Nervous Stitch: knitted homewares

Nervous Stitch was conceived from knitter Jenny McHardy's love of stitched textiles, old and new. With a humorous slant, the name Nervous Stitch came from the emotional connection between people and textiles.

Jenny designs and produces a range of bespoke interior accessories. Her collection has a nostalgic illustrative feel and each piece has a story to tell; for example her newest design, Mix Tape (pictured), is the repeated image of a cassette, dedicated to those who religiously taped the charts every Sunday afternoon (you know who you are!).
The knitted cushions are made using the boldest, higest quality Scottish lambswool. For Jenny, supporting the textile industry in both Scotland and the rest of the UK is crucial.

Prices start at just under £9 for a set of vintage fabric covered buttons to £88.99 for one of her beautiful knitted cushions which we are currently coveting, available in a range of designs.

Name: Jenny McHardy
From: Scotland
Is: knitter
Brand/label: Nervous Stitch

You can buy Nervous Stitch's knitted treasures from her Etsy shop here or contact her here

Jools Yeo: jewellery

Jools Yeo is a knitter and jeweller from London. She can be found by day in the yarn department in Liberty, but by night she makes beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings by hand. They're exquisitely detailed using the most beautiful beads foraged from around the world.

Jools has recently started selling on Etsy and has just set up a blog in order to showcase her new designs.

Jools is always up for a challenge and can ascertain pretty much exactly what necklace will suit a person after just one meeting.

Prices start at £30 for simple pair of drop earrings. Her most stunning piece (in my opinion) is the green fringe necklace at £100 (pictured).

Name: Jools Yeo
From: London
Is: jeweller
Brand/label: Jools' Jewels


You can buy Jools' beautiful, individual handmade pieces on her Etsy shop here or contact her for private commissions here

Clovaknits: modern Fairisle knits

Clovaknits is a small knit business based in Inverurie in Scotland, producing a wide selection of accessories and things for the home. Angela McHardy is the brains behind it all and knits using traditional fairisle patterns but with a modern twist.
Designed and handmade in her home using Scottish lambswool, she makes bright, colourful and contemporary pieces, some of which can be personalised to make beautiful bespoke gifts. Everything is knitted and finished to order.

Prices start at £25 for a pair of her bestselling handwarmers, £50 for a long owl scarf and go up to around £60 for a cushion, with an additional charge of £10 for the personal touch.

Name: Angela McHardy
From: Scotland
Is: knitter
Brand/label: Clovaknits

You can buy these beautiful and individual handmade pieces from the Clovaknits shop on Etsy or at Notonthehighstreet

Reader offer & competition!

Sorry we've been quiet for a while. We'll be back in action again soon. But for the time being, we have a fantastic offer for all our readers...

Black Dog Publishing are very kindly offering Craft Crunchers a 50% discount on purchases of 'Making Stuff' and 'Making Stuff for Kids'. Both usually retail at £16.95 so you'll be getting them for an absolute bargain.

If you're interested in purchasing one or both of these brilliant publications simply email jess@blackdogonline.com with your delivery address quoting 'Craft Crunch Offer' in the subject line by the 30th September. We can't think of a better time to get into making things, so get yourself one of these books and get involved!

We also have one each of these great books up for grabs in our latest competition! To be in with a chance of winning, simply send us a photograph of something you have made recently. The best ones will be put up on Craft Crunch and the top two will win a copy of either Making Stuff or Making Stuff for Kids.

Email entries to hello@craftcrunch.com - deadline 30th September 2009.

Rock 'n' Roll Tiddlywinks at the V&A this weekend

At a loss for something fun to do this weekend? Why not pop along to the V&A's annual Village Fete and join Lady Luck Rules OK for a game of Rock 'n' Roll Tiddlywinks?!

Lucky winners will walk away with an exclusively designed piece of Lady Luck Rules OK jewellery and losers will walk away with a cutie pie consolation prize. We love that it's a Craft Crunch friendly £3 to get in, too.

Who could say no?!

Fri 24th July: 6.30pm-10pm. Sat 25th July: 1pm-5pm. Entry: £3. Location: John Madejski garden, Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7

Andrea Garland in the Telegraph Magazine

Craft Crunch want to congratulate Andrea Garland on being featured in the 4th July issue of the Telegraph Magazine! We're not at all surprised that word is spreading fast about her divine balms in vintage tins.

Well done!

To peruse Andrea's wares look here or pay her a visit at Sunday Upmarket, off Brick Lane.

Craft Crunch is featured on Sepia Smiles

We're really chuffed that Roseanna Willis of Sepia Smiles has written a lovely piece on Craft Crunch on her blog. You can read it here:

http://sepiasmiles.blogspot.com/

Thanks Roseanna!

Frank: a space for British designers and makers

On a much needed Sunday out of London imagine our surprise when, strolling through Whitstable, we noticed a gorgeous shop with some very familiar bits and pieces in the window.

Out of curiosity we popped inside to discover that Frank stocks several products by more than one of the talented souls we've featured here at Craft Crunch. We noticed some of Buddug's earrings, brooches & necklaces, titiMadam's acrylic badges and Lucky Bird's greetings cards & keyrings.

We got talking to shop owner Mary Claire Smith and realised we had a lot in common. She opened Frank three years ago with the intention of championing the best of British craft and design and so far she's doing a great job! The shop is beautifully laid out & decorated and promotes home-grown talent as well as artists from London and further afield. We’ve discovered that Whitstable has quite a buzzing crafts scene with classes being held on the beach in summer and everything from chunky crockery to delicate necklaces being produced by some incredible talent.

We particularly like the little knitted dogs by Kate Erbe, local ceramicist Keith Brymer's 'typed' mugs, bowls and jugs, local jeweller Heidi Butler's cut-out jewellery and Ciara Healey's knitted bird coats (seen in the birdcage in the window).

You can find Mary Claire's shop, Frank, at 65 Harbour Street, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1AG. Some of her stock is available to purchase online at http://www.frankworks.eu/index.html or call 01227 262500 for more information.

To find out a little more about Lucky Bird, look here, for titiMadam here and for Buddug, look here.

Save the date: Button Willow Bazaar

Join in an afternoon of craftiness, tea & cakes with Craft Crunchers Andrea & Rosie on Saturday 20th June, near Kings Cross. There will be stalls selling hand made and vintage goodies and a vicar DJ, too!

Attention Craft Crunchers: if you're interested in having a stall at this event for the bargain price of £20, contact the girls at: buttonwillowbazaar@gmail.com

Fifteen minutes of fame: Craft Crunch is featured in Quick & Crafty magazine!

We are feeling quite pleased at Craft Crunch headquarters this month - we've been featured in an article in the May issue of Quick & Crafty magazine!

The article talks about crafty communities up and down the country and we were approached by the Deputy Editor to talk about how Craft Crunch came about. You can find a copy of Quick & Crafty in the bigger newsagents.

Yamaneco: pottery

We visited the Yamaneco stall at Backyard Market a couple of weeks ago and loved what we saw, but unfortunately the artist herself was not around that day to speak to us. So I was honoured to be invited this morning to the Hackney studio where Keiko Sato works, to conduct my interview.

Keiko started out studying bronze casting at art college in Japan but this quickly progressed to ceramics as, Keiko explains, the two disciplines are quite similar. She has been a ceramicist for 9 years, and has been doing it professionally for the last 5.

She moved to London from Nigata, Japan 18 months ago but has only had her stall at Backyard Market for a few weeks:

"It was very slow to begin with but now things are picking up and it is the best way to get feedback. You don't get to hear what people think of your work when it is sold in shops".

The name Yamaneco means means "wild cat" and comes from a Japanese legend which all sounds very mysterious and exciting to me! Prices start at just £1 for a gorgeous clay button (I now have one taking pride of place on my blazer). Her stunning cheese plate (pictured) is her most expensive product at £48 but it's so exquisite it's worth every penny and I don't think it will hang around for long.

As well as bowls, mugs and oil burners, you can also pick up a spoon (£3 for a plain one or £3.50 for an illustrated one) as seen around Keiko's neck in the picture above.

Name: Keiko Sato, 28
From: Hackney, London
Is: ceramicist
Brand/label: Yamaneco

Yamaneco Pottery is at Backyard Market on Sunday and Greenwich Market, also on a Sunday. Her website is under construction, but watch this space for more details. She also has five stores in Japan stocking her wares. You can contact her at yamaneco_pottery@hotmail.co.jp to find out more.

Urban Cross Stitch: graffiti-inspired cross stitch kits

When Banksy first launched on to the graffiti scene (let me think, going by boys haircuts, this is pre-mullet, pre-Hoxton fins even. I think the period was actually called the 'buddha' and Maharishi-wearing students ruled the clubs), many scoffed at his eye-catching work and thought 'That's not graffiti! That's just lazy. Give me a joke, a stencil and a couple of spray cans and I'll do one of those' - and many did, but most thought better of it and expressed their rebellious creative desires through more legal means. Like tattoos.

Well, Urban Cross Stitch takes the anti-establishment-ism inside of us, wraps it up in chintz and offers it a nice milky cup of tea and some freshly-made scones. Belfast-born Phil Davidson was taught cross stitch by his grandmother and when he moved to London from the US (are you keeping up?) he was disappointed by the lack of creative cross stitch patterns available here and soon ended up creating graffiti-inspired patterns for himself. After gathering a decent following, he quit his job in fashion last June and been focusing on growing the business ever since.

These kits make the perfect gift for friends who want to create some graffiti on walls, but who would rather avoid the risk of being humiliated by being seen sporting frightfully unflattering jumpsuits during community service. Kits start from just £8, while cushions are £15 and bags £20.

Name: Phil Davidson
From: Bow, London
Is: Cross Stitch kit designer
Brand/label: Urban Cross Stitch

Urban Cross Stitch is at Backyard Market on Saturday and Up Market on Sunday. Both of these are either side of Brick Lane. You can also buy kits at the Tate Modern shop, Urban Outfitters and Joy. If you can't get to any of those places, you can order Phil's kits online at his shop here.

Oh and well done Phil for being featured in The Guardian Magazine this weekend!

We have some winners!

Congratulations to Sam Rogers, Véronique Mazière and Amanda Green who all won last week's Fine City Friends competition. Your prizes will be in the post this week! Thanks to everyone for entering.

Knitters, yeah!: knitting group @ Leon, Spitalfields

On a slightly grey but considerably lighter evening, Knitters, yeah! managed to take over an entire table in Leon tonight. This is actually quite impressive, as Leon’s tables are very long.

We had two newcomers and many of the usual suspects. We also had no less than two men, although all they really did was distract the knitters.....
Our next session is moving along one week due to Easter rudely getting in the way. Come along to our next gathering on Monday, April 20th at 6pm in Leon, Spitalfields. Watch our numbers grow.

Come on, Craft Crunchers! If you can't knit, don't worry - we'll teach you.

For those of you on Facebook, look up Knitters, yeah! and join the group. You'll be kept up to date on all future meetings.

It's competition time again!

For your chance to win a compact mirror, notebook or greetings card made by the Fine City Friends trio, answer this extremely difficult question:





- Which UK city are the Fine City Friends girls from?

Answers to hello@craftcrunch.com - good luck!

Competition will close on Friday 3rd April at midnight. We'll pick the winners out at random. Oh, we promise we won't add you to any email lists and we won't keep your email addresses.

Fine City Friends: stationery & fashion accessories

As you drive into Norwich, a sign welcomes you to ‘Norwich, a fine city’ and it is this signpost that has provided the inspiration for the namesake of this fine, creative trio.

As graphic illustrators, their imaginations run wild in the trinkets that they produce. With a cute fridge magnet costing a purse-friendly 50p, owning one of their little creations won’t break the bank. Other treasures such as broaches, notepads and bags range from just £3 to £6.

Fine City Friends are no strangers to the hip craft scene either. They have been going for around three years and have had stalls at Bust Magazine’s Craftafular and the bi-monthly Clutter City fairs in Norwich.

If you can’t wait to get your mits on Fine City Friend’s cute wares, come back for Craft Crunch’s competition to win some of their inspired and stylish merchandise.

Names (from left to right): Memo (24), Gemma Correll (25) and Kate Seaward (25)
From: Norwich
Are: stationery and fashion accessory designers
Brand/label: Fine City Friends

You can find out more about them at their website here. Memo’s online shop is here, Gemma’s here and Kate’s here.

Pyramid Club: jewellery

Regretfully I didn't have a wallet full of cash when I went into the Amersham Arms in New Cross on Saturday afternoon, although my bank manager is probably happier as a result. The Pyramid Club stall was covered in stunning pieces of jewellery and I wanted them all.

Jo has been making necklaces, brooches, etc for the last couple of years for herself and friends and has only recently started selling them. She forages for vintage odds and ends and anything unusual that catches her eye and then transforms them into striking one-offs that would certainly turn heads. Prices range from £1.50 for a badge to £18 for a fantastic necklace.

Name: Jo Koblintz, 24
From: Stoke Newington
Is: jewellery
Brand/label: Pyramid Club

Jo doesn't yet have any other outlet for selling her wares but if you like what you see or want to find out more you can contact her at jokoblintz@hotmail.com
We'll be sure to let you know when she next appears at a craft fair.

Alice Cullen: textiles

Alice's homely peg bags and cushions are created using fabrics picked up in charity shops which she then takes home, cuts up and screen prints with her charming designs.

Having studied textiles in Bath she's a dab hand at this sort of thing, but has only recently started selling her work. The stall in New Cross was her first, but she assures us that after the success of this one, she definitely plans to do more.

Prices start at £2 for a card, peg bags are £10 and cushions £20.

Name: Alice Cullen, 24
From: New Cross
Is: textiles
Brand/label: Alice Cullen

Alice's cushions, peg bags and cards can be found in Green Parlour florists in Pangbourne, Reading: 12 High Street, Reading, Berkshire RG8 7AB, tel: 01189 844000 or you can contact her at alice.cullen@hotmail.co.uk

Miss Magpie: customised furniture and homewares

"We try to find practical uses for old records," explains Martin to me as I look at him in horror.
"You're speaking to a DJ, Martin! How could you say such a thing?" and so began the process of my new friend's back-tracking as he introduced me to Miss Magpie.

Craft Crunch had ventured to New Cross to check out two craft fairs. One was part of the Telegraph Hill festival and another was at the Amersham Arms pub, a venue close to my heart as it was one of the first ever London venues that I DJ'd at.

My horror at Martin's statement soon turned to curiosity as I was shown some very cool coasters made out of 70s vinyl record labels (at just £2.50 each), with music references that are guaranteed to impress home guests. "Kool & The Gang? I love those guys!". Imagine rocking those bad boys on a decoupage coffee table covered in mini-psychedelic rock posters sealed in a tough PVA & resin coating customised by these guys (from £60).

Miss Magpie is the name of the company that finds new uses for things that people don't want. But rather than just finding chic things and selling them on, these guys add their own brand of nostalgic edginess that turns a flat from 'hum drum', to 'funky drummer'.

Miss Magpie goes someway towards providing some justice for old records. "Vinyl will never die" as the saying goes. And if you're enjoying records as homewares, just make sure you have the music on MP3 too.

Name: Carol Vigurs (36) and Martin Found (38)
From: Deptford, London
Are: homeware creators and furniture customisers
Brand/label: Miss Magpie

Carol and Martin are currently creating a schedule of fairs and markets to attend. If you're interesting in finding out more, want to commission a piece of unique furniture or get your hands on any of their homewares, email them at vigurs@gmail.com

Knitters, yeah!: knitting group @ Leon, Spitalfields

To perfectly finish off a gorgeous sunny day, Knitters, yeah! had a good turn-out at Leon in Spitalfields last night. Sarah came all the way from Aix-en-Provence, we had two more newbies, and an honorary non-knitter who we only tolerated because he did a very convincing knitting performance.

One conversation I overheard:

Ellen: I'm doing a performance on Thursday in Clerkenwell. Can you come?
Adrian: Oh! Sorry. I can't, I'm afraid. What is it?
Ellen: Well, we're going to dress up as a troupe of Karl Lagerfelds and do a synchronised dance.
Adrian: ...*raises eyebrows*
So come along to our next session on Monday, March 30th at 6pm in Leon, Spitalfields where you can here more tales of the unexpected.

Come on, Craft Crunchers! If you can't knit, don't worry - we'll teach you.

For those of you on Facebook, look up Knitters, yeah! and join the group. You'll be kept up to date on all future meetings.