INTERVIEW: ‘Star Wars’ comes to life with new crochet books

Star Wars is one of those franchises that has amassed products in so many different retail areas. There are toys, clothes, bedding, costumes and props. For creative people, especially those who enjoy crocheting, the world of Jedi and Sith can come to life with Lucy Collin’s books, Star Wars Crochet and the recently released Star Wars Even More Crochet.

The books include many of the classic characters, including Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Newer characters, including Rey, Finn and BB-8, are also among these pages.

The sets from Thunder Bay Press include yarn, a crochet hook, needle, thread, stuffing and safety eyes. There is enough material in Star Wars Even More Crochet to make both BB-8 and a Jawa. The first set includes everything to make Yoda and a stormtrooper. Joy rising.

Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Collin about her books.

Here’s her official bio: “Lucy Collin learned to crochet as a child, taught by her grandmother. But it wasn’t until she had children of her own and discovered she could use her slightly rusty crochet skills to create amigurumi characters and cute toys that her obsession was born. Nine years later, Lucy has combined her passion for designing creatures and characters with her love of science fiction and fantasy. She has published patterns in magazines such as Inside Crochet and Crochet Gifts and created the patterns for the book Hollywood Crochet. Lucy Collin lives in West Sussex, England.”

Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.

How long have you been crocheting?

My nana, who was always making something, taught me to crochet when I was about 8 or 9 years old. She lived quite a distance away, so we only visited about twice a year. And she always made me a soft toy whenever I visited. These were sewn, but it obviously encouraged my love of handmade toys. After I’d learned to crochet, I made some clothes for my toys, then made myself a cardigan when I was a teenager, but it wasn’t until I had children of my own that I rediscovered crochet and found out, to my delight, that I could make toys with it.

How long have you been a fan of Star Wars?

Just slightly longer than I’ve been crocheting. I saw the first film when it came out in late 1977/early 1978 in the UK when I was 7. It was the first film I went to see twice, and I thought it was amazing. I came out loving R2-D2 and wanting to be Princess Leia (still do!). Through the years I saw all the other films and became a fan of sci-fi in general. Once I had children, it was great to share my love of Star Wars with them. My youngest was once upset that his brother’s middle name was Luke and insisted that his middle name was Yoda!

Where did the idea for Star Wars Crochet and Star Wars Even More Crochet come from?

Once I discovered amigurumi (making toys using crochet) I just had to make some Star Wars characters. I started with Leia and Yoda since their looks were so iconic and kept them small and simple. I soon went on to create lots more characters from the original trilogy, sticking to the same small scale (most of the toys are about 3 inches tall).

The publishers, becker&mayer!, who already produced various Star Wars and craft books, wanted to do a book and kit with Star Wars patterns, saw my designs and asked if I’d like to be involved.

What is your goal with the books?

I want to create patterns for all the Star Wars fans out there, that are fairly simple to make. There seems to be quite an overlap between crafty and geeky types, and people like to make something related to a fictional universe that they love so much. The patterns are also useful for parents and grandparents who know how to crochet and want to make cool toys for their kids and grandkids (the grown-up ones too!). And, because both of the books are part of a kit that includes all the materials to make two characters from each book, people who love Star Wars but who are new to crochet can give it a try.

What went into the writing and assembly for the books?

For the first book I had already designed all the characters, although I did a bit of tweaking for some of them. I wrote an introduction to the basics of crochet and making amigurumi, and then I made all the figures at various stages of completion so they could be photographed showing how to make various elements as you go along. All the patterns were tested by other people, and lots of effort went into trying to make sure there were no mistakes and that the patterns were as easy to follow as possible.

What’s different and new about Star Wars Even More Crochet?

The majority of the new book is made up of totally new patterns, many of them from The Force Awakens. It was fun to design so many new characters, some of whom I’d only just seen in the new film, instead of being familiar with them for years. Luckily I fell in love with all the new characters, so it was interesting trying to come up with tiny crochet versions of them. I especially liked making BB-8, who as an almost totally circular character was perfect to translate into crochet, and I enjoyed the challenge of making Rey, getting her clothes and headgear to work at such a small scale.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Star Wars Crochet and Star Wars Even More Crochet by Lucy Collin are now available. Click here for more information. Check out Hollywood Soapbox’s interviews with the authors of Star Wars Builders: Starfighters and Star Wars Builders: Droids.