Hey, do you know Ngoc Anh – well-known with the designer name: Khuc Cay – the Vietnamese designer behind Tites Mains de Khuccay? If you don’t know her, it is time to explore her wonderful amigurumi designs! Her style is simple but max cute amigurumi animals and dolls, which are easy to crochet. Today, let me share with you something about Ngoc Anh that she never reveals in the amigurumi designer interview of March 2021! And scroll down to the end of the post to find a gift from her!
The interview is inside 2021 COCROCHET TOUR – a year-long Amigurumi Designer Interviews, that will feature 12 famous amigurumi designers, listen to their unique success stories, and have the wonderful gifts from them. You can read more about CoCrochet Tour and other interesting events in 2021 here.
You know what? Khuc Cay is also from Vietnam, my country and she is one of my most favorite designers! Looking at her work, I found the motivation to start designing amigurumi in 2019! Frankly, it is a big honor for me to have an amigurumi designer interview with my idol! Let’s talk to her right away!
AMIGURUMI DESIGNER INTERVIEW
1. Please, tell us a little about yourself and your designs.
I am Hoang Thi Ngoc Anh, the person behind the account @lespetitesmainsdekhuccay on Instagram 😉 You can call me by my nickname Khuc Cay (“Khúc Cây” in Vietnamese – in the case if you would like to know its exact words).
Crochet is not only one of my hobbies but also my full-time job. I design and sell my patterns on my website www.khuccay.com as well as my Etsy shop Titesmainsdekhuccay and Khuc Cay on Ravelry/ Amigurumi.com.
I also write crochet books: Sweet Crochet Friends (in English) and Les petits animaux de Khuc Cay (in French). My books have been translated into several languages.
A sneak peek video about the interview, click play to watch! Follow my Youtube Channel for free amigurumi tutorials and many interesting videos
2. How long have you been crocheting?
About 3 years.
3. Why crochet? What is it that interests you?
One day in late December 2017, I was about scrolling my Instagram feed and saw one mom showed a crochet hat for her daughter. I found it was so cute and I’d like to make it for my daughter something similar (she was 1 year old at that time).
Before that, I did not know what a crochet hook was, nor what it was used for. But thanks to modern technology and the internet, I learned the elements of crochet – holding the hook and yarn and working basic crochet stitches – all from watching YouTube videos. The first thing I made is a bunny hat. It has a lot of mistakes but I was so excited and proud of it!
Even though my first crochet project is a hat, I mainly do amigurumi and stuffed crochet toys now. I don’t like the “mono-tone” and also don’t have enough patience to make some big projects as blanket, carpet etc.
But making amigurumi is so different, I love how the increase or decrease stitches can make the different shapes, I don’t get bored with making them because each piece is small and unique, and the result is just adorable.
4. Where do you usually get inspiration from for your designs?
I find my inspiration from everywhere: the anime I watch, the small birds and bunnies I see in the park, the cat always stays along the way we walk to school of my daughter…
But what I love the most is reading children’s books with my daughter and seeing a lot of beautiful drawings there. My daughter always surprises me with her ideas and I’m so lucky and grateful to discover this world again through her eyes.
5. Tell us about your happiest moment since you became an amigurumi designer?
It’s definitely the day I received the message from the publisher for a book project. Literally, I have dreamed of it every day since I started this job, I didn’t expect it came so early to me. I didn’t sleep well that night (and many other days during the time working on my book!)
6. What is the most struggle that you have faced during your design career?
There are A LOT of struggles that I couldn’t imagine before doing this job: the lack of time (and energy like every working moms in this world!), the messy craft room, the frustration (and sadness and “want to give up” felling) of the copyright infringement. Well, I am facing with all these things every day and still learning to live with it.
7. How did you start to be a professional designer and treat the hobby as a business?
At the beginning (and even now), I didn’t think much about the status “professional”. The day I decided to design my first character, it was just like “I want to do this, so why not give it a try?”, it sounds crazy but I really thought that everything is simply doing and sharing what I love, it’s exactly what I did with my drawings and illustrations before discovering the crochet.
The more I design crochet characters, the more I love this job, more people know and buy my patterns and more working opportunities come to me, so I just follow my path.
8. What is your strategy to grow a design business? How did you start to promote yourself and which platform?
When I work with publishers or magazines, of course, we have to discuss and decide the projects together so I adapt my designs to them.
For my own business, honestly, I don’t have or build any strategy. I just do what I love and feel good about it. I believe doing what we love is the best and easiest way to show our spirit, create our style and make it unique. We are all different, so just need to be ourselves. It’s the same way I share my works on Facebook or Instagram page, I put what I see as “it’s beautiful”, what makes me happy, or simply what I want to share.
9. I saw that you have tons of sales on Etsy and other sales platforms, what you think is the main factor that leads to your success today?
I think my answer of two previous questions already replied to this 😉
10. You are famous right now, but I know that it would be a long story behind with all the effort and of course, luck! What is your advice for people who want to be a designer and live with a career?
I don’t know if I’m enough that good to give advice to anyone 😀 But I just want to send you a message: be yourself and do what you love.
You can design what you like, be sure it does not take ‘too much’ inspiration from others (yeah, you know, sometimes we can’t see well between getting inspiration and stealing the design!). Don’t force yourself to follow any trend, please be proud because you design everything in your own ways! In the beginning, it may be difficult, you may not get a lot of attention immediately, it may not work, but it may do a big hit. In all cases, you’ll not regret putting all your heart into it.
Well, what I love about the CoCrochet Tour – the amigurumi designer interviews is we can learn a lot from the famous and successful amigurumi crocheter! Do you find the same advice from them? BELIVE IN YOURSELF! I am believing in myself too! Thank you Ngoc Anh about the amazing interview and your fabulous amigurumi designs to the yarn world!
In case you are new to amigurumi, check my Ultimate guide to amigurumi for beginners to learn from scratch this beautiful art!
IT’S TIME FOR GIVEAWAY
Thanks to Khuc Cay, we will have a special coupon of 20% off on her shop to only my readers! The coupon is available on www.khuccay.com on every purchase (13/03 – 20/03/2021).
If I were you, I will not watse this opportunity because hardly Khuccay has any sale during a year!
Cach you Coupon and to to her website RIGHT NOW!
JOY20
Thank you for reading and see you next month in EPS 04 of COCROCHET TOUR 2021!
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From Joy with love!
