1Whirled Design - Featured Etsy Seller

I "met" Cathy (owner of 1 Whirled design) by accident. It turns out that my huge hit for my crochet blanket/ dishcloth post was likely due to her twittering about and attracted extra visitors to my blog. So I thought I could return the compliment here. An example of her work is shown above. We then decided to do a little interview via email, and here it is.....

How did you come up with the name 1whirled design for your Etsy shop?

My Etsy shop is actually OneWhirledDesign (though the caps don't matter if you're searching it), which is just kind of a play on words of course, as in "One whirled" vs. "one world". I guess I was making wire spirals for jewellery at the time. Anyway, I do enjoy a good play on words. I had to modify my username to 1whirledesign for Twitter because there is a limit to the length of your Twitter username.

How long have you been crocheting and how did you learn?

My earliest solid recollection of crocheting was in grade 5, so I would have been 10 years old. A friend of mine and I made a lot of granny squares from day-glow yarn. I don't remember ever joining them into an afghan though. But I must have learned before that. I believe my mother taught me both crochet and knitting sometime between about ages 7 and 10, and I remember it took a few attempts before I could actually do it. Also I later referred to books for crochet instructions, since my mother was more orientated to knitting than crochet, (Ha! books! If only there was the Internet when I was ten).

Where do you get your ideas from? Do you design on paper first or create as you crochet?

I try to pay attention to thoughts that cross my mind, and when I think of what I believe is a good idea, I write it down in my sketchbook for future reference. Also, I ask my family and other people for their thoughts or sometimes brainstorm with others. When I am going from general idea to actual creation, I don't usually make a drawing first unless it is a very complex thing with design issues to be worked out. For a simple item (Like an i-pod cover!), I might make it first (somewhat trial and error, as it were), and then I will write down what I did so that I can repeat it.

What would you advise a beginner at crochet to make first.

I would probably start with something flat, like a scarf or washcloth. Begin with single crochet and then learn double crochet also. After that, a project worked in rounds, such as a hat, would build on these skills and introduce shaping (decreasing and increasing).

You have a custom order section in your Etsy shop, how can customers approach you to have a one-off item made, how do designs become agreed if you are on opposite sides of the world?

So far I have had one custom order that wasn't local, and that person is happy with her bunny-bear! We communicated by email and discussed what colors she had in mind. With the bunny-bears, people already have an idea of what they will be getting, so it's pretty easy. However, if someone were to ask me to tackle a totally new design, then after discussion I would propose to make the item first and then list it in my shop for them to look at. If it's not what they had in mind, I wouldn't mind if they didn't purchase it. After all, I could just list it in my shop for someone else to buy, so I'm not out on anything. Customer satisfaction is my goal. I think it would be great fun to have a custom order assignment!

What hopes do you have for your Etsy shop in the future?

It is great to be able to display work on Etsy and sell there too. I hope that by growing my Twitter following, that it will be one way of increasing the visibility of my Etsy shop. Another goal of mine is to list on Etsy more often. For me, I think the key to doing this is photographing my work on a regular basis - the photography seems to be my logjam at the moment.

You are on Twitter, what do you feature on your Twitter site? Can anyone become a follower?

On my Twitter account, I tweet about fun and interesting blogs, usually on the topics of crochet and bookbinding. It is amazing the amount of information to be found in blogs! I love to see people's crochet work. If anyone has a blog that they would like to bring to my attention, contact me on Twitter or Etsy - I will tweet about it! For anyone who would like to follow me on Twitter, my Twitter name is 1whirleddesign. I will follow you back!

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Many thanks to Cathy for taking part in my first blog interview. Do pop over and visit Cathy's shop and put it in your favourites for future reference.

I hope to do a featured post once a month, so if you would like to appear here in October could you please leave a comment here and a means of getting in contact.

It has been glorious weather here in Cornwall, why it could not manage this in August I will never know.

Take care and see you soon.