From Melrose to Montana: The Story of Skräpkins

My journey with the fiber arts began at the kitchen table. When I was seven years old, my Swedish grandmother taught me to crochet, and I took to it like a duck to water. While she patiently taught me to sew, embroider, and tat, it was always the crochet hook that felt most natural in my hand.

After I finished school in the UK in 1983, I pursued my passion through Art College in Surrey and later at university in London, eventually completing my degree in Fashion Design and Textiles in Los Angeles in 1989. I remained in LA to build a career in the fashion industry, and early on, a boutique designer on Melrose Avenue encouraged my love for traditional craft. She commissioned me to create intricate Irish crochet hats, chokers, and pouches to coordinate with her collections. Spending hours in her studio, I learned the heartbeat of the industry—the dedication, the craftsmanship, and the artistry required to move a design from a sketch to a boutique shelf.

From there, I moved to Fred Segal on Melrose, the epicenter of LA trends. It was a whirlwind of creativity where I assisted celebrity stylists and costume designers. I have such fond memories of that time—Christmas shopping with Jack Nicholson, swing dancing with Dustin Hoffman, and the incomparable Whoopi Goldberg entering the shop and loudly asking, "Where is my Angel?" so she could find me for a hug and some styling help. I don't know whether she saw my brief cameo in "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" where I played 'Angel in Train Car', or if she just found me very helpful, either way it is a very fond memory. During this busy period in my life, I even launched a small clothing line there, seeing my handmade designs featured in the pages of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and worn by the cast of Beverly Hills 90210.

My path eventually led me to work with London designer Tanya Sarne, the force behind the famous brand GHOST. Managing her Beverly Hills flagship store was a star-studded adventure. Whether I was assisting our first customer, Gillian Anderson, or helping a remarkably kind Jennifer Aniston reach for sizes while I was on crutches with a broken leg, I felt truly blessed to be part of that world. My career later took me into wardrobe styling for film and television, where I had the absolute dream-come-true experience of dressing my childhood idol, the legendary Twiggy, for America’s Next Top Model.

However, as glamorous as "Lalaland" was, life had a different, more beautiful plan. In 2010, I reunited with the love of my life. We had been sweethearts at 14 and 16 back in the early 80s, and after 28 years apart, we found each other again. We had been separated as my father was military, which meant we were stationed elsewhere once more. I found him again on Facebook and we were married within six months; I haven't left his side since.

After several years in London, we moved to Montana to be with my parents. It was here, while caring for my family, that I rediscovered my crochet hook. What began as a winter hobby quickly became a joyful obsession. By the spring of 2025, I looked at a suitcase overflowing with unique amigurumi creatures and wondered aloud to my husband, "What on earth are we going to do with all of these?"

That question led us to the Great Falls Farmers Market. What started as a small effort to recoup the cost of yarn blossomed into a family endeavor. Today, you won’t find me on Melrose Avenue, but you will find me under a red toadstool canopy in Montana. I’ll be there most Saturdays with a grateful smile, selling my "Skräpkins" alongside my father’s books on Montana history and my husband Ian’s digital art. (View his work on his website: www.iandealartisticcompositions.com )

It has been a long, star-studded road, but bringing these little creatures to life in the company of my family is, by far, my favorite chapter yet.