Designer Bio: Laura Eccleston

HappyBerry.co.uk is the brainchild of crochet designer Laura Eccleston. Together with knitter Deborah Reader they've transformed the site into a place packed with inspiration and patterns to buy.  Based in the rural English countryside, Laura Eccleston has designed for various crochet magazines (including Inside Crochet!), as well as for Deramores and DMC Creative World's new range of children's fashion patterns. We managed to persuade Laura to take some time out of her busy schedule to talk with us.

IC: Hi Laura, I hope you don't mind us jumping straight in with the questions but we just have to know more about your inspiration for the name "Happy Berry".
LE: The story of Happy Berry always makes me giggle because originally I came up with the name Nanny Berry which represented motherhood and healthy foods. I had even gone as far as looking at registering the name but when I came to finalise the name I found someone else had bought the domain and was planning to re-sell it back to me! Dis-heartened I tried to come up with alternative names but it was my husband David who actually came up with the name Happy Berry.
Now I love the name so much more than Nanny Berry because it seems so much … well happier!

IC:How would you describe yourself and your work?
LE: I’d say I try not to follow the usual crochet styles as I’m always trying to design something that someone else hasn’t designed before. I don’t really enjoy designing crochet items that everyone else has designed, like owl hats for example. I do try to be different but I also try to design items that people want. I like to think of my designs as refreshing, something a little different, and contemporary with perhaps a dash of English charm with a little French flair thrown in.

IC: When did you learn to crochet?

LE: I wish I could say I’ve been crocheting for many years but as a child I only ever learnt to knit as that was all my mother ever did but sadly I was never very good at knitting. When my daughter was born about 3 years ago I really wanted to make her clothes by my own hand but as my knitting skills were appalling I turned to crochet after seeing it on a craft program. I was amazed at how quickly I took to it. I had gone from taking months to make a knitted jumper to just days making a crocheted one. It has definitely become my forte and my passion!