Fibre Artist ~ Craft Teacher ~ Author
I am in the process of revamping my site. There’s so much to learn so, please bare with me as I figure out rebuilding pages with useful & inspiring information to help with your crochet journey. I’m also configuring my new shop where you’ll find my freeform & other crochet pieces. Enjoy!!!
Hi everyone…The Maleny Knitfest 2019 is almost here; 2 fabulous days of fibre Fun for everyone. Sat, 6th July & Sun, 7th July.
The theme this year is Australiana. As in previous years, Knitfest is shaping up to be a fabulous weekend of gorgeous fibre fun, with workshops, exhibits, trade stalls, competitions & much more… so there’ll be something for everyone.
Check out & book your worksop here, I’m sure you’ll find one to interest you; workshops are filling fast so, to avoid disappointment, don’t leave it too long. If you’d like to know more about this year’s presenters, you can see them here.
For those who enjoy a little challenge, why not give the competitions a go: individuals, groups & businesses can all enter… check out the categories here. It’s only $5 per entry & you can enter as many times as you like… This year there’s even a socks category… Yes, socks…
I will have a trade stall again this year, selling my freeform pieces, my books & patterns & presenting the following workshop:
Title: Crochet Flowers with a Difference. Sunday 7th July 2019, morning session (10am to 12 noon)
About the Workshop: An introduction to crochet flowers worked a little differently. Fun & practical motifs to enhance & decorate your projects: beanies, hats, scarves, thongs & shoes, headbands : turn them into brooches, garlands & lanyards: or anything your imagination can conjure up. The worksop includes 6 patterns, each a little different from the other. Patterns are in both written & graph (chart) form. You can make as many flowers as time allows.
Requirements:
For more information go to the Maleny Knitfest website & you can like Maleny Knitfest on Facebook
So looking forward to a great weekend. Take some time out for some fibre indulgence… hope to see you there, cheers, Renate
I’ve been getting quite a few queries lately about Working Crochet in the Round. Rather than continually answering each individual question, I decided to put together this basic instruction sheet for Working Crochet in the Round. Understanding the basic formulas for keeping your work flat & avoiding your crochet work from going astray is important so, I trust the instruction sheet is helpful.
1)Why is my work cupping? – this usually means there are not enough increases
2) Why is my work wavy? – this usually means there are too many increases
Working in the round is a little different from working on rows. To keep your work flat you must evenly increase every round & this varies when working circles or squares. I’ve given both written instructions & charts to help you better understand.
Hello everyone, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been truly active here at rensfibreart… so what have I been up to, you ask? Well, over the past few months, my mojo has been rather sluggish. It happens to us all at sometime & getting it back can be tough. Letting things coast along as they are is easy. However, stepping out of your comfort zone can be daunting & requires a degree of bravery.
First things first: I’ve had this wordpress website for over 10 years & it’s always served me well but the theme has become old, unsupported & not mobile friendly. It definitely needed a change. This had to be my 1st challenge so I took the plunge. There was a bit of a muck around getting photos back in line on all the information pages for better reading & to keep the page attractive. All in all, not too difficult, just time consuming; hopefully I’ve succeeded.
Secondly: My Etsy shop; again, it’s been open since 2009 &, I have to say, Etsy has been good to me. It’s given me lots of exposure & the fabulous opportunity to sell my creations to a worldwide audience. I’ve made some wonderful friendships & loyal customers who have given me the confidence to keep going. However, Etsy has become so big that small handmade sellers like myself are getting lost in the crowd. My sales are still OK but nowhere near what they used to be. Of course there are many of reasons for this: the slow economy, saturated markets, more competition, perhaps handmade is losing its appeal. Whatever the reason, a rethink was definitely on the cards.
So my next step: was to upgrade my site to business & open my own WooCommerce shop. This was the biggest gamble of all. A huge learning curve that I’m sure will be ongoing for some time. The support team here at wordpress have been fabulous & an enormous help with my bumbling efforts.
The outcome: I now have a mobile friendly website with a ecommerce shop. I will keep my Etsy shop open for the time being selling all my crochet patterns &, as items expire, I’ll transfer them into my rensfibreart shop. The biggest obstacle & my main concern is getting traffic. That’s something I’m going to have to work hard at & learn more about as I go.
The whole experience has certainly taxed my brain, energy &, at times, my patience, but at the same time it’s given me new drive.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years, I hope this will be a fresh, new beginning. I’d love to hear your thoughts & comments & welcome any suggestions.
Wishing all my family & friends, near & far, a very Happy & relaxing Easter.
A Beginners’ Crochet Notebook… click here for the tutorial
I receive many, many emails from folk needing help with their crochet; not only from frustrated beginners, but also from those who have been crocheting for a while asking, what for some are, fairly basic questions… But there is no such thing as a silly, stupid or ‘I should know this’ type of query, even after many years of crocheting there are always new things to learn.
And so, I’ve put together this Beginners’ Crochet Notebook to help those of you who want to start crocheting but don’t know where to begin. And, even though I’ve written this notebook mainly with the novice in mind, that doesn’t mean the more experience crocheter won’t find a few helpful tips as well.
~What hooks to use with which yarn.
~Which yarns are: animal, plant or synthetic.
~How to read patterns.
~What those scary, abbreviations & symbols mean…& lots more.
I’ve done my best to gathered together answers to the most frequent questions I receive, but of course, it’s impossible to have an answer for everything. There is so much more information I could have included in this Notebook; so much more the reader might find useful; but it’s such a fine line between cramming in too much & overwhelming you.
Nevertheless, I trust this tutorial is a comprehensive journey through the crochet basics for the beginner & others, & that it encourages you to venture forth with a little more confidence & understanding of this wonderful craft.
