Interviews

Style and Crochet Heroes – an Interview with Lazy Daisy Jones

Ready for the weekend I have a lovely little treat for you. For many years I have followed blogger and crocheter – Lazy Daisy Jones – also known as Ashley. She has built a really successful blogging and intagram following. In my year of the fashion fast I have found her style post particularly inspiring and I thought it would be great to get some advice and wisdom from Ashley for fashionable dressing as a ‘midster’ but also as a blogger.

Ashley, I avidly follow your Instagram account and indeed take time out to follow your blog posts. You came to my attention for your crochet and crafting but now I really look forward to seeing your posts on fashion and beauty. How has your blog evolved since you began in 2013?

Emma, thank you for having me on your lovely blog! Did you know you are one of my Crochet Heroes?

My blog Lazy Daisy Jones has evolved with my life. No one stays the same forever. As our families grow up and we grow older our tastes change.

My son was 11 when I started blogging, he is 16 now so I Have far more time for myself and my other interests.

I have always written about crafts and home restoration projects and I realised that my blog was rapidly turning into a lifestyle blog, not just a crochet and sewing blog. I decided to go with the flow and share what I was wearing and using on my skin. It was scary at first, and I was worried that my readers would think ‘who does she think she is at her age?’  ( I’m 54)

However, gradually my confidence increased and I found other women of my age were enjoying and actually reading what I was sharing.

Your photographs are always very beautiful. I am very envious of your confidence with your fashion posts. What would your top tip be for great images?

Thank you, it has been a steep learning curve. Trial and error would be the best way to explain it.

Luckily I have some wonderful blogger friends who advised me on photographing outfits.

My partner takes all the pics and I shout instructions to him! My top tips would be:

a. Always use a tripod this stops camera blur/shake.

b. Get out and about, find some pretty locations.

c. Enjoy yourself, smile, smile smile!

 

You know that this year I am having a fashion fast – basically not buying a new clothes. But I am always on the lookout for something new. I find your fashion posts particularly inspiring. How has your style changed over the last few years?

That is an interesting question! I have always loved colour and clever details. However, I don’t think my style has changed, I think my confidence has. I now know what suits me and my body shape. Confidence plays such a huge part in personal style. I think if you feel good in what you are wearing, than you will look good too.

I feel that I might be in a bit of fashion transition. Having been an avid buyer of clothes – I have taken a fashion fast this year (not buying any new items)…help! What would be your top tips for fashion conscious style… for a woman for any age?

Emma I think you have done the right thing, by taking a break and probably reviewing where you want to be style wise.

The first thing I would say is empty your wardrobe onto your bed and only put back the things you love and wear a lot. Even if you end up with a wardrobe full of jeans and t-shirts, you will have your answer?

My advice would be, wear what you love and dress for your lifestyle.

I live in jeans and there is nothing wrong with that! I change things up with my shoes and tops. Mules and a frilly blouse one day. Knitwear and brogues the next!

I love Hello fashion monthly its only £1 and has wonderful tips and fashion trend info. Buy it with your next weekly shop?

You were recently featured in Woman and Home Magazine as one of the top influencers – how did that come about?

When I started writing about fashion and my style and posting pics on my Instagram account Lazy Daisy Jones, I lost a lot of followers. I don’t think my crochet fans wanted to see it at that point.

So on a whim I started a new style account Daisy Jones Style, and just posted fashion images. Somehow that got noticed very early on. It snowballed from there and I started working with Brands and Pr companies. Woman and Home Magazine champion the older woman so that was probably how they found me. A proud moment for me!

As a blogger myself I notice that you have taken your blog to another level. You work with many companies in collaboration and have an diverse range of content? It looks like a full time job to create that level of excellence. What advice would you give someone wanting to break into that level of blogging?

You are right I started full time blogging this year!

Make no mistake, blogging takes hard work, I work on my blog everyday and try to post at least 3 times a week.

In my opinion publishing good content is very important. I try to mix it up a lot by writing about my home as well as fashion, beauty and crochet.

My top tip is just to get it out there on a regular basis and teach yourself about SEO (search engine optimization) Also find yourself a professional looking template and make it your own. Be unique don’t do what everyone else is doing!

Now let’s talk about crochet – do you get any time to with the hook anymore? If so what new trends do you see on the horizon?

I still adore crochet, but I must admit I get less time with my crochet hooks these days. I now use crochet as a form of relaxation, I crochet in the evenings whilst watching the TV unless I have a blog deadline to finish.

I am still loving the chunky crochet trend whilst amigurumi is still a favourite and always will be. I loved your latest book too. At the moment I am hooking up a very simple blanket. 

I’m a huge fan of tassel’s and I see that the trend is still going places!

 

Do you have a big dream?

I am constantly amazed at the opportunities my little blog has brought me. Travel, working with amazing brands and of course the friends I have made along the way.

My dream would be for it to continue as I feel very lucky to be in this position.

I am so grateful to you Ashley for sharing your wisdom and being such an inspiration – Thank you so much x

If you would like to follow Ashley, then read her fabulous blog: Lazy Daisy Jones

On Twitter LazyDaisyJones

On Instagram LazyDaisyJones

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Mid-week Sneaky Peek – Crochet Now Magazine – Meet the Blogstar

I just wanted to pop in and see you mid-week to say there is a brand new quick and easy pattern of mine in the new issue of Crochet Now Magazine. Every month they are sharing a brief interview and pattern from a Stylecraft Blogstar. I love being part of this happy group and I was delighted to make something with the lovely Batik yarn. This month there is a great free gift of a colour wheel, which I am really enjoying playing with. Anyway tell me what you think. Have a lovely rest of your week and don’t forget to leave a comment to say hello x

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Prima Makes – Feature and Interview

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Interview and Pattern

Well this is all a bit exciting. The lovely people at Prima Makes Magazine have done a feature on Cute Crocheted Animals. The patterns for Stanley and Katy cat are featured in the magazine. There is also an interview with me. I love this magazine as it features all the crafts I like to have a little flutter with. It also features a good section of recipes which I think is an excellent edition. If you see a copy on the shelves have a little leaf through and get excited about all your Spring crafts.

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A little bit of background

sat-portraitIn the background

In recent weeks I have had lots of new followers to the blog – which is so wonderful. If you have been following my blog for a while you will know most of this detail, but I thought it was nice idea to give you a little bit of background to the blog and my design work.

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Northern Powehouse

I live the vibrant city of Manchester in the North West of England. It is fun city to live in with lots of great galleries and restaurants. In recent years the Northern quarter of Manchester has become a focus for creativity and a great destination for shopping and eating. I like to visit a range of local yarn and craft shops. I simply adore the institution that is Fred Aldous. I have been visiting that shop since I was a student. Local shops in the South of Manchester provide great design inspiration. I can often be found looking in shops like Moth in West Didsbury for colour and shape inspiration. Originally I trained as a Museum Curator and then for many years I was a manager of a Museum Service in the eastern part of the city. I now have the honour and challenge of being a senior manager in local government, it keeps me extremely busy but I also get to work with some inspiring people. Many of the people I work with either knit or crochet, their creativity encourages me to keep being creative at home.

leighton-cardigan-inside-crochetJuggling the design work

I have had knitwear and crochet design career for about a decade. This part of my life sits alongside my day-job quite happily. I am not sure I could ever sit down at the end of the day and do nothing with my hands or my imagination. Crocheting started for me about eight years ago. I wanted to re-create a vintage blanket which we inherited from my husbands grandma. There was so much yarn in my stash that I thought it would be the perfect way to use up all the left-over yarn. When learning a new technique I am always much happier to sits quietly in the corner with a book and it wasn’t long before I started making small amigurumi toys for my son. Soon I was hooked and I now work mostly in crochet for accessories or toys but still love to knit garments. The yarn stash has actually grown and not diminished at all!

DBBlanketfrontcoverGorgeous Debbie Bliss

People often ask me if I enjoy blogging and do I ever consider just giving up. What are they trying to say? Well the blogging and the designing go hand in hand. Of all the social media or publishing work I do, my blog is my favourite online space. It is like a huge online diary of my thought processes and behind the scenes design work.

When I started my blog in 2010 my design work really took off. I have enjoyed so many wonderful opportunities, including designing for lots of different magazines, writing crochet books and designing for the Queen of British Knitting, Debbie Bliss. None of those opportunities would have developed without the blog.

The blog has also meant that I have met and encouraged lots of other bloggers to design and now there are loads of really talented people that have written and published crochet books that I know. It is a nice network to be part of.

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Cute Crocheted Animals

I have just completed my third crochet book. I am very excited about it. There are 20 animals and their clothes to crochet. They have a very British look and style and I hope people will enjoy making them for their children. Many of the children I know crop up in this book. My son’s best friend is there – as a rabbit. My godchildren and my best friends children crop up. Best of all our gorgeous family cat, Stanley takes centre stage. He has become quite a diva since acquiring this new found fame. Very demanding regarding cat food and flea collars!

My son has always been a great inspiration to me and now he is quite a commissioner. For World Book day he dressed up as Paddington Bear and designed a marmalade sandwich which he asked me to crochet so that he could pop it under his hat.

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Colour

When it comes to colour, I would love to think of myself as a sophisticated ‘Farrrow and Ball’ girl. But it is just not true. The colours I am actually attracted to a vibrant; pinks, reds and blues. We have a rich midnight blue on the walls dining room and one of rooms is completely scarlet. It brings joy to my heart. My instagram feed is a testament to my colour preferences, with bright zings of colour at every turn. My skin tone suits bright clear hues. I look so much better with a white base against my skin and a cheerful colour to lift the spirits. Like many people who have to look smart during the day I tend towards a base of black but always aim to add a flourish of a colourful accessory. At the weekend it would be unusual not to catch me in a navy breton stripe, with a swish of red lipstick – colour and joy.

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I am working on my next book and I am just in the tricky stage of choosing new colours for each project. I know that lots of people fret about this – I am no different. But I always find that if I use a fabric or a greeting card as a base, it is a good place to start.

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In the frame

Due to the i-phone revolution and a myriad of great filters, creating your own images seems so much easier than before. I like to take photos myself as projects develop and that provides a great insight into the process. However the best images of my work are taken by professional photographers. My friend Lucy of Smith Imaging has taken some of the best images of my creations over the years and her expertise brings add quality and beauty to the work I create. If you are ever thinking about self-publishing some of your designs it is worth getting some professional images of your work even if it is of just a few items.

I would encourage anyone who has dreams to write a blog or develop a design career to have a go. It has been enormous fun for me but also lots of hard work. If you have the resources and the time it is also worth investing in additional training and developing skills. But then learning something new is always great fun. Lots of my friends have said, ‘I looked at you and thought well if she can do it I can!’ Sometimes I have not quite known how to take that comment. But I chose to see it as a compliment and an encouragement to spur people on to reach for their dreams. Keep making and creating!

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Pop over to Cut Out & Keep

 

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Crafty Superstar

Isn’t that image above hilarious – Superstar….ha! Thank you to Cut Out and Keep for the honour.  The really exciting thing is that every day this week I will be sharing a project on the Cut Out & Keep website. They have loads of great free tutorials and patterns over there. I have already picked up some great recipe ideas.

Interview

Plus if you are interested there is a little interview with me on the blog.

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Crafty Interview – Donna Smith – A Shetland Heritage

In the past few months I have done a couple of interviews with crafty heroes. One with Rachel Vowles and another with Sarah Moore. This time I have interviewed the wonderful Donna Smith. Donna has just been announced the 2015 patron of Shetland Wool Week and is a successful accessories designer for Not on the High Street.

Donna Smith & Hazel Tindall

photo by Selina-May Miller

Coincidentally Donna and I lived together at University, nearly twenty years ago. She is one of the kindest and funniest people you could meet. She has such a dry sense of humour and one of my lasting memories of her is her sense of style. I have happy memories of a holiday visiting Shetland in the summer I graduated. Long bright evenings in the most glorious light. Seeing chubby puffins riding the winds near the cliff edges and the wonderful green shorelines dotted with the famous Shetland sheep.

Knitting has such  breadth of complexity. You can create something luxurious and stylish with a simple garter stitch or an heirloom shawl in finest lace weight yarn. In Shetland you will see real skills, knitters weaving complex patterns in the round, on tiny needles. The garments made will last a lifetime, or indeed many lifetimes. I wanted to share the skill and sensibilities of a contemporary Shetland knitter and designer.

So Donna, when did you first learn to knit – was it from the womb? Who taught you and was there ever a period when you didn’t knit? Were you knitting when we lived together? I think was mostly doing needlepoint at that time.

I can’t really remember learning to knit but I remember knitting at my paternal Granny’s house who lived live door. I think it was probably her that showed me what to do first. We also got knitting classes at Primary school so it was something I could do fairly early on although I do remember Granny having to a finish a white acrylic waistcoat I started at school as I got bored! I made various different things when I was at school whenever the notion hit me and I actually knitted an aran cardigan when we lived together (although it might have been in the summer holiday) but I never sewed it together. I think it must be my oldest UFO (unfinished object) and I really must make a point of finishing it soon! I loved the needlepoint you did, and you inspired me to make a few cushions after that. After I graduated I really didn’t knit for quite a few years as most of my time was taken up with working and then setting up my business. I started knitting again when my son was born just over 3 years ago and since then have got a bit addicted!

Was having such a talented family of crafters an inspiration to you. Do you think you learnt trick and tips of knitting because you were introduced to fairisle?

Definitely. There was always lots of knitting going on and my Mum was either sewing or knitting. I tend to do things the way she did. One Shetland method of knitting is using a making belt (knitting belt) and DPNs (double pointed needles), and working in the round. When using two colours I have the background colour on my right hand and the foreground colour on my left. Steeking involves casting on extra stitches and knitting them, these stitches are them cut at the end to create openings, such as the front opening of a cardigan, the armholes and the neck opening. It means the knitting isn’t disrupted and the correct tension can be maintained throughout. I tend to try to make as much as I can in the round, even patterns that are written flat, to avoid seaming and still always use a knitting belt – I tried to use circular needles a couple of days ago with no success!

Unfortunately I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the details while my Mum and Grannys were alive but I have some of their work which I can get information from.    donnaknitting equipment

Do you design knitwear now or use traditional patterns?

A bit of both, traditionally in Shetland knitters don’t work from written patterns so I suppose anything Fair Isle can be an original design, being made up of patterns and colours that are unique. I have recently been using garments that have been knitted by family and friends to inspire new designs.

What special accessories/notions do you use to knit with? Can you explain the knitting belt?

The knitting belt is a leather belt with a horsehair filled pad with holes which is worn around the waist. The working needle (the right hand needle) is inserted into a hole in the belt and then the knitting starts. It keeps the work stable and the knitter can get into a comfortable position without having to hold onto their work too tightly.

donnaknitting with a knitting belt

Tell us how you started working with felt.

In 2000 I went back to college to study Art and Design, it was during this time that I found a book on felt making in the college library and I became intrigued. My Dad keeps a few sheep on the family croft and at that time, it was difficult to sell coloured fleece so I started looking at how I could use the fleece to make a final product. I used to wash it then card it before felting it, so it took many hours to make even a tiny purse, but the natural colours looked great.

Can you tell us about the wool you use and the techniques.

Making felt by hand is very hard physically and after a few years of making scarves and bags (and a bad back!), I sourced pressed wool felt from Germany for my work which is a beautiful material having a very smooth finish and cuts perfectly which means it is ideal for my current work. I cut the felt using a die cutter, I have an assortment of blocks so I can cut several different shapes. I use a hot glue gun to assemble the little bits of felt into the final product.

How has the internet affected your work

It has made life much easier in lots of ways, I used to travel to the mainland to show at trade fairs which was very expensive, getting myself and all my things there was the most expensive bit! Using the internet means I don’t have to go away as much. Sourcing materials is also easier.

In other ways it has a negative effect as I spend too much time on it when I should be doing something else!

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How did you work start getting featured on  Not on the High Street (NOTHS)?

I set up my own online shop a couple for years ago but running it took up a lot of time, I had been a customer at NOTHS and really liked their philosophy and their style and they are very dedicating to marketing their sellers. I just decided to apply one afternoon and was accepted, much quicker than I thought, so I then had to decide which designs I would sell and in which colours.

Do you think the Shetland isles has an effect on your sense of style?

I certainly does in terms of knitting as it has such a rich history. I’m not sure if my felt work is inspired directly by Shetland, I am inspired by so many things, from simple shapes to the material itself, so I might have come up with the same designs if I lived somewhere else.

Which knitter or crafters inspire you?

In Shetland there are many inspirational knitters, many are my relatives and would be embarrassed if I mentioned them! Wilma Malcolmson from Shetland Designer has an amazing sense of colour in her Fair Isle designs and Andrea Williamson has put a contemporary spin on Fair Isle products. Outwith Shetland I love the work of Kate Davies and Gudrun Johnston and in terms of general design I am a huge fan of Lotta Jansdotter, Heather Moore from Skinnylaminx.

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What is you top top tip for knitting?

Just try it and don’t be scared! If it goes wrong it doesn’t matter, you can start again. We have a Shetland word “spret” which means to pull back your knitting – it’s something you have to learn not to be worried about! I have had experiences of people saying they can’t knit Fair Isle, and when they are shown they most certainly can. Always make a swatch before starting a project, washing and blocking it even if you think you already know your tension. Another very useful thing to do is to make samples. Make samples of Fair Isle and try out different colours, or try out different stitches and increases and decreases. You can use this as reference and by understanding how the stitches work you can become a confident knitter.

Do you work full time in textiles or do you have another string to your bow?

I work part time as a Science Technician supporting the High Schools in Shetland I have a three year old son, so I don’t have a lot of time for textiles at the moment!

Do you think the traditional knitting skills will ever die out?

I genuinely hope not, but unfortunately we are in danger of this happening unless more people take it up. Historically at one time almost every woman would knit items to sell but when the demand for this fell in the middle of the last century, the number of people knitting declined. As it had generally been considered to be work, the skills weren’t then passed on to the next generation. Things are improving now though as people are beginning to realise that this knowledge and skills could die out and are becoming more interested in learning the techniques.

If you could save just one textile piece from a fire, what would it be?

Oh, that is a very difficult one! I think it would have to be a Fair Isle jacket that my Mum made for herself a couple of years before she died, she always had a unique sense of style and it was admired by many people.

donnamam's jacket

What do you hope to do what are your dreams for the next year?

I have lots of new ideas and plans involving a new blog and new work involving knitting in the next year but finding time is fairly difficult at the moment so I it is very hard to set any timescales!

Visit Donna’s lovely blog here where you can see lots more of her wonderful work

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