Hello & welcome to Renate Kirkpatrick’s Freeform Crochet~Knit~Fibre Designs.
Explore the many pages where you’ll find useful & inspiring information to help with your crochet journey: Freeform Crochet, Crochet Tips & Tricks, My Published Books, & more.
Please take a moment to check out my Shop where you’ll find my freeform & other crochet pieces: Hats & Headwear, Scarves & Shawls, Handbags, Tea Cosies, Patterns & E-books, & other great stuff.
The Gallery pages are for your enjoyment; you’ll find works that have sold, been donated or given away & happily residing somewhere in the world where I hope they continue to give pleasure & joy.
I’m still in process of revamping my site. There’s still so much to learn so, please bare with me as I figure out rebuilding pages & configuring my new shop to make it better & better. Thanks everyone, for your support so far!!!
I recently found some beautiful 8 ply & 10 ply cotton yarns that I couldn’t resist purchasing. Although I didn’t have a project in mind, I knew the few brimmed crochet cloche/hats I’ve made in the past have always been popular. I decided to create a small collection for our Aussie summer.
These crochet cloche/hats are super practical; squish them into your handbag, throw them into the washing machine, they always come back into shape. All have a braid around the base of the crown. The brims are flexible so you can manipulate them any which way you like. A few have an attractive flower motif that can be worn on either side or right up front.
To everyone who has been asking for this baby bootie/shoes pattern; It’s here at last.
Not only are these cute, colourful baby booties/shoes (size 0 to 3 mths) one of my best sellers at the local Landsborough Market which I attend every 2nd & 4th Saturday of the month, people also constantly ask for the pattern.
The pattern, however, was in my head & on a scrappy bit of paper. I really had to get on & apply myself to the task & get it done.
Turns out, it’s a good beginners pattern & a quickie for the more experienced & includes:~ written pattern & chart ~ both UK & US terminology~ clear photos & stitch instructions
I mostly use 8 ply 100% cotton for these baby booties/shoes but the pattern works just a well with wool & acrylic yarn. It’s great that we have such an array of bright colourful yarns to choose from these days &, that baby apparel is no longer limited to soft pascals.
I use a 3.50 (US:E) hook but going up a size will result in a slight larger bootie/shoe. So experiment to find what suits you best.
This is a basic pattern that allows for experimentation with colours, yarn, hooks & embellishments so, go on, have fun with this one.
Due to being rather time poor, I don’t usually take on custom orders, mainly to avoid disappoint when expectations can’t be met.
But then, I met a lovely lady at Knitfest. She was very enthusiastic about my work & asked if I’d create an Aussie Floral Tea Cosy for her. I decided to take on the challenge & I’m very happy with the result.
The Tea Cosy body crocheted with double thread hand spun yarn & embellished with wet felted & crocheted flowers & leaves.
This time last week I was madly packing for the Maleny Knitest; fretting about not forgetting anything &, hoping upon hope, that the wet & windy weather would clear & be kind for the weekend ahead.
Fortunately, I didn’t forget a thing. Sadly, the rain persisted for most of the 2 days. However, this didn’t deter the thousands of visitors that came through the doors. So, a big Thank You to everyone, from near & far, who braved the elements; & to everyone who came & said hello. It was lovely catching with old friends & meeting so many new ladies & gents.
Maleny Knitfest is getting bigger each year confirming that all the hard work the organisers & volunteers put in is worth their ongoing effort.
There were lots of new trade stalls with tempting yarns & fibres & I must admit I couldn’t resist bringing home bundles of lovely yarns & fibres to play with.
Another big Thank You to all the ladies who attended my 6 flowers workshop. I trust you all enjoyed yourselves & that I inspired & increased your crochet repertoire somewhat.
The last Thank You must go to the lovely Robyn Bailey, my trusty trade stall off-sider, I say it, again & again; I couldn’t have done it without you… You’re a Gem!!!
Congratulations to Deb Niotaris & Jill Henderson, the raffle winners, of the 2 Crochet books I donated I hope the books give each of you many hours of happy crochet time.
I’m so very late with this post, but better late than never, or so I’m told… Many of you have asked me about my Alice Springs Beanie festival 2019 entries – did I even enter?
To explain… The past couple of months have been super busy with getting my online shop up & running which has taken more time than anticipated. All my for sale crochet & freeform crochet items have been transferred to rensfibreart.com My Etsy shop will only be carry patterns now. I feel this is the right move. What with Etsy now aggressively pushing free shipping, something I’m not able to do; the integration of PayPal into Etsy direct payments; not to mention a whole string of other changes that adversely affect many sellers. Please take a moment to checkout my new shop & let me know what you think… I’m open to all feedback, so don’t be shy.
Now… getting back to Alice Springs Beanie festival entries, yes I did enter: one Beanie & one Tea cosy & here is a link to all the 2019 winners
The Theme this year was ‘Head full of Tunes’
If Colour was music, this would be a symphony’
‘The Song of the Sea.’
I’m 5 yrs old & walking along the beach with my dad. I’m carrying a little bucket for collecting shells. Dad takes one of the shells & puts it to my ear,
“Can you hear that?” he asked
“Yes, what is it?”
“It’s the Song of the Sea”
I thought it was magic & still do.
Songs of the Sea. Tea Cosy
So, there you go… I’m still re-organising from last week’s Maleny Knitfest & will post about that soon as well…
Explore the many pages where you’ll find useful & inspiring information to help with your crochet journey: Freeform Crochet, Crochet Tips & Tricks, My Published Books, & more.
Please take a moment to check out my Shop where you’ll find my freeform & other crochet pieces: Hats & Headwear, Scarves & Shawls, Handbags, Tea Cosies, Patterns & E-books, & other great stuff.
The Gallery pages are for your enjoyment; you’ll find works that have sold, been donated or given away & happily residing somewhere in the world where I hope they continue to give pleasure & joy.
I’m still in process of revamping my site. There’s still so much to learn so, please bare with me as I figure out rebuilding pages & configuring my new shop to make it better & better. Thanks everyone, for your support so far!!!
