Photo courtesy of Tabitha Cruickshank
Tabitha Cruickshank with a crochet lion that she made.
Tabitha Cruickshank is a locally-based fiber artist who will be participating in this year’s Art in the Lot event at Trinity United Methodist Church on May 3. In this interview, she shares how she learned to crochet and where she draws her inspiration from.
Q: What medium do you work in?
A: So, currently I am in the fiber arts category. So, I do a lot of things with different textiles, such as the yarn that you can see behind me for crocheting — which is the largest part of my art and my business, but I also do embroidery, I do circular weaving and I do punch needle and tufting.
Q: What or who influences your art?
A: I have always had an extremely creative personality and that partnered with a very vivid imagination means I draw my inspiration from pretty much anything in my everyday life; from outdoors and nature to photos on the internet, to characters in video games, movies, books and things like that.
Q: When did you first discover you had a talent for this?
Photo courtesy of Tabitha Cruickshank
A crochet whale made by Tabitha Cruickshank.
A: So, I really fell into crochet during COVID when everything was closed. You couldn't go and do anything, so I had all this free time. I wasn't really sure what I was gonna do with it, so I took to the internet and I discovered crochet.
And I am 100% self-taught from YouTube and different tutorials online. And I started out with the basics, like granny squares and just simple coasters, and I've now evolved into some more complex plushie items as well as clothing and I'm even now writing my own patterns.
So, it's very quickly become a big passion of mine. I love doing it and I feel like I'm pretty good at it now.
Q: Where can people see your work?
A: So, right now you can find me over on Instagram @shop.safari stitches. You can also find me on my website at www.safaristitches.com.
Photo courtesy of Tabitha Cruickshank
A crochet elephant made by Tabitha Cruickshank.
Q: What’s something interesting about you that people might not know?
A: So, a fun fact about me: my token answer to this question is usually the fact that I was born in the UK and I just don't have the accent anymore, but I think I'm gonna sway from that a little bit and switch it up a little and share that I am actually employed full-time as an engineer and I run my small business in the free time that I have.
And then, on top of that, I also am able to read 75 books every single year. Reading is another one of my biggest passions and it's also another source of inspiration for me for my business.
