CRAFTY 
YARNZ

 ABOUT ME

My crochet journey started when I was around 12 years old when my mum started teaching me crochet. I have always been a creative person, growing up learning different forms of dance and trying many different crafts including cross stitch, making and designing teddy bears, cake decorating and many more however I always came back to crochet.

I have always found crochet to be my favourite craft because you only need a few items to get started (yarn, crochet hook and yarn needle). It is easy to travel with, you can do it while watching tv, or listening to podcasts/audiobooks, it’s relaxing, good for anxiety and it's relatively easy to pick up where you left off if you have put your project down for a while.There were a number of years where I lost my ‘crojo’ though as, in those days, it wasn’t easy to find many patterns of items that I would wear or that inspired me, plus being based in New Zealand we were too far away from many of the world’s best designers to know what was going on. 

Fast forward a number of years and I moved to London with my now husband and we toured the country in a show called ‘Top Hat’.  My husband was one of the actors in the show and I worked in the wardrobe department.  One of my roles was to be available backstage to help with quick changes for the cast.  There were a number of times while the show was on that I was not able to do anything except sit and wait. Crochet was the perfect way to keep my hands busy while being something that didn’t take up any space (I kept my project in a ‘bum-bag’) and was easy to pick up and put down as needed.

Eventually my husband and I moved back to New Zealand, because my mother was sick with breast cancer.  Again crochet came to my rescue to help me with my stress and anxiety during this time and has since continued to help me after my mother’s death. 

With the popularity of Facebook, Youtube and other social media, the new and exciting modern patterns and fashions are much easier to access, if only a little bit hard to keep up with.  I’m now inspired to teach others this wonderful craft as well as design my own items to share. 

My crochet tastes vary quite a lot as a maker - the type of project I may be working on will vary depending on my level of energy, motivation or excitement over a pattern, yarn or project. I have many projects on the go (such as the Rozeta CAL, graphghans, amigurumi brooches, beanies, scarfs, design projects and many more) so that I can pick up whichever project works for my mental state at the time.  Eventually I may even finish them all!

Amber