One knitting/crochet customer at a time

We often get requests and enquiries from some Membership Clubs, big corporations, schools as well as Community Centers (or CCs as we Singaporeans refer to) and neighbourhood Residents' Clubs (RCs).

As much as we love to gain more customers, we often have to turn down these invitations on the basis of class size. Typical requests range from 10 to 30 persons!

Unlike craft stores that encourages large group of customers with their huge store traffic, here at The Handiworks, we tend to believe that our approach to individual instructional format allows us to pay more focused attention and help customers learn and absorb better; at their own pace and time.


Why we rarely accept housecalls or go to customers' venues

When we teach off-premise, our stock of yarns and various knitting needles and crochet tools, notions etc needs to be lugged to the customers' location to facilitate their project purchase selection. Since there aren't any certified drivers in the house, all that transporting back and forth isn't feasible.

We do housecalls once in a blue moon but with add-on fees to cover travel time and transport; this service is mostly for customers who have taken lessons with us previously and are familiar with our yarn supplies and our modus operandi.


Quantity vs Quality

While we do not have gazillion customers knocking on our doors queuing to sign up for our packages, those who have attended our previews and have signed up to join us, know that we deliver superb value and quality instruction -- our customers' track records and projects speak for themselves. [Do check out the various FOs ("finished objects" as we call them) by clicking on the word cloud on the right.]

Many are shocked when I spell out alternatives for group classes but I am sure you have read my views on those settings.

Working with you one-on-one

Coupled with the fact that our lessons are arranged via appointments, this means that our customers are ensured greater convenience and flexibility. There's no need to hang around to wait for their turns to consult with the instructor. This also means not having to risk missing any fixed scheduled classes and falling behind in pace.

Also, with private individual format, it also means that you can pick and choose a project that you would be excited to work with and not be restricted to just scarves and shawls since they are hardly feasible for use in our hot weather in Singapore. Of course, we'll also offer assistance during your pattern selection to pick up projects that would be suitable for your skill level.

Since lessons are conducted at our residence, your privacy is ensured: there's no need to feel self-conscious as there would not be other customers milling around. We prefer to make the learning experience personal so that you as the customer can relate better to your knitting and crochet while translates to better comprehension and internalization.

The private setting also means that we can break down the steps and take it slow if customers need to. And most importantly, as we always emphasized the need for understanding how to read the knitting and crochet symbols, instruction pattern sheets and to fix or undo mistakes -- that's been our personal experiences.

That's why our knitting and crochet course programs are structured to overcome these issues.


Our beliefs

The old ways of a shifu or master passing down only 70% of her skills is just not relevant these days. If the discipline is determined to master the skills, they would do so, one way or the other.

We always believe that our role is in nurturing and empowering -- it's not the HOW (to knit/crochet) that is important but also the WHY (the mistakes have occurred and how customers can identify and fix them). Our greatest achievement is the joy and satisfaction that our customers share with us.

Don't just believe what we have to say. Just take your time to browse our blog and you will see that our customers do stick around with us. Those who may drop out still do come back from time to time; be it to take on refresher courses to continue from where they last stopped or simply to make yarn purchases from us.


In conclusion

One knitting/crochet customer at a time is our way of coaching. This approach works mostly for customers who are really serious about mastering proper basics and have the passion and drive towards improving their knitting or crochet skills.



On a side note, it has come to my attention that there has been another person who have recently posted advertisements on some ad portals offering similar home-based knitting lessons. I don't have an issue with that; except that the person has chosen to do major text scrape of the ad I have painstakingly put together as far back as 2006 (this is my version which I believe you may have seen if you came through via an ad site) -- that constitutes plagiarism; in my opinion since it's not just my ad formatting she used but down to text copy where she made some minor modifications. 


Please do us a favour -- if the ad is not signed off by Emy, it does not come from us. 


Please allow me to introduce myself:

My name is Emy and I am your Singapore knitting and crochet enabler. I have been helping to groom knitters and crocheters in Singapore with personalized private individual 1-1 knitting and crochet lessons as my specialty format since July 2005. Knitting and crochet are my passion; they are not "just hobbies or crafts" -- they are activities I partake on a daily basis, just like brushing and eating!

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