KERRY LORD
Kerry Lord’s new book, Edward’s Crochet Doll Emporium, has made it possible for us to crochet our favourite people! We had a lovely chat with Kerry to nd out how it all began.
F rom animals to monsters to dolls, it’s been a whirlwind ride for Kerry Lord of TOFT. Her latest book, Edward’s Crochet Doll Emporium, following on from Edward’s Menagerie, Edward’s Menagerie: Birds and Edward’s Crochet Imaginarium, came out in September but has been making waves since July and earlier.
“We had the merman doll and my doll – the mini-me – on display in the TOFT shop, and customers couldn’t help picking them up and playing with them – I’d overhear them planning all the characters they could make,” Kerry exclaims.
The response to this new volume in Edward’s library has been predictably positive, even if, as Kerry mentions, “there will always be people who only want me to make animals, forever.”
Like all of Kerry’s characters, the dolls are formed from a basic pattern, with extra details creating personality and individuality, which are the winning ingredients of the Edward’s brand.
BRIGHT BEGINNINGS
It all began in 2012, when Kerry’s son Edward was just a baby. “The first book, Edward’s Menagerie, was never part of any grand plan,” Kerry says. “I didn’t expect that at all. I made that first elephant just for Edward and it spiralled from there. It’s been really exciting!”
The company is now five times bigger than it was, and Kerry’s work life has changed enormously in the past five years. “I crochet constantly – every day,” she says. “There are over 300 Edward’s Menagerie patterns. It just keeps going!”
As well as the two books on the menagerie, there’s also a subscription club, which sends out a new pattern every six weeks, and plans for a dedicated Edward’s website. “On average I design a new pattern every couple of weeks, sometimes every single week. Crochet is a daily part of my job now, which it wasn’t even a year ago.”
The subscription service feeds into the addictive nature of the patterns.
“There’s such an appetite for new patterns! I think it’s partly because they’re easy and quick, and you get such a great reaction to them when you give them as gifts.”
Every single element of the designs is crocheted, so no extra fiddly bits, such as plastic eyes, are added on, which keeps them as child-friendly (for three years old and up) and safe as possible.
In addition, each design is fully tested to make sure it’s suitable for small children, Kerry says, “but the trouble is I can’t sew every one up. I always tell people that they’re only as safe as you make them. You need to sew them really securely.”
An interesting trend she’s noticed, however, is the number of her patterns that aren’t being made for children at all.
“People are using the designs to make people for adults – such as a customised bride and groom as a wedding present,” she says. “Edward started school in September, so I made him a doll of himself in school uniform to mark the occasion.”
A NEW CHAPTER
The decision to name the new collection Edward’s Crochet Doll Emporium was simple, she says. “‘Edward’s’ has become a brand in its own right and I didn’t want to say that because he’s a boy he can’t have dolls. I have a daughter too now, Alexandra, but the ideal of allocating the dolls to her just because of her gender turned my stomach. I crashed into that with the Imaginarium, when people perceived it as being for boys because it was about monsters. That didn’t make sense to me at all.”
So what about Alexandra? Is she going to get a look in? “I’m going to have to put my thinking cap on and think up something original in her name. Luckily she’s too young
“They couldn’t help picking them up and playing with them”
to be aware of it yet, so I’ve got some time to think of something.”
Kerry confesses to not having played with dolls herself as a child, but agrees that including removable costumes for her crocheted dolls was crucial, although it did add to the challenges.
“The androgyny was difficult – I designed 25 heads and 25 costumes, with each needing to work interchangeably. They need to be up for interpretation as whatever their crocheter wants.”
This was never truer than with the merman. “He was supposed to be a Viking, but then we put him in the mermaid costume and it was like, ‘That’s the best thing we’ve ever seen!’ The merman is the one everyone loves. He took us all by surprise.”
By July Kerry was already hearing talk of people planning to crochet their idols – “people are making pop stars and celebrities, and even politicians!”
Right from the very beginning, Kerry has encouraged her readers to customise patterns to suit themselves, and this emphasis on creative modification has never been stronger than in Doll Emporium. “A whole section of the book is dedicated to tips for doing this,” Kerry says.
As a result, personalised versions of the characters have already started popping up on social media.
A STYLE OF MAKING
Doll Emporium, she admits, is the book she’s always wanted to do. “My style of making has always been about building from a shared form,” she explains. “It enables people to go back to a familiar pattern to start each design, which is really comforting.”
Her Imaginarium book served as a sort of trial run for Doll Emporium. “I actually tried out an early doll shape before getting started on the monsters,” she says. “Imaginarium was a flip book too, and I noticed quickly that customers and my team were drawn to making people shapes.”
Making them in crochet was an obvious choice for Kerry. “I love knitting too, but when it comes to 3D shapes, crochet is ideal,” she says. “You’ve got decreases and increases, and it’s easy to make sure they’re
“The merman is the one everyone loves”
symmetrical. To knit the dolls would be far more complicated, and I’m sure part of the reason why the Edward’s range is so popular is because they’re suitable for beginners. We wanted them to attract people who are new to crochet, or haven’t even tried it before.”
The dolls were all completed in good time, ready for show season to begin. “We started at the The Knitting & Stitching Show at London’s Ally Pally in October, showcasing them all, then headed to the other big shows – The Knitting & Stitching Shows in Harrogate and Dublin, and The Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts show at the NEC.”
Fortunately, thanks to the previous books, Kerry’s accustomed to hauling precious luggage along with her.
“You get used to being reasonably protective,” she laughs. “Recently I came back from Australia with 128 animals in a suitcase. It’s my most valuable luggage, because of all the time – around 1,000 hours of work – and the luxury TOFT yarns used to make them. You couldn’t replicate them quickly – it would take around six months of work to replace them.”
Customs must have been intrigued… “Oh yes, definitely! In America and Australia they searched through my bags. They must have been fairly confused.”
Fitting all this in around other duties at TOFT isn’t easy. “It’s quite a juggle,” she says. “Luckily, I’ve built up a really strong team of around 20 people over the past 11 years, so I don’t have to do it all myself and I don’t go to all the shows.”
Parenting is the hardest act to balance with the business. “I work full-time so I pay someone to look after my children in the daytime,” she says. “We live at TOFT, which is a change I made about a year ago to enable me to work full-time flexibly. Alpacas are there, in the background, but that’s always run as a separate business.”
CREATING CHARACTERS
Happily, Kerry hasn’t been alone in crocheting the many dolls and their variations. “I work with a team of makers,” she says. “I do all the unique shaping, then the team help me get through the rest of it. We had to make about 120 arms! You bash through it over and over again, which is an art in itself.”
Doll Emporium took more making than any other Edward’s book because of all the clothes required. “I hadn’t added it all up before we started,” says Kerry. “That was probably a good thing. Eight people worked with me on the dolls, and the hardest part was controlling the tension of the crochet so that it matched mine throughout. That’s difficult to do, especially under pressure. Each doll had to be made in all the different skin tones and so on.”
The most fun has been last-minute characters that came about spontaneously out of the figures and outfits. “It was amazing when we started combining outfits and figures for the photographs,” says Kerry. “It’s different to a straightforward pattern book. You swap certain heads and beards and outfits, and you have someone new!”
While officially due out early October, pre-orders and early releases meant some crocheters have had their hands on Edward’s Crochet Doll Emporium since the launch party in mid-September.
And Simply Crochet readers will have a sneaky exclusive in this issue, as Kerry has created a special calendar exclusively for us, with 33 mix-and-match patterns.” They’re about a third of the size of the dolls in the book, so there are fewer stitches and they’re quicker and easier to make,” she says. “You can whip one up in a couple of evenings, which makes them great gifts.”
With long and short hair options, and lots of extra accessories, they’re ideal for making in small family groups, which makes them especially fun!
“I designed them in the summer, which was really great as it was when I was just beginning to promote the book. It reminded me about what I love about the Doll Emporium! The Simply Crochet calendar helped me get fully back into that.”
Kerry has already finished the fifth book in the series, which is due out in early 2018 and is still swathed in secrecy. “I’m just doing the final edits,” she says, beaming. “I wanted to get it done and out there while the trend is still on fire.”
We can’t wait to see the new crochet characters, whatever they might be! It doesn’t seem like the passion for Edward’s world will be cooling down any time soon. Written by Judy Darley
Find out more about the Edward range at www.thetoftalpacashop.co.uk