Hey, I’m Zoe

 

I may as well tell you now that I’m a hopeless romantic.

I love the nautical, the indie, the ethical, the DIY, and I’m obsessed with geometric shapes, monochrome and the sea.

I used to make lots of things, but now focus mostly on crochet.

 

Yarn for change

 

I almost always think of the item I am going to design next when I am by the sea. Hardly surprising as for the first 16 years, my life revolved around it.

It’s pretty much impossible to grow up in a small fishing village and escape the ocean. Awoken by gulls and hit by a vista most of us dream of seeing each morning, as soon as you step out of the front door, the sea is everywhere. It was the food on our table in both the literal and metaphoric sense. We travelled on the passenger ferry when we needed to go to the closest town, and we travelled on the car ferry when we needed to go further, failing that, swim?

Slow Fashion

Crochet can be a long process! There have been a growing number of real crochet items on the High street in the last few years, which is both good and bad. Whilst it is encouraging to see the popularity of crocheted items and see crochet recognised as a craft in itself, real crochet cannot be reproduced on a machine. This means that apart from the 'lookalike' High Street items, the rest have been made by hand. People need to be aware of this fact before making their purchases. It is concerning to think about who has made this enormous amount of clothing and whether they have been fairly paid for their hard work as well as the time it must have taken, particularly to produce larger items or items in large quantities.

 

Buy Once, Buy Well

If you are interested in purchasing a handmade, crochet item, please consider approaching a maker and asking them to make a piece on commission with the ‘buy once, buy well’ premise.

You will more than likely end up with an item you will wear for years whilst supporting a small business person.

Another option is to learn a new skill and make it yourself instead.

Once you have learnt the skill, the possibilities are endless and in the learning, so many bridges between people, communities and generations can be made.

Check out my patterns I have for sale, or go to my ASK ZOE page for some help & advice.