheted shell bowl
Well, the title pretty much gives it away!
I’ve had an idea in the back of my head for a while for creating bowls though didn’t intend to work on it till I’d exhausted my bag ideas first, but when I saw those shell bracelets in the sale the other day, well they were just sitting there and the football was on…
What do you think?
I’m quite pleased, these shells are quite heavy so I had to make the fabric dense to support their weight, so my fingers are killing me! I like the combination of rough, simple string and the lustrous, deep shells. I think I’d like to do another one but make this more curved and possibly more Lacy, though that might have to involve some sort of starch, I don’t know, but definitely it has possibilities!
