yarn craft – Page 3 – Making Stitches Podcast

Kerry Lord took up crochet for the first time when she went on maternity leave from her family’s alpaca yarn business less than ten years ago. She watched some YouTube tutorials and created a cuddly elephant for her baby; Edward, who was still yet to be born. Little did she know back then that Bridget the Elephant would eventually go on to be made thousands of times by crocheters around the world and the book of crochet animal patterns she would go on to write would be translated into 22 different languages.

Kerry’s first pattern book: Edward’s Menagerie

This week on Making Stitches, I have a chat with Kerry Lord, the founder of Toft and creator of more than 200 crochet patterns. Kerry has gone on to write 11 pattern books, the most recent of which; A Partridge in a Pear Tree, has been released in time for Christmas. She told me how the business first got started and how after shaky beginnings it’s become the flourishing creative hub it now is.

The Three Wise Men from the new Toft Christmas Collection

We chatted last week in the first day of our most recent National lockdown here in the UK and just before Kerry launched the brand new Toft Christmas campaign which you can find out all about on the company’s website.

You can listen to the episode here.

Ellie from the new Toft Christmas collection

The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

Kerry’s latest book: A Partridge in a Pear Tree

This week, Phil from The Twisted Yarn shares her story on Making Stitches. A knitter and crocheter in her spare time, Phil works as a clinical psychologist in her day job and is a mother of twin boys.

Known as ‘The Modern Knitter’ in her quarterly column in Simply Knitting magazine, Phil has also appeared on BBC TV with her imaginatively reupholstered chair which was reborn as a yarny country cottage complete with a front garden, pond and vegetable patch!

Phil’s real love though, is her own take on modern stranded knitting rather than the more traditional Fair Isle style. She says she’s inspired by nature and is hoping to have her first book on the technique published next year.