How Crafty Stuff Baby Knits began...

Hello hello! Welcome to my blog.

I am Tania, the knitting addict behind Crafty Stuff Baby Knits.

That's a funny name for a knitting shop, I hear you say... why Crafty Stuff Baby Knits?

Why have "Crafty Stuff" in the name?

Well thats because when I first started out working for myself, from home, way back in 2007, I lived in a little rural tourist town in Clarens, South Africa. That is right in the middle of South Africa, on the Lesotho mountain border.

There was no such thing as a craft supply shop for several hours drive, and as an avid crafter, I used to have to buy supplies in bulk. ( no online craft shops in those days!)

Since I was buying supplies in bulk, I decided to sell the excess online, and so Crafty Stuff began.

By 2009 we had decided to move to the coast, where there was better schooling for my daughter, Gabriella, who was about to start with High School. And so, we moved to Port Elizabeth, on the Eastern Cape coast. That was a big change for us from the dry rural farmlands, to lush coastline with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world!

As a crafting addict, I dabbled in just about every kind of craft : mosaic, scrapbooking, painting, decopage, pewter work, and so on. But the one thing that I always loved doing, was knitting and crochet. My mum taught me how to knit as a little girl. My favourite thing to make was baby cardigans and sweaters. They are quick to make, and you can experiment with different patterns and textures, without committing to a big project.

One evening in 2013 I decided to play around with making some baby hats. I posted them on Facebook, and a local photographer contacted me asking if I could make them in newborn size for her photography business, specialising in taking pictures of babies under 15 days old. I was thrilled!

Of course, once her beautiful photos were available, I posted those on my Facebook and BAM! Suddenly I was in the business of making newborn photography props for all the local photographers 😀

Since knitting and crochet, were always my favourite crafts, and the orders for the photo props were taking up so much of my time, I did away with the craft supplies store, but I was already known by the "Crafty Stuff" name, so I simply became " Crafty Stuff Baby Knits". By that time, online selling has really started to grow, and I was able to sell my baby knitwear all over the world. (isn't technology amazing?!)

In 2018 we decided to move to London, United Kingdom, where we live in a beautiful area, with loads of green parks, filled with adorable squirrels and foxes. And the best thing about having an online store? I could simply up and move my business to London, where I am closer to all my lovely international customers.

So here I am, knitting for a living, in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, living my dream!