Craft Focus - April/May 2020 (Issue 78)

14 A farm in Hampshire receives national rural award The Grey Sheep Co., based near Farnham, has been named as the Best Rural Diversification Project at the Rural Business Awards. The award recognises farms that have gone above and beyond to offer something different to bring in more customers. Emma and Neil Boyles are first generation farmers who have transformed a purely arable farm into a thriving sheep farm, where they produce their own British knitting yarns, and also focus on sustainable and ethical farming. Emma works with shepherdess Susie Parish to produce the highest quality yarn for knitting and weaving. The fibre is sheared by Susie, washed in Yorkshire and spun in Devon before returning back to the farm to be hand dyed by Emma. Now in its 10 th year, The Grey Sheep Co. supplies to the end user through its online shop and exhibitions and is also stocked by small, independent knitting shops across the globe. Emma said: “We’re thrilled to have won the Best Rural Diversification Project award after being up against some strong contenders. “I have always loved textiles and our aim is to run an ethical farm which invests in the landscape and care of its animals while creating high quality knitting yarns which don’t cost the earth. We have seen a huge resurgence of knitting and handicraft in recent years, and its popularity continues to grow.” Orders rise as people stay indoors and craft and play The idea for DoodleCraft’s quilting panels and fabric panels came from the number of people who love the DoodleCraft Designs but didn’t have the time, ability or inclination to hand stitch them. These new versions, still look like the stitched version but are printed. For the quilt-your-own games boards, the idea is to provide the ever-popular DoodleCraft design games board images printed onto 100 per cent cotton panels so that they can be made up into a quilted games board – great for children as they don’t tear like cardboard and for storage as they can be folded away and taken on holiday. Plus, they’re fully washable. Any of the designs are available in this new format. Similarly, the fabric panels are printed onto 100 per cent cotton canvas so they’re a bit more robust. These can be used as they come, add a bit of stiffening and backing and they are fabric games boards with all the benefits of the quilted ones. You could embellish them if you wanted to by adding some metallic stitching. In the coming weeks and months more people will be spending time indoors and the company has already seen a rise in online sales. For further information, visit doodlecraftdesign.co.uk Moleskine appoints new CEO Moleskine has announced the appointment of Daniela Riccardi as the brand’s new CEO. She will join the company in April 2020. Daniela Riccardi, has built an extensive international career during which she successfully led and turned around businesses and brands around the world. She has held various senior management positions at Procter & Gamble (Italy, Belgium, Latin America, Moscow and China) between 1985 and 2010, during which she successfully established and implemented growth strategies, restructured businesses and led businesses in fast growing markets. Daniela Riccardi commented: “I’m very honoured to take the lead of Moleskine, a legendary and unique brand that changed the meaning of notebooks, and offers still today many opportunities for developing and extending its relevance. “I’m also very happy to be back in Italy, my own country, and leverage the experience gathered around the world to support an iconic Italian brand and contribute to the success of the Italian business environment.”