Hello, I am Assimina Saranti, the founder of Swiss Crochet.
I made my first crochet flower in 2009, just two years after I started knitting. While with knitting I had some help learning how to knit and purl, with crochet I took a different approach; I decided to learn the craft on my own. I read books, followed people’s work online and practiced for many hours.
For a long time it felt easier, faster, and more relaxing than knitting, a source of pure joy and calm. This of course hasn’t changed, but as I practice more advanced techniques, it often happens that I have to concentrate a lot more than before.
For me, working with yarn is an art and a science.
It is an approachable way to create visual art that you can touch and enjoy everyday; art that is also practical.
It is a powerful way to conceptualize geometrical and algebraic concepts in three dimensions and find out exactly what works and what doesn’t.
This specific feature has always fascinated me. When I was studying in University as a Computer Engineer, I had to learn highly abstract concepts that often seemed that they had no connection with everyday life. Crochet made a vital contribution: it allowed me to test simpler ideas and explore more complex ones. It allowed me to build self-confidence and showed me that such concepts can have applications in fields outside of Computer Science.
Ever the inquisitive mind, I continue to practice new techniques and experiment on new ideas. I look for textile-related textbooks to study and follow courses to learn from others.
Needless to say, my engineering education and my self-taught textile journey have been going hand-in-hand for a long time.
It has also been some time since I have been looking for a way to combine my skills, both in IT and textiles, in the same profession. In 2024, I made the decision to become self-employed and start a business focusing on crochet. A scary decision because it is entirely self-financed; but also exciting, because it means that I can utilize my expertise to create a truly unique offering.
Swiss Crochet is more than a store—it’s a platform to celebrate creativity, share knowledge, and explore the endless possibilities of crochet. Will you join me on this journey?
