An Interview with Jo, Arts Therapist

So, readers. I have been thinking recently about art, craft, differences or not differences, and what the function is of both (because, I am a diehard utilitarian. I am essentially the Mr Gradgrind of the craft world), and, when Jo Ash, who is an arts therapist in Cambridge (you can get in touch with Jo through her webpage here), kindly agreed to do an interview for me, I thought I would explore some of the thoughts I had been having. So I hit Jo with all my questions in a beady-eyed fashion and she was a very interesting, thoughtful interviewee. Thanks for doing this interview for me Jo!

Jo, still looking cheerful even though I'd made her do my questions

1/ What art forms do you encourage people to use in your sessions, and what are the most popular?

We use a variety of art forms – painting and drawing, clay, musical instruments. On my placement in Fulbourn I see clients in an amazing room with a piano and drums, but normally we don’t have access to instruments quite like that! – Puppets are very popular, also I use a sand tray (placing things in it), and postcard images. I also sometimes use drama techniques, and movement and body work. Clients can bring in stuff that they think would be helpful – for example, clients often bring in music.

Choosing postcard images is very popular – clients often have some shame issues around creating art. They’re told at school that they’re bad at art and that stays with them. So clients choose images that represent a part of them, and then we talk that through.

[I asked Jo if anyone had ever wanted to express themselves through fibre crafts, and, interestingly: no-one ever had. I’m wondering if it’s because knitting (for example) isn’t a very immediate medium: not only does it take you forever to, say, express your irritation at someone by knitting a giant circular shawl with skulls on, on the final chart now, but, you have to learn how to do it first. But, I don’t know, and I imagine this varies for people].

2/ Do you find people have an initial resistence to expressing themselves through art?

People definitely do – particularly the clients I’ve worked with. Everyone’s a little bit apprehensive to start with. Often it’s because of their background – they’ve grown up thinking they’re not a very creative person. People might also have difficulty around being spontaneous and playful. Therapy is often about facilitating play. The power of using arts is that it has the potential to get straight to the unconscious, and that’s very exposing. There can be lots of transference from the client to the therapist. [We discussed here as well a bit about the fear of facing the blank canvas, or blank whatever: how perhaps the ultimate fear is that as soon as you make a mark you reveal your unconscious, and it’s not good enough. I realised that this is actually a difference between craft and art for me: with craft, I don’t have the facing-the-void problem. I just don’t have it. I don’t know if that’s an issue of media, what I’m expressing, or my own preconceptions, though].

3/ What types of issues do you find respond best to art therapy?

It tends to work well with exploring different aspects of the self, therefore, it’s useful for people with a fragmented sense of self. It’s good for people who are perhaps feeling flat and stuck, and want to live to their potential. I’ve also used it on people who are psychotic, although not all therapies are effective in that case: for example, where normally I might get someone to create an image and then journey into it, I would only do that if someone had a secure footing in reality. Music tends to be useful for psychotic patients: it gives structure.

4/ Do you think some people are intrinisically more creative?

I like to think that everybody is creative, although it might be more in some people’s temperaments – but there is also creativity in other things. There is creativity in living a good life, for example, not getting stuck in old patterns, and having the capacity to be in the moment. Art can be used as a kind of rehearsal for life, and if people have taken risks in the art relationship, they can then transfer that over to life.

5/ Do you think there is a difference between craft and art?

I started off as a textile artist, and I like the idea of fusing craft and art. It’s all about the aesthetic for me: if craftwork moves me then it’s the same to me as painting. I think the intention in creating the work is important.

6/ Do you think art and a well-balanced mental state necessarily go together? [I’m going to analyse myself now. I think this question is expressive of an anxiety that you lose some part of yourself through therapy and/ or becoming functional. Not to worry though, I think I’ve some way to go yet].

I think there’s a lot of romanticism about creativity and genius, and how they can come together, but I think in actual fact sometimes the more in touch someone becomes the more that layer of doubt and neurosis is taken away. [Jo explained she had undergone lots of therapy herself, as this is mandatory for anyone acting as a therapist to clients, and I shall now spare you my rant about how This Should Be The Case In All Voluntary Sector Professions Involving A Client-Professional Dynamic, although, I did not spare poor Jo: anyway, this had helped her a lot in confronting feelings of ambivalence towards her own art, e.g. the idea that she had to do art obsessively for it to count. I do think there’s a very strong cultural idea about the Mad Driven Artist which is actually worth unpicking if you think about it because also it’s generally post-1820 or whenever].

7/ What was your experience of working with Kids Company?

I worked in a couple of primary schools for Kids Company – it was inner-city London, and could be quite challenging. There were some difficult psycho-social issues, and people were quite resistent to therapy – it wasn’t in their culture. There was a lot of shame about admitting you might be struggling. It was very enriching though – clients enrich your practice – you learn a lot from them. Often people have very traumatic early beginnings, and it’s quite inspiring to see how they work their way through them.

8/ Tell me about the art you do!

I paint in oils – I do abstracts with a figurative dimension. I’ve exhibited with Changing Spaces – I used to have a studio when I lived in Leeds, but I don’t have one in Cambridge. I need to get back to it!

Thank you Jo! You were a lovely interviewee, and you gave me lots to think about. I am off to ponder what I am expressing and how, and I am also going to think about unhelpful Artist Stereotypes I might be holding on to. I am actually sitting here wondering what art forms I gravitate to naturally if I am actually trying to work through something emotional, and, I gravitate to writing and music (not saying I do either well, but, those are the ones I go for, and I shall be telling you about my adventures in guitar playing in a future post). And, interestingly, it is writing and music that have been difficult for me over these last couple of years. You see: lots to think about. Thank you again Jo and all the best with your practice and your painting!

An Interview With The Gingerbread Lady

OK, I have an interview for you, this time with The Gingerbread Lady.

Killer bunny egg cosies. Let us all pause to appreciate the mind that conceived this idea

Now. I try not to be prescriptive, but I am going to have to insist that you read The Gingerbread Lady’s blog because she is very funny, and not only is she a fine crocheter and knitter who actually gives you helpful things like patterns (you see, not like me, although if anyone ever needs a map of Cambridge with all the liveliest cats marked out I’m your woman), but she alerts we crafters to little-known dangers. Who knew about the Yarnpire before the Gingerbread Lady did her exposé? And I am exactly the kind of person who would be targeted by a Yarnpire {looks at Partner suspiciously}, so I feel this is vital for me to know. Who knew about the horrors of the exploitation of the mermaid and her fluffy buttocks? I see the Gingerbread Lady as a brave investigative journalist, braving the frontline of the crafting world to bring us the stories, not shying from controversy, and also updating her blog often enough to stop her mother complaining, which as many of us know can be a challenge. (And for those of you/ us in the throes of Christmas knitting, let us just revisit this post from Knitting and Crochet Blog Week and weep quietly with self-knowledge). Anyway, the Gingerbread Lady agreed to do an interview for me so we could explore some of these issues in more detail, for which I am very grateful. Take it away, Gingerbread Lady.

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1/ How do you manage to crochet big things with hundreds of motifs and then sew them together without killing people? Multiple times? Have you achieved a higher level of zen than me, and if so, how can I achieve it too? 

An example of the kind of thing she has made that would finish me off

I tend to like patterns that involve a lot of colour changes (had you noticed?) and I like choosing the way the colours work together. In fact, to be honest, sewing hundreds of motifs together doesn’t particularly bother me. [Note from me, you see: higher level of zen. Off I go to study my book of Hare Krishna mantras, perhaps the ones at the end deal specifically with crochet. Ommmmm…]. Maybe because I tend to crochet larger projects in panels, so I have a sense of satisfaction when I get one panel done - I look at each panel as an individual piece and then try to work out how it’ll look as a whole. Essentially, it’s like a massive jigsaw – but with an element of unpredictability. If I were the kind of organized person who worked out a colour chart beforehand (and I’m not. For the Réalta blanket I had to reverse engineer the colour placement from photos in order to create the chart that comes with the blanket), I would work out a harmonious colour scheme and work faithfully from it. I don’t. I take clashing colours as a personal challenge and try to bend them to my will with a 5mm hook.

The short answer to this question, though, is that I was probably Amish in a previous life. Mr Gingerbread and I recently watched a documentary about the Pennsylvania Dutch and, midway through, he turned to me and said, “You really want to move in with them, don’t you?” Sadly, I do. I would not be scared by the thoughts of hand-sewing a bazillion-piece patchwork quilt. And I would rock canned tomatoes like nobody’s business.

2/ I love your Yarnpire series (although I was a bit worried at the implication in the first one that it wasn’t, in fact, a good idea to seek out smouldering men with an aura of misunderstoodness and then try to fix them, as you would be surprised how many of my relationships this casts into doubt). How can we, as yarncrafters, recognise a Yarnpire before it is too late and we discover them in flagrantis, nibbling ecstatically on our Malabrigo semisolids?

A very good question indeed, Young Susie. Essentially, we female crafters have to be on guard at all times. There are some telltale signs, though: you mentioned the aura of misunderstoodness. This is a crucial element of the Yarnpire and if you break it down, you will notice that the general misunderstoodness is highlighted in physical form by several key elements, e.g.

… floppy hair

Biologically-speaking, floppy hair in men seems to unleash some wild rush of helper hormones in women. They see the floppy hair and they become overcome by desire – and it seems to be a freaky mix of a desire to ravish them and mother them at the same time. Hugh Grant cashed in on this trend in the 1990s and Justin Biber seems to be doing so today – quite frankly, I have to put his success down to the floppiness of his hair because I can’t see any other reason for it. Elvis Presley had a controlled floppiness in the form of a gelled quiff, which went down a treat with the ladies. But please note: Elvis also had two other crucial Yarnpire elements, namely

… the ability to raise an eyebrow quizzically and a tight-lipped sneer

Which are terribly important. They project a kind of stand-offishness which does not repel women but rather makes them want to pelt the Yarnpire with their cashmere-soya mixes. Clearly, as a woman, you presume that the Yarnpire is struggling with his inner desire for your person, when in reality he is mentally inventorying your entire stash and trying to decide what to eat first.

… and a cloak.

Superman. Zorro. The Phantom of the Opera. The blondie elf from The Lord of the Rings. All men that clearly project a need to be fixed by the lurve of a good woman. 

A handy guide for you to print, cut out and keep in your purse because you never know when one will strike

3/ This is the controversial question. Obviously you’re the intrepid blogger who exposed the plight of the mermaid, inhumanely harvested for her bumfluff, and I think that really got the Bumfluff Issue put firmly on the eco radar. But there does seem to be a lot of emphasis in contemporary yarncraft on‘valuing your work by using the best materials’ which sometimes seems to me to exclude anyone who is on a limited budget or who wants to make something enormous. What do you think, and what are your favourite yarns to use?

When I marry my next husband – a floppy-haired, mealy-mouthed, be-cloaked millionaire – I will make sure that my 2-metre by 1.5-metre blankets are made of mermaid bumfluff. In the meantime, I’ll stick with acrylic for my bigger projects. There’s a place for every kind of yarn and I’ve been known to use everything from 55c acrylic from the local supermarket to €20 silky merino. [I wish we had 55c acrylic… I wonder if they have it in Aldi?] What I don’t like is the snobbery involved: I hate the pretentiousness and the speshulness of crafters that try to devalue others’ work and – boomerang compliment ahoy – elevate their own work based on their yarn choices (“I mean, acrylic might be good enough for you, but I personally only work with merino because, well, I tend to knit more high-end stuff.”)

I don’t have a favourite yarn, but use a lot of Bravo Schachenmayr (our standard acrylic yarn) for blankets, and have an extensive collection of beautiful German sock yarns that utterly belies that fact that I cannot knit a sock for love nor money.

An extremely sensible use for sock yarn

4/ Colour. You like it. I like it too. a/ Does your mother like beige like mine does, and, if so, do you think we’re enacting something terrible and Freudian, b/ what inspires you to put your colour combinations together?

No, my mother has no special leanings towards beige. Or, if she has, she has kept them hidden. Like me, she tends to be type of person that attracts fluff and stains (we pose a particular kind of attraction for liquids), so we’ve never been able to wear beige or white without inadvertently creating a camouflage pattern with a cup of coffee and a wayward chocolate éclair.

     What inspires me to put my colour combinations together? Contrariness, mostly. I just pull out a dozen skeins and wonder what on earth they’d look like if I crocheted them all together? Often they are so spectacularly ugly that they veer back up the scale towards ‘interesting’ or ‘compelling in a weird way’. This is very exciting to me and one of the reasons why I can endure sewing together 150 tiny motifs: I have to see if it’ll work. At the moment, though, I am working on a very demure crazy patchwork blanket in subdued autumnal tones with – guess what? – lots of beige. 

Not beige!

5/ Various people keep writing articles, don’t they, about how a/ handmade is naff b/ crafting is unfeminist, and we all grind our teeth and go and knit/ crochet something or bake an ironic cupcake just to be awkward. Is this an attitude you’ve ever encountered in real life, and how do you think the public perception of crafts has developed generally over the last few years?

You know, this is something I’ve been thinking about recently because I’ve found it to have changed dramatically in the space of the last 12 months. It may have to do with the fact that (apparently) I’m getting older and my crocheting/knitting no longer seems at odds with, say, my astonishing youth (= because it’s gone.) Whereas before people used to raise an eyebrow and make some comment about all the free time I seem to have, nowadays more and more people admire my ability to knit and crochet and finger my stuff enviously. It might have to do with the recession and the media-wide brainwashing that we all ought to returning to a simpler and slower time (a simpler and slower time that includes high-speed internet, Twitter and smartphones, of course). Not that I have a problem with that: I think it’s great that programmes like Kirstie’s Handmade Britain have hit such a mainstream nerve. It makes me feel dead cool – decoupage? Yeah, I’ve done it. And papier maché? Puh-lease, I can whip up a bucket of wallpaper paste faster than you can say “Rip up newspaper”. As for the dark needle arts? I a yarn wizard, people. 

[Note from me, Dan and I were saying recently that one of the best things about getting older is suddenly you can do whatever you want without worrying what people think and this is true. When I was in my 20s I was cool and was a Secret Crafter, now I wander round Hobbycraft with pride thinking, hmm, mosaic placemat kit! Excellent idea! And stay in at night reading recipes for Things To Do With Elderflowers].

6/ I imagine everyone and their dog says this to you, but, your blog is just hilarious. What motivated you to start blogging, and what’s your favourite thing about it?

I used to – and still do – contribute to various crafting forums (fora?) and December two years ago, a post I’d written provoke a number of responses from people asking me to start a blog because I was “so funny.” This is not really how I see myself. In fact, I think I must seem like a very serious person, because one of the things I’ve heard a lot over the years is, “You know, you’re actually quite funny!” -delivered in a tone of shock, kind of like, “Galileo, you’re right: the world is round!” However, I am very easily amused and am entranced by the ridiculous. That’s why I like your blog, actually, because I suspect that you are, too. [thank you ;-) ].

My favourite thing is the fact that you build up a relationship with your readers, you recognise names and read their blogs to learn about their lives. It’s very … nice. When I first started blogging, it felt like I was shouting into an empty room. I am still immensely flattered that people other than my parents read my blog and I still feel almost shy when someone leaves a comment.

7/ What other crochet bloggers/ designers do you admire? Show us some crochet porn. (I mean metaphorically - let’s not google that, though).

This is going to make me sound horrible and snotty, but I don’t have a favourite crochet designer. I’m more interested in looking at other stuff, non-crochet elements, for inspiration. For example, Arabian tiles or Celtic knotwork. I also love the crossover from other crafting areas: I think I’m going to buy one of Kaffe Fassett’s quilt books for Christmas (Happy Chrimbo to me!) because I think there must be a way to recreate something as beautiful as his quilts using a hook and some sock yarn. It’s just a hunch; we’ll see how it pans out in the New Year.

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Thank you very much, Gingerbread Lady, for being interviewed: I think we all learned something there. I’m forced to reveal now that although Partner does not have floppy hair (because I cut it and I can only do the one style), he does have a sneer, and, in his youth (we have an age gap), he was a punk, and he wore a big black cloak and a dog collar (the leather studded kind, not the vicar kind). So I am extremely worried, and I think I am going to have to monitor the situation. I had better keep reading the Gingerbread Lady’s blog.

OK. Off to deal with the recycling, oh the glamour. Happy Solstice everyone!

An interview with Tiny Owl Knits

Today I have an interview for you with Stephanie from Tiny Owl Knits.

I happened upon Tiny Owl Knits patterns when I was unable to get the Parseltongue hat out of my head until I had downloaded it and knitted it, which I have done, and I will show it to you when I have woven in the ends. Then I looked at her other patterns and was blown away; they are so unusual and beautiful, and have a real ethereal, other-worldly feel which is incredibly alluring. Also they are some of the few patterns I have seen that have made me want to knit intarsia motifs, I think the animal mitts are lovely.

Stephanie is also a very successful musician, and I am having visions of my brother Dan reading this interview and thinking, Susie, somehow you manage, through what nefarious means I do not know, to lure someone into being interviewed for your blog who has been on Jools Holland, and then you ask her about knitting. You are no sister of mine and now I shall never teach you the F chord and I am even considering withdrawing husky-stroking privileges (Dan has a husky, although I have to say I think it would take some fairly intensive training to make him shun people). Well, yes, but to this I must answer: Stephanie is also the designer of the Hexipuff. Yes! If you have been on the knitting bit of the internet recently, you may know (and if not, ready yourself!) that the current pattern craze is for making little hexagon shapes out of leftover sock yarn which you then make into a quilt. They are all over Ravelry looking very beautiful and inventive. I am resisting this as strongly as I can, however much fun it might look, because I do not need another epic project, although I will not be resisting other Tiny Owl Knits patterns. I have particularly got my eye on the sheep mitts. Actually, I think I might have some wool that would work…

Take it away, Stephanie! (All the patterns in the pics are available on Ravelry or on Etsy).

1/ Stephanie, you’ve taken over the known world with your hexipuffs. It’s one of the coolest patterns I’ve seen, but doing an entire quilt out of them must be quite an undertaking! Why do you think the pattern’s been so popular? Is it nice to think of there being little collections of hexipuffs all over the world?
Thanks! I really had no idea anyone would do it! the whole thing has taken me so much by surprise.  I didn't imagine that the pictures could show the concept of the puffy hexagons so I did a little video talking about them. That was really fun and I plan to do lots more videos (even though I run the risk of frightening people with my weird.)  Anyway, I think making the hexipuffs is actually fun. I became totally addicted to making them myself, so now I feel a little less crazy because it seems they have that effect on others too! I love to peek around ravelry and see all of the creative things people are embroidering on them. I'm not going to say that I haven't actually wiped a tear away at some point! haha

Beekeeper's Quilt. Hexipuffs-in-progress, proving my theory that where a beautiful, complex, time-consuming knitting project is, there also will a cat be

2/ Your patterns have this wonderful, ethereal vibe. Are you attracted to fairytale, otherworldly things in general?
I love fairy tales!  I think I have always had a tendency to want to hide away in secret places and dream about faeries and magic. I think its actually becoming a bigger and bigger part of our culture to think about magic as well. Everyone seems to be joining together to find something really special in the otherworlds. Life is so hectic and moves so fast. Real magic happens when a person is able to center themselves and put their mind on something that brings them joy or peace. That's why knitting is so magical. My goal when I'm knitting is to stay calm and centered. No it's not always easy! But what a great medium for rolling around in the power of joy. Magic Magic Magic Joy Joy Joy Ü• 

Fairy castles for storing hooks and needles. Look! With little windows in too!

3/ Lots of knitwear designers combine knitting with a day job, but I’m not sure there are that many whose day job is being an extremely successful singer, and I’m reasonably sure Elizabeth Zimmerman never played Glastonbury ;-). Does one feed off the other, or is knitting completely separate?
Some days it's easier than others. This very minute I'm trying to finish up a record and I REALLY want to release my version of my "Mr. Fox Stole my heart" pattern. So this morning I'm fighting the urge to finish the pattern when I'm really supposed to be in the studio in an hour. But most days I have time for both. Its like doing dishes and the laundry. You just do them both. OH ELIZABETH ZIMMERMAN AT GLASTONBURY!! She would be by far and away the most interesting thing there. :)

4/ Have you ever worn something you’ve knitted on stage?
I used to make pretty much all of my clothes for stage. I do a lot of sewing so I made all of my skirts and customized all of my t-shirts.  I'm sure I've worn something I've knitted for sure. Oh I wore the woodland hoodlet at a show at the Royal Festival Hall in London last year. At that time it still had a wonky hood, but I wore it anyway. Then I came home and ripped the hood off and started over before I released the pattern.

Woodland hoodlet. I love anyone who wears their creations proudly. Get out there in your woollies

5/ Post-internet and especially post-Ravelry, it’s much easier for designers to meet the people knitting their patterns and get lots of immediate feedback. You have a very popular Ravelry group: is this link with your knitters something you enjoy?
It is absolutely a huge deal to me and I love being connected to everyone. I used to work in a knitting shop so I would be helping people with my patterns all day long. After I quit and moved to London to pursue music I missed the community aspect so much. That was right around the time that Ravelry started. I couldn't believe it! I jumped right in to a virtual version of the lifestyle that I had grown so accustomed to and it has totally changed my life. Thank you Ravelry!

6/ Which of your designs (current or upcoming) have you most enjoyed making?
I loved making the beekeeper's quilt and I love wearing my meow mitts :) They are my favorite thing I've ever designed because the little kitties on them just make me happy!

Meow mitts! I've even got some wool that colour. Hold me back

Thank you very much for doing this interview, Stephanie, you were a great interviewee and when you have taken over the world with your small puffy hexagons I’m confident you’ll be a benevolent dictator ;-). You can find Tiny Owl Knits on Ravelry or on Etsy. Please do go and have a look at her patterns, they are beautiful and I think you will like them although if you find yourself a month from now with baskets full of puffs and muttering 'just one more' to yourself at three in the morning, do not come and tell me off.

Thanks again Stephanie and best of luck with the new record xoxo

The Friday Interview: Niccy from Scrapunzel Pixie

OK, I have another interview, you see, I am back on track with the Friday interviews although I will not be on track next week as I will be in Norfolk which, for those of you who have read Vivianne’s robust opinions in the comments here, is a more extreme version of Fenland. Anyway, enough about me, says she modestly. Today’s interview is with Niccy from Scrapunzel Pixie, who makes beautiful reconstructed clothes, pretty brooches, armwarmers and purses. I am pretty much in love with Niccy’s fairy coats, I think they are beautiful (indeed I love all her stuff, so much in fact I've just bought a jumper, oops). Also, she has 30% off in her shop at the moment as part of etsy’s Christmas In July promotion, so everything is amazing value, go and stock up on your armwarmers now. It won’t be July forever, you know. It’ll be getting nippy soon, you’ll be wanting a lovely reconstructed jumper.

Take it away, Niccy!

Niccy, hard at work. I am encouraged to see a rainbow mug encouraging proper colour combining

What of the things you make are you most excited by?
I love all the things I make but custom orders really are great! Making an individual item for someone is always very exciting. Quite often, people will ask for something I might not have considered so the end result is perfectly individual and that kind of collaboration feels very special. I also love the challenge of creating something new - learning a brand new process can be a tad frustrating (because I never use commercial patterns of read instructions) but that feeling of 'Yes! Sussed it!' is always rewarding.

Brooches. Adorable

How important is being green in what you do?
Very! About 1 million tonnes of textiles goes to landfill every year, 50% of which is recyclable  - those are scary figures! When I first learned how much is regularly thrown away I was shocked and horrified, then I decided I wanted to do something about it. Scrapunzel's just one girl with a sewing machine, but more and more people are beginning to see the beauty in recycled clothes. I take a special delight in making something pretty or useful out of what might otherwise have been rubbish - one girl's junk is another girl's joy!
Charity shops are like treasure troves for me - I can easily spend hours and hours just looking and whenever I visit a new town the charity shops are always the first thing I want to look at! I do have to be a little bit strict with myself, otherwise I'd probably buy more than I can carry!

Do you have a target customer/muse in mind when you make your clothes?
Not really. My customer base is so wide-ranging it's practically impossible to name a demographic! There are dreadlocked mamas, students and grandmothers proudly wearing their Forest Fae jumpers. [And now me! ;-)]. I've had enquiries for coats for the 3 Wishes Faery Festival and I've just made a coat for someone to wear to Whitby Goth Weekend in November so maybe anyone 'alternative' or green-minded. Perhaps it's because patchwork is part of such a long-standing tradition or maybe it's just that people like to be individual. My proudest moment happened when James Strawbridge (of BBC's It's Not Easy Being Green) bought a pair of wrist-warmers for his mum - I was star-struck for days!!
My muse is ever-changing - I love Victorian-style tailoring and I'm always influenced by the costumes I see in films and magazines. As a Star Wars geek, I'm quite keen to make something inspired by Princess Leia or Queen Amidala's wardrobe - maybe something with a crazy head-dress! But I can be just as inspired by someone who passes me in the street; so many people have such a unique way of combining styles and colours.

Look at that, wow. What a kerfuffle this would cause if I wore it to Waitrose

Your elf coats are absolutely stunning. What's the process of making one, and how long does it take?
Thank you! It's quite an involved process - I scour charity shops for just the right kind of materials, wash and dry them all and then I spend a bit of time familiarizing myself with the fabrics - checking for stretch and weight and then I start cutting! Because I never use a pattern, the individuality of the materials often dictates certain features so the method varies from coat to coat which is part of the joy of making them! Everyday in my workshop is an adventure! The time-scale can differ quite wildly, too - if it all goes well without any hiccups and I don't have any interruptions, I can make a coat in about a day (excluding the time to source the materials and prepare them), but a larger or more intricate coat will take longer. I also finish all my seams by hand, which takes an absolute age but it reassures me that those seams are there to stay!

How do you feel about the way commercial fashion is produced?
Hmm, this is a tricky one! I love clothes; it's almost magical the way the right clothes can completely change the way you look, feel and are perceived by other people. But I really don't like the way clothes are produced and sold. Should I give a rant warning here? At it's very worst, I think the fashion industry is highly exploitative on almost every level: the underpaid, unprotected people (often women) on the production line; the models who have to maintain a certain shape/appearance at all costs; and the women who are manipulated by advertisers and magazines into purchasing.
And some of the practices of High Street stores are truly shocking; I've heard that damaged items (even if the damage is minimal, eg, a garment has a poorly sewn-in label or is wrongly sized) are often simply thrown into skips and disposed of. Okay, rant over!
[Niccy, rants are welcome on this blog, in fact I’m always glad when someone other than me has a rant ;-)].

I think the more rainbow things in life, the better. This one is my favourite

I love your blog project, 52 ways to leave your high street retailer. What inspired it?
See above, ha ha! In all seriousness, my inspiration is quite entirely selfish - I need more clothes! Because I make clothes everyone thinks my wardrobe must be absolutely bulging but it really isn't - I'm always making something for someone else! Deciding to make rather than buy is probably a bit militant but the idea of purchasing from the high street just doesn't feel right. And the best thing about sharing it on a blog is that other people can join in if they want to - I'd love to hear how they get on! And perhaps I can finally learn how to follow patterns! Eeek, I'm a bit trepidatious now!

What are your upcoming plans for your lovely shop?
I've just bought some fabric labels with my brand new logo on them - stitching them into place puts a big smile on my face! Etsy do a 'Christmas in July' promotion each summer and I'm taking part this year. There's some new purses and wristlets in my shop too (and some surprising new items to come soon!).
Most excitingly, I've been working on a new development for my Faery Coats so I'll be launching that very soon!

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Thank you for this, Niccy, your interview was great and I completely agree with you on the hating the fashion industry but loving the clothes bit. I wish you the best of luck with your shop, and (gets on soapbox briefly), I just think it’s wonderful that there are more people making alternative, recycled clothes for a range of sizes, and that non-high-street fashion is becoming more accessible. I find it very cheering.

OK, have a lovely weekend everyone (that’s an order). I shall hopefully see you all on Monday xx

The Friday Interview: Lisa from lisaghove

OK, I’m on an interview roll, and I’ve got another interview for you today. This one is with Lisa, who makes the most stunning cushions and bags out of vintage fabrics. I just love her style. Go and have a look at her etsy shop and tell me you’re not tempted. What I think is great about her things is the boldness of her colour combinations, because they’re adventurous but it all looks coherent and somehow a bit cool. And of course I always love anything patchwork, the idea of a tiny scrap of something being given a new lease of life in something else is wonderful. I mean, it does mean I can never throw anything away but that’s fine. I’m sure we could just move into a bigger house, especially as property is so afforable here, this is irony.

Take it away, Lisa!

Lisa with her stunning cushions, I love them so. Also that sofa is just like ours

What really hits me about your shop is the lovely way you combine colours. Do you have favourite colour combinations?
thank you! oh well, yes i am obviously rather fond of colour, yep! And indeed, it is combining colours that i find exciting - especially using unexpected combinations and crazy clashes, sometimes it just makes me giggle when i put some wacky pieces together! That said, it depends on my mood, some days i find myself going for muted or jewel tones. Turquoise, blues and greens with mauves is rather irresistable too... And somedays i can't keep away from the kitschy pink and yellow combinations, modern prints with vintage lace, bunny rabbits and bluebirds… I've gotten bolder with my combinations since i've been making the cushions, aided be the fact that my fabric stash has grown splendidly (happiness!).

The vintage fabric you use is fabulous. Does it take a lot of searching out?
oh yes, i have phases of seriously obsessive fabric hunting to boost my stash. And i get a tad miserable when i am coming to the end of a favourite piece. I hunt in boot sales and charity shops which i love to do - often what i find in these places are interesting textures, prints, wools etc from clothing. The truly mod floral type i mostly bid my socks off for on ebay - i figure if it ends up quite expensive then i can always sell a bit on, and keep a bit for my cushions, but i have a limit - some pieces are way out of my league. [Lisa, I am a fellow ebay-vintage-fabric stalker. I shall try not to bid against you. And yes some things are v expensive, Eames I’m looking at you].

Do you have a typical customer?
Hmmm, i guess i don't know the answer to that. I mostly sell on etsy of course so i don't get to meet my customers, though some i get to know a little through the process - especially those who make custom requests as we have more dialogue together. I have also just started selling at fairs and also an Open House event in the Brighton Festival, which i greatly enjoy. Some people will just love my work and i guess because we have a similar taste then we make a connection - i really like that. I think often that my customers are those who have been dreaming of making themselves a lovely patchwork but just haven't had the time or whatever, then they find that i have made one for them and we are mutually chuffed!

What do you like about the whole patchwork aesthetic?
Well, it's great that i can recycle old fabrics and bits of clothing, that pleases me to be at least a little green. Mostly i think i just love the opportunity to play around with the pieces i have and experiment with putting colours and styles together, mixing old and new. And i think theres just something so 'homey' and comforting about a patchwork, i like that too!

Are there other patchwork artists you admire?
Well i completely and utterly adore the work of design store Squint - you know those stunning upholstered patchwork chairs and sofas - i WANT one sooo much - i am quite sure one day i shall own one of my very own (probably not soon though!). And there are a lot of sellers on etsy who have superb traditional patchwork skills and make very exact and intricate items - respect. [Note from me, Squint are fabulous and I want one too now, perhaps I need to buy a lottery ticket].

What of the things you’re making at the moment are you most excited about?
I'm printing my own fabric!!!!!!!!!
ooh yes, i have been taking a course to brush up on my textile and screenprinting skills, at the moment i'm working on some gorgeous christmas decorations with intricate lacey prints on them (coming to my etsy store - um, soon) [Note from me, let us know when they come in, these sound really exciting!]. And i'm also working on some bird prints - this is a longer work in progress and i am working on them whenever i can find the time - but i doubt they will be ready till next year...
and i am trying to be very efficient and get lots of stock ready for christmas - last year the rush kind of took me by surprise, a big whooosh of activity in nov/dec - so this year i'm gonna be ready - i am, i AM!!
Oh, and some cute brooches are on their way,
and i am working on some painted backdrops to improve my cushions photos on etsy - constantly trying to improve my photography - its quite an uphill climb as i am resistant to 'technical' but it is my sincere aim to make it to the Etsy Front Page - oh yes..

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Thank you, Lisa! Loved your interview and love your work, and I wish you all the best with getting on to etsy’s front page (your photographs are very nice. I hope you get spotted!). And get that screenprinted fabric in your shop (I mean, no pressure), it sounds great.

Have a fun weekend everyone x

The Friday Interview on Monday: Vicky from Luna Wolf

I’m starting off my interviews again, woot, go me, and I’ve got one for you today! And another on Friday so I can resume The Friday Interview! So my schedule is aligning and this makes me happy, although I appreciate it doesn’t mean quite as much to you ;-). Today’s interview is with Vicky from Luna Wolf who makes reusable menstrual pads.

Vicky at work immediately proving she is a better person than me by not swearing at her overlocker

Reusable pads are one of those things I think you can go through your life without anyone telling you about, unless you have come across them on the internet, because you don’t see them in mainstream shops. I think this is a real shame, because they’re really good. I’ve been using reusable pads for a good couple of years now (I’ve got a selection from various sellers on etsy) and I love them.

Now, this is the obligatory TMI alert so my mother can skip the next paragraph, but I thought I might as well give you a description of my experience so you can decide whether they sound like they’re for you or not: I have very heavy periods for about 2 days and then lighter for about 3/4 days more. On the first two days, I have found that some reusable pads work better than others, and I have some where, no, I probably wouldn’t want to sit through a three hour meeting in a white skirt, although I also have some where they are more absorbent than disposables: on the lighter 3/4 days, however, they are unbeatable. They are so comfortable and so much better than the naff plastic alternatives. In terms of washing, when I was looking into buying them, I read a lot about buying special handthrown pots to soak them in and then using the soaking water to water your roses. This might sound more attractive if you have roses that do not wilt and/ or fall on your head when you walk down the garden, however, our bathroom is quite literally (this is not an exaggeration) the smallest bathroom I have ever seen in a house, I think they must have converted a cupboard, and a Handthrown Pot Honouring The Inner Feminine would not last 5 minutes against Partner stumbling about clumsily in the middle of the night. I would probably have to put it on the coffee table for safety. So this put me off a bit. However, additional TMI alert, I have found that I can just wash them, unsoaked, in the normal wash (I do them at 60 degrees C with towels), and they are fine and do not stain. And I only use Ecover so there we are. Also, although one of the myriad ways in which I have failed at being a woman is that I don’t understand what panty liners are used for (panty!), if you do, and you are in the habit of using them, I would think using smaller pads would be much cheaper and way more comfortable.

OK Mum, you can look again now ;-). I found Luna Wolf pads through a recommendation on Ravelry and thought they looked brilliant: lovely colours, variety of sizes, and instructions to do it yourself! (Yes, of course I am. Yes, I’ll report back ;-) ), and Vicky very kindly agreed to do an interview for me. Thank you very much, Vicky! Take it away.

Luna Wolf pads in fantastic cheerful colours

1/ Could you tell us a bit about your pads, and why they’re better than commercial (disposable) pads/ tampons?
I make reusable cloth menstrual pads, using modern fabrics and prints - I firmly believe that just because an item is functional doesn't mean it can't be beautiful too! I wouldn't be so bold as to say they're "better" than commercial products because everybody is different, and what suits one person may not suit another. However, they are definitely a better option for me and for the many other women who find commercial disposable products uncomfortable. For some women, synthetic materials or chemicals in disposables cause irritation, whereas my pads put soft natural fabrics against the skin. The environmental and economic impact is fairly significant, too: in my case, seven years of cloth pad use equals approximately 1100 disposable pads I haven't had to buy and send to landfill.

2/ How do you use and care for reusable pads, i.e. changing them when you’re out and about and washing them?
Using cloth pads is very easy - as with disposables, you just need to make sure you change your pad before it gets too saturated. You can buy specialist "wetbags" for carrying pads when out and about, but a simple shower bag or resealable "ziploc" bag works just as effectively. Most cloth pads fold into neat little envelopes so that everything is contained.

There are lots of different ways to clean washable pads - my personal favourite is the "dry pail" method, which you can read about here: http://squidoo.com/easypadcare

3/ Reusable menstrual products haven’t really ever gone mainstream (i.e. I can buy them in my local health food shop but definitely not in Boots. And the ones in the health food shop aren’t cheerful like yours!). Why do you think this is, and do you think it will change?
I'd love to see cloth pads in Boots! I think the main reason you don't see them in large chains is because most cloth pad businesses are very small, usually WAHW (work at home women) operations. To supply somewhere like Boots you'd have to move into mass production, and that's a whole other kettle of fish. I think it will happen someday when the larger companies start to catch on that there is a growing demand for reusable pads. (Boots has already started carrying menstrual cups, for example.) [Note from me, I have to mention here that although I am a pad girl, many woman find the Mooncup absolutely wonderful – I have heard nothing but raves about this. It always looks a bit involved to me but then I said that about stranded knitting. So this is definitely worth considering as well].

DIY pads! Instructions and materials available in Vicky's shop

4/ I noticed you sell instructions and materials to make your own pads. I’m really tempted! Are they difficult to make?
Not at all! I wrote the instructions to suit all abilities, and there are notes for hand or machine sewing. If you can sew two pieces of fabric together, you'll be able to follow the instructions. A word of warning though: making them is addictive! Before you know it, you'll have more pads than you know what to do with.

5/ How do you feel about the way commercial pads and tampons are advertised? (Wooo! Bodyform for youuuuu!!! ;-) ).
I think most pad and tampon advertising is ridiculous! With all the euphemisms, the constant talk of "freshness" and the hush-hush packaging, you would think that a period is some kind of unfortunate disease. The products themselves look very clinical, as if dealing with menstruation is akin to bandaging a wound or treating an infection. I prefer to think of my pads as nice underwear, and have found that this small shift in perspective has helped me to feel much better about my menstrual cycle. [Note from me, the ones that are fragranced irritate me. Grrr].

6/ What would you recommend to someone who wanted to try out your pads? (i.e. how many of what size should they buy initially?).
I always suggest starting with just two or three pads. If you've never tried cloth pads, you don't want to buy an entire stash in one go, only to find that the style you've chosen isn't right for you. Try a couple of different sizes, and see what feels best. A good rule of thumb is to measure your favourite disposable pad and pick something in that ballpark.

7/ What of the things you’re doing with your business at the moment are you most excited about?
I've always wanted to carry pad storage pouches in my store, but have never had the time to make them. I've now found someone who can supply fabulous zippered pouches, and I hope to place my first order soon. I get asked about pouches all the time, so I'm very excited at the prospect of being able to offer them at last! I'm also hoping to add some new fabrics to my DIY section, which I'm really looking forward to.

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Thank you very much, Vicky! I loved your interview and to be able to spread the word about reusable pads (gets evangelical gleam in eye). Have a look at the Luna Wolf shop (or catch Vicky on her blog) and see if there’s anything you fancy – if you haven’t tried reuseable pads before I really urge you to give them a try. You don’t have to jump in headfirst, you could just buy one and see how you go. It does feel a bit transgressive the first time, yes it does, but I promise you after 5 minutes you’ll think, why did I never do this before? (Like so many things!).

OK. Getting out to enjoy the sunshine. Have a lovely day, everyone x

The Friday Interview: Erik and Amanda from Made By Hippies

Hooray! I have another interview!

One of the things I just love in this world is tie-dye. I love everything about it. I love the colours, I love the patterns, I love how you can either go full-out hippie with it or dress it up and do ironic juxtaposition with more formal clothes. I love it. The first thing I tie-dyed was a pair of Gap chinos, years ago. I just tied 2p coins into them, bunched them up, sat them in a sink full of purple dye and they came out great, but I really like the hippy multicoloured spirals and since I’ve discovered how to do them I’ve never looked back. I also love how it is still kind of the Underground Fibre Art and the links with all things alternative (I think they used to do it on The Farm).

I particularly love poking round etsy and admiring other people’s tie-dyeing, and I have had my eye (in a non-stalkerish, non-scary way) for a while on Made By Hippies, (also see their website, here), whose tie dyes I really love because they are so beautifully colour-saturated. So thank you very much, Erik and Amanda, for letting me interview you and put your lovely things on my blog!

1/ Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your business?
Made By Hippies is Erik and Amanda. We do it all from making everything we sell to writing all the html code for our websites in notepad.We first met in 2005 after being introduced by Erik’s sister Sarah who studied with Amanda in the Yucatan, Mexico during college. We started out making polymer clay beads together and then started experimenting with tie dyes. Amanda was the tie dye teacher at first but since making thousands of tie dyes we have both become master tie dyers working together to make our colorful creations.

Erik and Amanda

2/ How did you get into tie-dyeing, and how did you develop your craft?
Amanda first started tie dyeing in 2003 as part of her love of fiber arts. Erik started learning in 2006 inspired by recreating classic hippy designs and inventing some new ones. We started simple learning the basics of the colors and how to apply them and get a good result on the fabric. Many of the techniques we have come to use in tie dyes we have stumbled upon by accident but they all add up to the little difference that make every tie dye artists tie dye unique from each other. We try to have a lot of full color in our tie dyes with very little or no white left in the background. When we look back at all the tie dyes we have made we can see our patterns and colors have evolved over the years as we keep refining our skills and learning more about the craft of fabric dying and tie dye.

3/ It says on your website you make your tie-dyes using renewable energy. Do you try to incorporate eco principles into the things you sell?
We think handmade and being environmentally friendly go hand in hand which is why we are PGE Renewable Energy customers.

Another aspect of this is selling our tie dyes at the Gresham Farmers Market and other open air markets and festivals whenever we can. Participation in open air markets is how people originally traded with each other and really ties in what all handmade crafters do with the rest of the community by allowing them a place to engage with their local community. Everyone wins!

4/ What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever tie-dyed?
I guess the straight up answer would be this person who responded to a craigslist ad for tie dye I had posted back in the day and she wanted her coat that have been coffee stained tie dyed so we made it up for her.

But we have had a few oddball returns where the people get the tie dye then they freak out because it’s not what they thought they ordered and send it back to us so we refund them but we just wonder what they were thinking about when they ordered the tie dye from the photo?

Amanda tie-dyeing (and also wearing a nice one!)

5/ What’s your favourite thing that you’re making at the moment?
Our favorite tie dyes to make lately are our tie dye galaxies. Each tie dye galaxy is a totally unique creation in both pattern and color and the Universe itself is our inspiration for the designs.

Here are a few examples from our etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/60378672/

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/33070388

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/33324326

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/33035385

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/32602887

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/32708305

Tie-dye galaxy. Fabulous!

6/ Do you have a typical customer, and if so what are they like?
Really the cool thing about selling tie dyes is finding out that really everyone secretly wants to wear tie dye, even if they won’t admit it to themselves. [Note from me, this is completely true ;-) ]. We have sold tie dyes to babies that aren’t even born yet to 90 year old ladies who have been wearing tie dye for years and everyone in between. But if we had to narrow down one customer type at the market it’s the mother and daughter teams who buy the most tie dyes and then online probably just hippies who want a new tie dye that is Made By Hippies.

7/ Are there any other tie-dye artists you particularly admire?
Yeah there are definitely a lot of cool tie dyers out there making tie dyes. Sometimes at festivals we will see someone wearing a really cool intricately designed tie dye and we will study it and try to imagine how it was folded up and how it was dyed and then later when we get back to the tie dye studio try to recreate it. There are lots of great tie dye artists on etsy too. Although there are some poorly made tie dyes out there (more the mass produced stuff) that I definitely do not enjoy I admire everyone who makes their own handmade tie dyes.

One last thing I want to say, please check out our free tie dye instructions at http://www.howtotiedye.net and then our websites at http://www.madebyhippies.com and http://www.etsy.com/shop/madebyhippies and http://www.youtube.com/user/madebyhippies and http://www.twitter.com/madebyhippies

Peace!

Erik and Amanda

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Thank you Erik and Amanda, really enjoyed your interview and I love your tie dyes (also, do look at their really helpful tie-dye instructions – I had never thought of putting the fabric on a draining rack or letting it dry first, and I think it would really help so I am going to try with my next batch. I see much tie-dyeing in my future. Indeed mum wants a tshirt 'that will co-ordinate with beige'. It's a bit of a challenge but I'm going to have a go).

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

The Friday Interview - on Tuesday. Amy Orange Juice

Today’s interview is with Amy from Amy Orange Juice.

I noticed Amy’s lovely glass work when I was poking about looking for a glass suncatcher for the kitchen window (Amy’s shops on Folksy and on Etsy). I am as yet undecided as to whether a suncatcher would work because of my condensation issues (have I bored you about our house recently? We have condensation issues in the kitchen! I am redoing the garden! It is all very difficult! ;-) ), but I thought her things were so nice I wanted to share them with you.

In my mind I always think glass, or indeed anything involving heat, is scary and hardcore. This is because I once took a jewellery class (don’t ask, I was rubbish) and one of the things I couldn’t get through my head was, when you have heated the silver with the blow torch, do not then pick the silver up with your hand. So, I am always impressed when anyone does anything which involves soldering, because if I had carried on for much longer I would have had no skin left on my fingers. I am also too frightened to ignite anything, which holds you back when blowtorches are involved. This is a whole other story and one for which I blame my upbringing; but you can see it is safest and generally best all around if I stick to fibre. So, I admire glass artists lots; but I admire them from a safe distance. Take it away, Amy!

12 beach huts. I believe I once saw a sky that colour, it seems a long time ago (sigh)

1/ How did you get started with making stained glass?
I have always been interested in stained glass, I really love working with colour so I guess it is a good medium for me. I studied art at university but after I graduated I started working with homeless people (as a mental health worker) and I really needed a creative outlet to relax, so I did a stained glass course in the evenings for 2 years. It was love at first cut and I was soon making things for friends and acquaintances; 3 years later (when I was pregnant with my first daughter) I was made redundant, which gave me the perfect opportunity to change career and become self employed. I have not looked back and I can work around my young family. [Note from me, I also used to work with homeless people. As a benefits adviser. However at that time my creative outlet was mostly focused on eating cake and spending too much money at TK Maxx. Stained glass is more constructive].

2/ Could you just explain briefly how the process works? 
Use several techniques, primarily I make traditional leaded stained glass windows, little has changed in the process for 1,000 years! [Note from me, gosh, and I mean that non-ironically]. You make a design, cut the glass, fit it all together in lead came (which has channels for the glass to fit into). Then you solder all the joins together, cement the panel to fill all the gaps between the lead and glass (to make it water tight) and then finish with a patina acid to darken the solder joins and polish with stove black.

For smaller, lighter items I use the copper foil technique which is where you cut the glass, and then cover the edges in adhesive copper tape, these pieces are then fitted together and soldered together.

Finally, I use applique and mosaic techniques, basically gluing pieces of glass to a transparent surface (applique) or onto a solid backing (mosaic) and then grouting the whole piece.

I use etching techniques to affect the surface of the glass and I do a lot of acid etching.

I am saving up for a kiln, so I can start fusing glass together and painting the surface with enamels.

Art Deco Columbine Flowers

3/ I love how your bold graphics translate into glass. What are your biggest inspirations for colour and shape?
Thank you! I get ideas of colour everywhere, I am lucky enough to live in Devon and it is a really beautiful part of the world, from the coast to the moors there is a view everywhere. I am very inspired by Art Deco and I love vintage fabric designs [note from me, me too!] and repeating patterns. Mostly I do a sketch and then try to reduce it to as few lines as possible. I don’t even try to get the realistic colours of nature, you can do that with other media, I want to celebrate the beautiful effect of light on coloured glass and I choose my colours to create a ‘mood’ more than a realistic interpretation of what I see. 

Commissioned window in situ. Isn't that lovely? I bet they don't have condensation. I bet their cutlery drawer opens

4/ Which of the things you make are you most excited about at the moment?
Probably my commission stained glass work at the moment, I am booked up till sometime in the summer with a steady flow of bespoke windows for people’s homes and I love the whole process from having a nosey round some lovely homes to seeing the finished piece in its new home and happy customers (I have been hugged and kissed several times!)

But I am always excited by the next project…I have to think of something to make for a couple of sculpture exhibitions later in the year, I just need to find the right old rubbish to get inspired by! 

Kaleidoboat! I think this fabulous. Also I want to go and live near the seaside

5/ I love your Kaleidoboat, above (link to the story here!). Do found objects/ upcycled stuff feature a lot in your work?
The first thing I remember upcycling was old cigar boxes given to me by my next door neighbour when I was about 13, I would decoupage and paint them with all sorts of designs. I did A Level Textiles and did a project on make do and mend clothes in World War II and I have really been upcycling ever since! All of my art work has included found objects, when I was young it was out of the need for cheap materials but I also like the challenge of incorporating found objects into my work.

I use found objects much more regularly than just in big mixed media sculptures, I also make lots of bottle top brooches, mosaics layered with broken jewellery and all of my boat mobiles,  mosaics and many of my other small pieces are just found pieces of waste stained glass pieced together into pleasing shapes.

Junk Plankton

6/ Are there any other glass artists (or other general artists) you admire?
Oh lots, too many to choose, but at the moment I am especially blown away with the Japanese approach to contemporary stained glass and there are lots of artists on this website who I like to snoop at http://www.kuripa.co.jp

_________________________________________

You can see more of Amy on her website, or in her Etsy or Folksy shops. She also has some events coming up – a landscapes exhibition at Otterton Mill from 5th March – 29th April (this is one of the pieces going into the exhibition), and she’s making a new range for a new shop in Scotland in May. She’s also going to be doing an art fair at RHS Rosemoor on 10th-11th April. So if anyone is in the Devon area you can go and have a look at her lovely things (and you could buy some as well! Or you could commission a window! You never know ;-) ).

Thanks Amy for being interviewed, I enjoyed it very much. Best of luck with all your exhibitions and fairs and I hope you get your kiln because I can imagine your enamel work would be lovely x

The Friday Interview: Ely Wool Shop

It’s The Friday Interview again!

Sandra in Ely Wool Shop

Today’s interview is with Sandra, who owns Ely Wool Shop. I went to interview Sandra on Wednesday morning and arrived just as her knitting group were finishing up: it was all looking very busy and cheerful (note to self, I do sometimes wonder if I’d like to join a knitting group, although I might turn up with something like in the previous post and be ignominiously shown the door. Anyway, it did look a lot of fun). Ely Wool Shop opened about a year ago (in fact that means I pretty much interviewed Sandra on her anniversary, how cool is that?) and it was quite an exciting thing to happen. Because, although internet wool shopping is a wonderful thing, there is something special about being able to go and meet your wool in person, and become seduced by colours, etc, that I don’t think internet shopping can ever entirely replace.

I didn’t get a photograph of the view from the window because it was a bit of a grey day outside, but the wool shop is in a nice bit of Ely, looking out onto the Cromwell Museum. For those of you knitters reading this who live anywhere near Ely, it really is worth a trip.

I would like you to admire the fact that I restrained myself in the following interview from just asking, OMG, is running a wool shop, like, the best thing Evah?, and thought of other questions. But, I have to say, I did come away with the impression that yes, it pretty much is, which was great. More power to your elbow, Sandy, and may your skeins of Malabrigo multiply. On with the interview!

A handknitted bauble and chain in the window. Festive decorations, wool shop-style

1/ Are you a knitter yourself? What do you like knitting?
Yes, I certainly am! I mostly knit scarves and accessories and other small items, like baby items, or little toys. I did a dressmaking course a few years ago - I also really like dressmaking - and it sparked me off being crafty. I knitted when I was a child, but I didn’t pick it up again until relatively recently: there seemed to be a real hiatus in knitting, dressmaking and other crafts in the 80s and early nineties, when everything started being so cheap that making your own didn’t seem worth it, and you couldn’t really get decent dressmaking fabrics. [Note from me, this is exactly how I remember it too, that period was a real desert if you were a crafty-type person, because all you could find were balls of mohair that were rough enough to take the top layer of skin off and cross stitch kits of teddy bears looking a bit cross-eyed. At least The People’s Friend kept the flag flying ;-) ].

A festive display incorporating some rather lovely Manos Maxima. Also crackers! And fluffiness!

2/ Why did you decide to open a wool shop, and were you inspired by other wool shops?
I opened this wool shop purely for the love of it. I used to be a health and safety consultant, but then a couple of things happened - my daughter was born, and my dad died. Then the wool shop on the high street closed, and I was wanting to get out of the rat run: everything came together, and it seemed a good time to just go for it. So I did! And I'm really enjoying everything about it - I love being around people and craft, so it's ideal for me.

I didn’t want to just discard all the things you get in traditional wool shops. I thought about the wool shop which had closed [note from me: I went in this once and it was indeed quite traditional], and I wanted to follow along with some of the existing stuff, but also do some new stuff.

3/ What are your most popular items?
Stylecraft and Rico always sell well – the basic ranges are very popular. And novelty scarf yarns are still going well, and young people like them. I have a customer with a nine year old son who is knitting his way through the pom pom yarn, very successfully.

4/ What’s been the strangest thing a customer’s ever asked for?
[Strangely enough, the minute I asked this question, a customer came in looking for a Bodger tool because she had seen rag rug making on Kirstie’s Homemade Home, which gave us the opportunity of learning what a bodger tool was. So I modified my question to be, what’s been the strangest thing, apart from a bodger tool. For those of you who have also seen Kirstie’s Homemade Home and would like a bodger tool, I think they have them on ebay but they do seem quite expensive. Customer if you are reading this, I hope your quest was successful and your rug turns out lovely and bright and fluffy].
A man once came in and wanted to buy bra extender elastic to hold his trousers up. And a very large man who looked like a farmer wanted to buy ‘a really big sewing needle’. I don’t know what he was going to use it for but I found him the biggest one in the shop and he went away happy.

The woolly wares, shown panoramically

5/ [I channelled my friend Loretta for this next one, because Loretta is very into British sheep and emails me links to websites with the most dramatic-looking animals on them, staring stoically across fields]. Do you stock wool from rare British sheep?
Not at the moment, but I definitely might in the future. I’m doing research into it currently – I’ve been looking at wool from Norfolk Horn sheep, and I’ve also been looking into wool from New Lanark Mills, although I’m not sure the wool itself is British. The thing with wool from British sheep is, it’s often not been dyed and it looks as if it’s come quite directly from the sheep. It’s a different kind of look, which I really like. The subtle colours are really nice.

6/ Do you encounter any anti-knitting prejudice? [Because I do!].
Yes! I went out for a drink with some ex-colleagues recently and there was quite a lot of banter about, have you brought your knitting, are you wearing anything woolly, did you knit that, stuff like that. People do make comments, although it's all done in a friendly way.

7/ Does having a wool shop make you look differently at mass-produced knitwear? [Note from me, in my experience you can tell a knitter by the fact that they are sloping round M&S prodding their jumpers and muttering, look at that, £35 for a bit of garter stitch, or irritating the staff in designer boutiques by holding hats aloft with the rallying cry of, I Could Knit That Myself!].
Definitely! I look at the quality, price, where it’s made, what it’s made from, all things like that. Knitwear that you buy in shops generally tends to be made of acrylic, but, acrylic is actually getting more expensive (because it’s a byproduct of the oil industry). I can see a point in the future where it’ll be much more expensive than pure wool. I can see us perhaps over the next ten years going back to using pure wool as a basic, and we’ll look back and be really surprised how cheap acrylic used to be. [Readers, you can imagine my fascination, because if acrylic ever becomes a luxury item then the Ravelry forums will just implode in confusion and what will we do then. However, it makes absolute sense that it will get more expensive as oil gets scarcer. I ran this idea past Partner in the car going back because I was so taken with it and he said ‘Ha! They’ll be stockpiling it!’. ‘Who?’ I said. Partner looked at me in a way that conveyed effectively ‘the evil faceless proponents of global capitalism’. So as well as Partner loving Moby Dick beyond all things, he also believes in secret EU mountains of Cygnet acrylic which are possibly locked up and protected from the common gaze by armed guards. I only tell you these things to make you jealous of my relationship].

A crocheted cushion, and a selection of fabrics to the left

8/ Do you attract a lot of new knitters, or does it seem that your customers are mostly people who have been knitting for a while?
I get a bit of both. I do get a lot of youngsters, I think also because it’s a newish shop and they want to come and have a look and see what it's all about. We also get complete beginners coming to the knitting group (Sandra runs a knitting group at the shop every Wednesday morning). I do get experienced knitters as well, though. [We discussed how well served Ely is for woolly-type shops – as well as Sandra’s shop there is also Yarn on The Square and Ely Cycle Centre, which doesn’t sound like it ought to sell anything fibre-y but does. There are also lots of knitting groups – as well as Sandra’s there are also the Lighthouse Knitters, and knitters who meet in the Lamb hotel].

9/ Which of your lines are you most excited about?
I like the British wools. Surprisingly, though, some of the organic and natural lines haven’t been selling so well overall and have been discontinued, which is surprising, because people who knit are often people who are very aware of ethical production and things like that. And of course, Malabrigo! I went on a visit to the Knitting and Stitching Show a few years ago and bought a skein of Malabrigo and a pattern, and enjoyed knitting it so much it started me off knitting again.

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So that confirms what we’ve always known. Malabrigo – the gateway yarn. Who knows where it might lead? To piles of surprisingly-soft woolly items, a maxed-out credit card, or, in this case, to a lovely wool shop. That doesn’t seem like too bad an outcome to me. You can see more about Ely Wool Shop on its website and do go and say hello if you’re in the area (take your credit card).

Thank you for being interviewed, Sandy, I really enjoyed it, and I hope Ely Wool Shop is sating the woolly needs of the Eastern region for years to come.

Have a good weekend everyone and stay warm. It’s going to be Snow Armageddon tomorrow. I’m knitting a hat with ears, and I think I’m going to need it.