Although I'm proud to say that I love each and every seller at handmade fairs, I do have some favourite children and wonderfully pretty is one of them. "wonderfully pretty" is Laura Black, and she has mad skills at knitting! At early handmade fairs her stock comprised mostly of knitted animals, hearts and hairbands, but each time there are new and exciting items for me to coo over! She's recently been knitting some amazing purses which might just be my favourite items to date. Laura was kind enough to answer some questions about her work for the blog....
How and why did you start making your wares?
-i started knitting when i was at art college but only for projects and i hated art college. i started making stuff properly while i was at uni, mostly just cos if i wanted a scarf, i'd make a scarf, or wanted a hat i'd make myself a hat etc. only really started selling after i'd built up a massive pile of stuff and then set up an etsy shop and did a craft fare or two.
Do you have any successes and failures you'd like to talk about?
-i'm lucky to not have had any failures i can think of. except my first fare in Newcastle i was cutting the price tag off a hat somebody had just bought and wasn't looking so cut a hole in it. and there was a guy selling homemade slide guitars, which he played ALL DAY which made me want to kill someone.
-as corny as it sounds i would count anyone liking any of my stuff as a success. especially when kids like the toys i make.
Do you craft full time? If not tell us a little about your day job and how you manage to fit your craft into your day?
-my job is working for a charity called West Yorkshire Learning Consortium. which basically sets up training/learning opportunities for people in West Yorkshire! i tend to just craft on a night after work, but i really should use my 40 minute train journey to work to knit!
What're your main creative influences and interests?
-i guess i'm quite influenced by household/interiors kind of stuff. i like to make really colourful, fun toys that you could imagine being in a kids bedroom, or things like bunting that i could put up in my bedroom. i like looking at stuff like the selby and bkids.typepad.com i'm pretty twee so just like stuff that is colourful and cute and has a sense of humour. i really like rob ryan and also purlbee.
Apart from knitting, what're your hobbies?
-i am trying to do a lot more drawing and painting. and i'm in a band. which i use to crowbar my painting into our band artwork! (i've done the cover for the single and started a project doing poster art for all of our gigs but only did 3 so far...)
What're your plans/dreams for the future?
-get another job in the third sector, carry on having the time to craft and draw, get my sewing machine out of storage so i can use it! and that our band gets nice and famous and to have babies who i can make cute clothes and toys for.
Where can we find your work (online or in the "real world")
-um i haven't had anything on my etsy for like 2 years since i set it up...i really am going to do some work on it soon.
*UPDATE* I've taken forever to actually publish this interview and Laura has listed some items on etsy since answering the questions! her etsy shop is here
Laura is in the wonderful indiepop Leeds based band This Many Boyfrieds. Could she get any more twee?!
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