"I was first introduced to crochet at the age of 5. My Great Aunt owned a wool shop in Budapest and it was her who taught me how to knit and crochet. During school holidays and after school I would help my Great Aunt in the shop. She would even let me serve the customers…I had to stand on a footstool though, as I was too tiny to see over the counter.  It was definitely in this shop that I caught the crocheting bug. I was well and truly hooked and there was nothing I could do about it!

 

After the war, I went on to do a lot of evening classes and learnt a lot about knitwear design.  In Hungary at that time, we were unable to sell our items for profit as only cooperative knitting was permissible. Everything that we produced was quickly shipped off to Russia. For a while I then became a model maker, making mannequins for local stores. I would still knit whenever I could at home on my knitting machine. Shortly afterwards I fled the Communist regime in Hungary and came to Cardiff.  The rest is history really. I started to design and make my own garments and have never looked back.

 

My whole design process begins with a yarn. I will see a beautiful yarn and then become inspired to create a certain shape of garment. I LOVE colour and refuse to be guided by fashion, as such. We should all wear colours that suit us, not colours that we are told are in vogue, this season or that. I cannot stress the importance of colour. I would even go as far as to say that colour is more important than shape. If someone comes through the door in a beautiful red dress, you will always notice the colour before the shape!

 

I find that crocheting is far more creative than knitting. Shapes and sizes are more accurate in crochet as the garments are more robust and don’t lose their shape. It is also a very comfortable fabric and with the new modern washing machines, all my garments can be washed on a 20 degree wool wash. There is no need to dry clean them, which is a huge bonus!"