It wasn’t hard to come up with a topic for this blog post- we were all in resounding agreement! You may have spotted some beautiful crochet creations lighting up our window display the past few weeks- all in honour of International Women’s Day on the 8th of March 2025.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with International Women’s Day, it’s an annual day dedicated to celebrating the women in our lives, in society and historically who have had a profound impact on our lives and the world around us. It started over 100 years ago in 1911 to celebrate women and to raise awareness and balance out gender disparity. You can find out more on their website here.
The idea for this window came from a wonderful (and extremely talented!) customer, Judith Travell. She came in to show us the inspiring women she was making and to gather provisions for making more and offered them to us for a window display for International Women’s Day!
Judith started avidly crocheting during lockdown in 2020, after dabbling in the odd project here and there. She learned most of what she knows from YouTube tutorials and her Mum and loves to make amigurumi, as well as items of clothing. Her favourite fibre to work with varies depending on what she’s making- cotton for amigurumi due to its durability and structure, and wool based fibres for clothing due to its comfortability.
Not only is Judith clearly extremely talented and dedicated (many of the dolls she designed or adapted patterns from the “crochet iconic women” book), but Judith is also an incredibly generous person. Having spent 10 months making the 18 dolls, it is no small thing that she volunteered to give them over to our window display for a time. Each doll took a varying amount of time- the shortest being a couple of days, the longest up to 4 weeks! When we asked Judith who took the longest, she said Taylor Swift, due to her tiered dress (based on the dress she iconically wore for her most recent “eras” tour). Apparently, Dolly Parton followed at a close second due to all the beading on her clothing. The beading alone taking 3 days!
So, let’s celebrate Judith this International Women’s Day, as well as all the women she has so excellently represented through her craft! Just some of the featured women in our window are:
Dawn French: Actor, comedian and writer.
Eileen Jones: In 2005 the first female crew member to be awarded the Bronze Medal of Gallantry from the RNLI, for helping to save two lives during a storm.
Harriet Tubman: Born into Slavery in America in 1822, suffered from the injuries gained from this time her whole life. After escaping from slavery, she became a conductor on the Underground Railroad during the American Civil War and saved many lives.
Junko Tabei: in 1975 the first woman to reach the summit of the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest. In 1992, she was the first woman to climb the seven summits- the highest peak on each continent.
Mary Anning: Dorset fossil collector and palaeontologist. Contributed significantly to changes in thinking around prehistoric life and the history of our planet.
Wangari Maathai: Kenyan social, environmental and political activist. She was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work founding the Green Belt Movement, focussing on the planting of trees to protect the soil, as well as being active in women’s rights.
Waris Dirie: Born in Somalia to a nomadic family, she suffered Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) age 5. Aged 13, she fled from a forced marriage to a much older man. At 18 she became a supermodel and started the Desert Flower Foundation to fight against FGM.
All of these alongside many more you may know too! The full list can be found at the end of this blog post- do go and do some reading about the ones you may know less about!
These amazing creations are also available to purchase, with some exclusions, at prices varying between £40-60. If you wish to make a purchase or find out more, you can email or call us in the shop.
Without further ado, here are some more pictures of the women in question! We hope you enjoyed finding out more about these women as much as we have.
Full collection: Cleopatra, Dawn French, Dolly Parton, Eileen Jones, Evelyn Glennie, Harriet Tubman, Joan of Arc, Junko Tabei, Malala Yousafzai, Marie Curie, Mary Anning, Mary Shelley, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth II, Rosa Parks, Taylor Swift, Wangari Maathai and Waris Dirie.