MEET THE TEAM!

The seriously.hooked.up team is a small one and everyone does so much to keep the wheels turning! What's more, all of us do it in our spare time in addition to our very busy lives and none of us takes a wage. There are of course the odd perks for Anthony and Angela who are all self confessed yarn addicts, but Paul and Kerry really do volunteer their time out of the sheer goodness in their hearts.

ANTHONY

I’m Anthony and I created seriously.hooked.up. What started as 4 friends meeting every other Wednesday has become a network of people and a friendly craft community which takes up almost all of my spare time! I am so lucky to have such amazing friends who happily volunteer their time to make my little venture a success. I couldn’t do it without them.

I design and manage the website, facebook page, facebook groups and instagram feed. I’ve NEVER had any kind of training on how to do any of these things, so the fact that you’re even reading this right now never ceases to amaze me! I’m ultimately responsible for ordering stock, arranging venues, planning day trips and paying invoices (there are SO many invoices!) - I’m learning an awful lot of things about business the hard way! I am not the best at teaching beginners crochet, but I can if I have to. I am more suited to teaching advanced techniques or new crochet stitches to people who have had a beginners session already.

I learned to crochet in 2014 and my favourite things to make are blankets. I love them! I only wish I had more time to make them I like putting colours together which might not traditionally be paired and love discovering how random colour changes / choices evolve. My preferred mediums are synthetic fibres, however I do like working with anything I can get my hands on. For me, making something with purpose and beauty out of something that is easily accessible to anyone is so rewarding. (Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE me a scheepjes whirl or two!)

My least favourite thing to work on is amigurumi. I watch Angela making a whole manner of lovely amigurumi toys and I wish I had the patience for it, but it’s just not something I can get into. My short term ambition is to become a better knitter! My long term ambition is to get better at what I do and maybe secure a full-time job in the craft industry, but for now I will just keep on hooking in my spare time.

ANGELA

I am Angela, I work as a teaching assistant during the day and also work part time in a restaurant/bar. I love assisting with the running of our seriously.hooked.up social sessions! I help to run our social sessions in Kirkham, Lytham and Poulton. My area of expertise is teaching beginners to learn early crochet skills. I have a good knowledge of amigurumi and offer advice to group members on blanket and shawl making. I assist with the website, instagram and facebook page and often blog about our woolly adventures! You can find my blog here.

I enjoy blogging and regularly update my blog when we've tried something new or been somewhere nice. Besides crochet and yarn crafts I like photography, exploring nature and paper crafts. I enjoy baking and run our school cooking club. I particularly love making amigurumi toys and enjoy making blankets. Being part of seriously.hooked.up has allowed me to learn how to weave using a peg loom and also to experience giant arm knitting!

My favourite places to visit include Edinburgh and Lake Como in Italy. But I'm equally as happy on a night out in Lancaster or Leeds with my friends. There isn't much that I don't like, but I really don't enjoy talking on the telephone! Right now my short term goal is to finish some of the many projects I've started and I'm always on the look out to learn new crafts and techniques! In the long term I’d love to be able to spend more time doing the things I really enjoy.

PAUL

Hi, I am Paul, Anthony’s husband and I help at the socials and events when I can.

My grandma taught me to knit when I was a kid, but I only ever made a scarf…cut to 35 years later sat on the front at Blackpool in a knitting world-record attempt. We did not beat the world-record but I could still knit, much to my surprise.

Anthony has tried to teach me to crochet, however I did not have the patience to get further than a small very untidy granny-square. It is probably just as well it didn’t grab me as you really do not want two yarn addicts in the same house. Where would you fit all those work in progress bags?

I work full time at the University of Central Lancashire in administration which can be quite challenging at times. In my spare time, I like re-collecting vinyl records from my youth and I co-write and design a fan magazine for Bananarama which is a lot of fun!

I don’t attend every social session but when I do, I look after the pop up shop and have a good chat with everyone that attends.