The 'Phantom Crocheter' raises a smile in Lambeg with her colourful creations

Taking inspiration from similar projects that have sprung up across England, a local crafty crocheter decided to put her skills to good use and create a handmade topper for the postbox that is sure to bring a smile to the faces of any passersby.

However, despite putting her beautiful work on display she decided to keep her identity a secret, and had people across Lisburn and online guessing at who might be creating the works of art.

Such was the speculation, she decided to set up a Facebook page to share her work and has dubbed herself ‘Lambeg’s Phantom Crocheter’, much to the delight of the many fans of her creations.

"I taught myself to crochet about seven years ago, I watched different tutorials on YouTube,” revealed the Phantom Crocheter, who spoke to the Star after we promised to keep her identity a closely guarded secret.

"It’s very rarely that I would follow a pattern, I tend to ‘wing it’ with most of the stuff I make. When people hear that you crochet, they think of baby blankets or hats, which I enjoy making but I like a challenge and love making stuff that’s outside the box.”

After mastering the technique, she decided to share her creations with more people by crocheting a beautiful topper which she placed on top of a postbox close to her home.

"Postbox toppers are really, really popular in towns and villages around England,” she explained. "I follow a lot of crochet pages on Instagram and always admired them. I was itching to make one but wasn’t sure what reaction it would get.

"I thought about it for ages then last May I made my first one and put it on the postbox on the Moss Road.

"I was really hoping it would make people smile, brighten their day. I know a lot of kids pass that way to go to school and I was hoping they would get some enjoyment out of it as well.”

The Phantom Crocheter definitely managed to make people smile when her first topper went up, with speculation online running wild about where it came from.

*I couldn’t believe the reaction from the local community,” she continued. “I was blown away when I came across a chat on the Nextdoor neighbourhood app about my first topper, then photos of it started popping up on Facebook.

"It was doing what I hoped it would – making people smile and maybe brightening their day a little bit.

"The staff in Grahames pharmacy have been so supportive. They have sold my crocheted poppies for charity in November and a few different crocheted Christmas decorations also for charity.”

Tying in with the seasons or dates on the calendar like Christmas and Halloween, the Phantom Crocheter aims to change the topper each month, with the most recent one appearing in the last few days.

“I change them every month,” she explained. “I’m thinking ahead about future pieces.”

If you would like to see her work visit the postbox outside Grahame Pharmacy on the Moss Road, or search for ‘Lambeg’s Phantom Crocheter’ on Facebook and Instagram.