We are pleased to bring you a wonderful interview with knitwear designer, Woolly Wormhead. Known exclusively as a designer of hats, Woolly has just released her newest book, Bambeanies: 20 Quick and Quirky Hats to knit for the little people in your life. She currently lives with her family in a double decker bus.

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Thank you, Woolly, for joining us. Why don’t you start by telling us how you got into crafting.
My mum taught me to knit when I was 3, and it all grew from there. I can't remember a time when I
*wasn't* playing with yarn or scraps of fabric! Constructed textiles has always been my first love, how
things are put together and the way they hold their shape and properties. I am very much a 3D person,
and process based too, so any textile craft that changes it's form when manipulated grabs my interest. It's
what I live and breath.

You are a knitwear designer and go by the name of Woolly Wormhead. How did your designer
career come to be?

It grew organically, really. My name came about because of my then dreadlocks and my love of wool,
which has always been my favourite fibre. When I first started my blog I was still teaching Art and Textiles
full time in schools and the blog was an outlet for my own creativity, which often got consumed by the job.
When I lost my job, my time for experimenting and designing grew, and I found documenting everything
that I did to be a really useful exercise. It wasn't long before I realised that hat designing, coupled with
pattern writing, might be a future for me.

Are you a work-at-home mom or do you have a work space out of the home? If you are a work-at-home mom, how do you juggle your work duties with your mom duties?

I do work from home, and haven't found yet a way to juggle work and family life comfortably! I've never
had an office to work from, so I have my own 'den' which consists of a corner space on the sofa and a
neighbouring cupboard for keeping all of my work tools. We have plans to build me a mini office on the
top deck, which would be perfect for centering all of the other aspects of the business, but I suspect I will
still spend a lot of time sitting on the sofa and knitting ;)

What inspires your creativity?

Lots of things, but especially architecture and natural forms. I'm especially fascinated by patterns (and the
maths) that occur in nature - it's amazing stuff!

What do you think has been your biggest struggle as a working mom?

Balancing my time between my family, my work and myself. It feels like a constant struggle to provide
Aran with all the cuddles I'd like to give and provide myself with enough downtime when the business
seems to demand more and more. It doesn't help that I don't have my own work room, but that is partially
a lifestyle thing, as we live in such a small space to start with. That said, the fact that I have been so
productive given how we live, and provide the only family income, is something I am proud of too. Aran
has both parents at home, all of the time, so I spend far less hours away from him than I would if I worked
the same job away from home.

What are your goals for yourself or your business for your future?

Having just finished Bambeanies, a little bit of down time! Writing a book really takes it out of you and it's
important to give yourself a break. After that, there are a couple of other book ideas I'd like to explore,
and a few plans for changing the structure of the business, in a subtle way, so it works better for me and
my family. There are lots of exciting new designs in progress, too. But mostly, I'd like to create something
more expressive, something that can't be written down.

What other hobbies do you like to dabble in? What is your favorite way to relax?

Right now, I'm craving making lots of freeform crochet spirals - they are relaxing and enjoyable in
themselves, and they often collect in a corner somewhere until the right use for them comes up. I'm not
very good at relaxing per se, my hands need to be busy to keep my mind calm, so something yarny
without a purpose normally does the trick. I enjoy a few hobbies, but they will mostly be yarn or fibre
based. I don't sew as many clothes for myself or Aran as I used to, and I miss that.

Do you have any advice to give other women that are interested in starting their own small
business?

Start small, and work at something that excites you. There's no point is following a path that doesn't
interest you, and let it be one that can grow at your pace. Don't do something because you think you
should, do it because you need to. (can you tell I'm a bit of an old hippie? ;)

What is your favorite game to play with your son?

Hehe - name the face in the photo! He's rather fond of going through images with me and telling me what,
or who is in them! We also draw together a lot, and he likes to watch me wind yarn or knit. He's got a few
fantastic construction sets that we play with together, and they're always good fun.

Thank you for sharing a bit of your life with us.

Thank you for inviting me to be a Renaissance Mum!