Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Crafty business owner beats lockdown blues with new arty venture

Alison MacDonald, who launched her business LotsofKnotts Macrame, producing custom macrame hanging decor and fibre rainbows, during lockdown.
Alison MacDonald, who launched her business LotsofKnotts Macrame, producing custom macrame hanging decor and fibre rainbows, during lockdown.

A north-east woman who discovered a love of crafting last winter decided to launch her own business selling custom macrame decor.

Alison MacDonald, from Tarves, would never previously have classed herself as a “crafty person”.

But when the darker nights began to roll in, the 27-year-old had the urge to work on some arts and crafts to keep busy.

“I started my business to earn some extra income from home after returning to my job in stock control only part-time after maternity leave,” Alison said.

LotsofKnotts Macrame launched in November, enabling the business owner to catch some festive trade using her love of crafting.

Her custom macrame hanging decor and fibre rainbows, available in a variety of colour combinations and made from cotton rope and yarn, have proved popular throughout the multiple lockdowns.

She said: “I offer bespoke handmade products for your home or to give as a gift that you can’t typically buy on the high street.

“I work with each of my customers to create a piece exactly to their size requirements and colour palette.

“I also try to keep my business as kind to the planet as possible, my products are generally plastic-free.

“All my services are currently offered online through social media, but I do hope that when it is safe to do so that craft fairs will resume.

“It would be nice to have some face-to-face interaction with my customers and fellow crafters.”

While ensuring LotsofKnotts Macrame is as sustainable as possible, another important aspect to Alison is supporting small, local businesses. Alison is encouraging others to do the same during these unprecedented times and has backed the North-East Now campaign.

Visit the LotsofKnotts Macrame Facebook and Instagram pages to place an order or find out more information.