Edward’s Menagerie: Dogs Launch Party

If you’ve seen this amazing book of canine crochet patterns you’ll have noticed some real life dogs gracing the pages along with their crochet counterparts. When Kerry Lord, founder and creative director of Toft put out a request for doggy models on Facebook, I replied with a picture of my dog Stanley, and I was thrilled (and somewhat surprised) when he was chosen to represent “Romeo” the Schnauzer.

The book was a huge success when published in early 2018, and the Toft team have been inundated with praise from crochet and dog fans across the world. I have a number of friends who show Miniature and Giant Schnauzers, and they tell me the Toft stand at Crufts 2018 was not only an awesome sight, but crowded every single day by dog lovers eager to get their hands on the patterns for their beloved pups.

On Friday 1st June, a launch party was held at Toft HQ, based on a beautiful alpaca farm in Warwickshire, and all the dogs and humans who were involved with the book were invited along to spend the evening celebrating with staff and fans.

img_20180601_183557 — Myself, Kerry Lord and Stanley, AKA Romeo

It was great fun to see the dogs in real life and crochet form. I’m a big fan of the way the team at Toft display the characters at show stands and HQ, and the shop looked amazing with all the breeds on display as well as the other collections.

img_20180601_164656 — A selection of the growing menagerie!

Kerry gave a brief talk explaining the process, and pressures, of publishing a book such as this. People don’t always realise the huge challenges that come with the technical aspects of writing and testing the patterns. My personal view on this is if more people knew just what it took to publish a single pattern, let alone a book containing fifty patterns and additional pages of advice, they might not quibble so much with the cost!

It’s also easy to forget that an achievement like this is a huge team effort. It was only when Kerry pointed out just how many people were involved, and the many thousands of hours that had gone into the project that you could see just what it meant to the team to get together and celebrate.

img_20180601_180153 — The Toft team listening to Kerry talk about their hard work

We enjoyed doggy cupcakes and glasses of fizz, and shared a sociable evening with a great bunch of folk. Thanks to everyone at Toft HQ who made it such a fun evening, and thank you Kerry for choosing Stanley to be one of your models. The fame has gone to his head of course!

You can find out more about Toft, their yarn and The Edward’s Menagerie books here.