Meet the maker Claire Davenport

My mother taught me to crochet when I was little. We lived in a house with, among other crocheted delights, crochet covers for a three-piece suite and a crochet toilet roll dolly. Both were rendered in shades of peach, rusty reds and the entire spectrum of brown. Maybe this is why I particularly like playing with bright colours?

Anyway, crochet. What is it? And what exactly are you paying for when you buy it? Well, it's made with a hook and it can only be done by hand. There is no such thing as a crochet machine. Every item you find here is made by hand, stitch by stitch, by me.

In a nutshell, the gentle art of crochet is actually tying a giant knot. If you're a complete beginner, you may find that knotted yarn is all you seem to make. If you've been doing it for a bit longer, you can manipulate the size and shape and fabric of your knot so that it can be used as a blanket, or a hat, or, if you're my mother, a toilet roll dolly...

I've been tying these intricate knots for most of my life and everything in the shop is made from my own patterns. I'm always happy to do bespoke orders, whether it's a different colour or fibre for one of my existing designs, or something altogether new, drop me a line and I'll knot up some yarn into something just for you.

You can find me all over the web, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and my own website - just search for 'The Hookery' and look for the green lettering - that's me!