Hello and welcome back to the Yarn Over podcast. A podcast covering all things crochet with some incredibly talented people from around the world, sharing their journeys and their top tips. I’ve learnt so much since recording these and find it so interesting listening to others talk about what they do. I hope you feel the same. It can be a bit ‘little fish, big pond’ in the world of crochet. Sometimes you might find yourself in a sticky situation but we’re all here together. A community of crafters making beautiful creations – no competition required. And just in case you missed them, you can catch previous episodes here and here.

INTRODUCTION TO OUR GUEST

This week we’re chatting to Lindsey Newns from Lottie and Albert. Lindsey is a good ‘online’ friend of mine. We’ve been chatting on Instagram for a number of years now so it’s wonderful to have an actual conversation about quite an important topic: community over competition.

Lindsey is a crochet designer and author based in the Cotswolds (a very beautiful part of the UK!). She first got into crochet around eight years ago when her daughter was first born. A few of her friends got together and set up a ‘craft night’. Whilst Lindsey was into crafting (with thanks to her background in publishing within craft magazines), crochet was never something she had done before. However, these evening get-togethers with friends seemed like the perfect place to try something new.

GRANNY SQUARES AREN’T JUST FOR GRANNIES!

After the birth of her second child, Lindsey started to crochet a little more but as not a lot of people she knew was into it, she felt a little embarrassed about it because of the perception. After finding the crochet community on Instagram, she began blogging her crochet journey and creating her own patterns. From there she continued to grow on social media which recently enabled her to turn crochet into her full time career – how amazing!

When Lindsey first started though, she could only follow videos. She couldn’t read a pattern – it was like reading a foreign language with no understanding whatsoever. However, she found that after some googling, you really can get the hang of reading patterns because the information is out there.

With crochet, there is always something to learn. There’s always a new way to do things, a new pattern, a new project. And oftentimes, it’s from other crochet designers and creators.

COMMUNITY OVER COMPETITION

Nurturing the network and friendships that Lindsey had made over the years has helped her take the plunge into turning crochet from a hobby into a job and she truly believes this wouldn’t have happened without the community she’s found herself in. However, it doesn’t come without a lot of worry and anxiety about what others in the industry might think. There’s a lot of books coming out recently, there’s a lot of pattern creation, and a lot of similarity and whilst the majority are supportive of each other, sometimes that isn’t the case.

Social media can be a toxic place and sometimes the negatives can feel bigger than the positives.

There are so many people crafting and it goes without saying that there has been comments about ‘copying’ but it’s a huge space and it would be crazy for there to not be similarities. We see it happen everywhere (ahem, Aldi… all I’m gonna say!) – crochet isn’t a competition. We all have our own styles, our own likes, our own strengths. I’d hate for anyone to not want to create a granny square blanket in the same colours I may have before for fear of someone being negative that they’ve ‘copied’.

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POSITIVE VIBES ONLY

Whilst Lindsey has been pretty fortunate and hasn’t experience too much negativity – sometimes after a comment that might knock her – she bears in mind that she is a sensitive person and tries to remain professional. She also likes to look at it from the other person’s perspective and take the comment as it’s them having a bad day and you’re in the line of fire at the time. It’s not personal.

Another one of Lindsey’s top tips is to take screenshots of the positive moments so when some negativity does get to you, you have a whole bank of your reason why – your community over competition to keep you going. Switching your focus to the good from the bad is really helpful and actually really motivating.

MORE FROM LINDSEY

Check out Lindsey’s Instagram and you can also find her book here. She has such a beautiful Instagram and creates some lovely patterns that I think you’re all going to love – definitely give her a follow for a daily dose of loveliness and positivity. She’s also just signed not one but TWO new book contracts one of which is all about Christmas crochet so keep an eye out for that one!

I’ll leave you with this too – use the community as you’d like it to be used. If you like someones photo, like it. If you enjoyed someones reel, leave a comment. We’re here for each other. Community over competition – always.

Thank you so much for tuning in and as always, your reviews and ratings really do mean so much so tap those stars and leave a comment if you have a moment. They never go unnoticed and I’m so grateful for your support.

Sarah-Jayne x