FEATURE: THE BOTHERS
Lou Barnes’ range of super-cute amigurumi may look toy-like, but there’s a lot of deep meaning underneath their adorable exteriors…
Amigurumi is everywhere these days. The Japanese crashed into the worldwide crochet scene a few years ago with their art of crocheting adorable, (usually) small, stuffed creatures. Now amigurumi is connected to raising awareness of mental health, too.
Lou Barnes, who owns crochet shop Yarntistry on Etsy, where she makes and sells wonderful, eccentric toys for adult collectors, first discovered amigurumi after receiving a book of adorable creature patterns as a gift back in 2012. Having struggled in the past with the technical side of crochet, the idea of creating one of the cute, quirky designs from the book, which included patterns for a mini vampire, ghost and zombie, was enough to keep her motivated to master the skill.
SELF EXPRESSION
As well as Lou’s designs being downright adorable, what makes her unique from others is her special range called The Bothers. The Bothers take the form of amigurumi, but they have been created for a very particular purpose – to draw attention to common mental health issues.
They come in different designs, from cute little ball Bothers with big, expressive eyes that can be used as stress relievers to pill-shaped Bothers, representative of medicines for treating mental health issues and more. “The Bothers came about during a particularly difficult period of time for me,” Lou tells us. “I was finding it difficult to explain to others how I was feeling using words alone and realised how overbearing these emotions can feel.
“I wanted to create something that represented these emotional sensations and also took away the fear surrounding them and any discussions involving them. I wanted to make them seem less scary; something to understand and empathise with and, most of all, to care for. This was to serve as a reminder to us all to care for ourselves when we’re going through darker periods in our lives.”
CROCHET AS THERAPY
Lou grew up all over the world, moving with her parents from Wiltshire to Norfolk to Saudi Arabia and beyond, eventually moving back to the UK in 2007 to study Illustration at Bournemouth University. It wasn’t until after her daughter was born that Lou, who now lives in Glasgow with her husband and two little ones, felt an itch to start creating, originally doing child and baby portraiture from home. Crochet was something she eventually started doing to relax and spend some time with her own thoughts. “It felt like a form of therapy to me, and it still does.”
Lou started sharing the little creatures and dolls she had created on a social media crocheting group and had so much positive feedback and interest that she felt compelled to try and take a stab at selling some of her brilliant creations. “I started a Facebook page under the name Yarntistry and, madly, gained over 600 likers in just 24 hours. Shameless self-promotion can go a long way! Within a week I had made my first sale and the rest is history, as they say.”
“With The Bothers I’m not brushing emotions under the carpet”
As her platform grew, Lou realised just how many of her followers were struggling with the very same issues she was, and many other mental health problems beyond the scope of her own experience. “I found myself compelled to learn everything that I could about these issues and find a way to help, even if it was just in a tiny way.”
MAKING IS MEDICINE
The response to The Bothers has been phenomenal, with buyers putting in orders for custom colours – Lou even creates some with soothing scents! “I feel totally in awe of how positively they’ve been received. Initially, I thought they’d be a little passion project for myself, and that people may think ‘Oh, these are quite cute’ and move on with their day, but that hasn’t been the case. “
“I think the main reason they’ve been so well received is because I’m not brushing these emotions under the carpet. The Bothers aren’t telling you ‘don’t worry, be happy’ or that wearing a smile or having a positive attitude will fix your problems. It addresses them exactly as they are and tells people that it’s OK to feel this way; that these emotions are part of life and that none of us should feel like they exist because we weren’t ‘optimistic’ enough. To see them for what they are validates and normalises these feelings and makes us realise that they aren’t our fault, or as uncommon as we might think.”
SELF CARE CROCHET
Lou’s personal favourite? “‘Overwhelm.’ He is a total fiddle toy as he comes in two parts that fit together with one engulfing the other as a simple way of explaining the sensation of being overwhelmed. It’s something that even those of us who don’t live with ‘diagnosable’ disorders can relate to. Adult life is tough and full of challenges, and it can be easy to get bogged down by the sheer number of things on our to-do list.”
Today, Lou feels that people are becoming far more aware of mental health struggles; their own and others’ too. “Although, while mental health is becoming more discussed and researched, there are still elements of these various disorders that people are unnecessarily alarmed by. It’s a hot topic at the moment, but there’s a lot to be learned. “
The future is looking promising for Yarnistry and The Bothers, with a range that’s set to expand even more to include further emotions that aren’t purely focused around mental illness, but other negative emotions that we all experience: grief, loss, sadness, self-doubt, envy, guilt and so on.
“I feel like self-care is important, not just for those of us living with mental illness, but for everyone. My creations are there as a reminder that life is a difficult journey – and that it’s totally OK to struggle sometimes.” Written by Colette Earley