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.
What a fabulous weekend it’s been for beanie enthusiasts & fibre tragics across Australia… From all reports Alice Springs Beanie Festival was a gigantic success & had its best sales ever… As always, the competition entries were amazing & huge congratulations to all the winners. You can find the winner’s list & photos here . Caroline Payne won the Acquisition award, a huge honour. Megan Jack also received special mention for her Dark Emu. Congratulations to both of you.
these were my 2 competition entries: both sold so I’m pretty happy about that, yay!!
(1) Cosmic Goddess:
Cosmic Goddess – Alice Springs Beanie Fest 2018
(2) The Blue Planet… received special mention for the Embellishment category:
And so to the Maleny Knitfest. The weather was perfect & people came from far & wide. It’s getting bigger each year which the organisers must be thrilled about. The assortment of trade stalls selling beautiful yarns & fibres were buzzing with customers & workshops were overflowing with happy participants learning new & exciting skills. A big thank you to all the ladies who attended my 2 workshops. I hope I inspired & increased your crochet repertoire… Another huge thank you goes to Robyn Bailey, my trade stall off-sider, I always say it & I’ll say it again… I couldn’t have done it without you… You are a champion!!!
Knitfest competitions entries were down from last year, nevertheless some awesome pieces were on display… Tea cosy prizes were won by Jivan Leela, sorry I don’t have photos or a link. Caroline Payne won 1st prize for character beanie & 2nd for shawl… Megan Jack won 1st prize for beanie… These 2 girls ripped it this weekend, I must ask them what’s in their water…
These were my entries: I won 1st prize for shawl & 2nd for both character beanie & beanie… a great result all round
(1) Shawl:
(2) Character Beanie:
Freeform Crochet silver Sci-fi costume hat
(3) Beanie:
Freeform Crochet Hooded Scarf
And so the fibre madness has come to an end… thank you to everyone who came along to say hello, & for all the lovely compliments you gave me about my work…
… So, that’s a wrap for 2018 (no pun intended)… but, let’s make it a date for 2019…
Here are some new freeform crochet pieces I’ve been working on over the past few weeks, now finished & sold from my Etsy shop… Lots of gorgeous colour & beautiful textures to inspire you. For each piece I took into account the type of yarn used, resulting in totally distinct & individual pieces. I’m pretty happy with the outcome… enjoy!
This Jester beanie is possibly my most popular beanie style, created in an 8ply, 60% Superwash / 40% Polyamide yarn & an assortment of acrylic / natural yarn embellishments. Rich, vibrant colours, a joy to work with…
I just love the colour combinations of this lovely 8ply, 50% wool / 50% acrylic yarn, reminiscent of the ocean blues & yellow sandy beaches.
Texture, texture, texture… these 2 pieces, created in 12 ply, 80% Acrylic / 20% wool yarn, are wonderfully chunky yet, if I may say so, subtle & dignified..
& lastly, this freeform crochet scarf that moves from creamy, off white, to chocolate brown to velvety black. Created in a gorgeous, super soft, 8ply, 30% Alpaca / 70% Acrylic yarn blend.
So, continuing with my personal commitment to complete UFO’s & work on new projects that have been sitting on the back-burner for far too long, I took a good hard look at this Freeform Crochet Coat that I created in 2006 & is featured in my book ‘Freeform Crochet & Beyond.’
This piece has special meaning for me as the colours, textures & forms came alive for me in a forest reserve where I often visited for solace & inspiration. Having that said, & as much as I love it, I also know that it’s big, bulky & heavy, more over, not to everyone’s taste, & to sell it on the Net would cost a small fortune to ship…
It’s been in my mind to pull it apart & make other items, but… Oh my!…What a job that would be… so,… the idea was put in the ‘too hard basket’ time & time again… Then, this summer, an extremely hot one at that, so much so, that I found it difficult to move too far away from the air fans blowing at high speed, I decided that, seeing as I’m sitting here like a sweltering lump, I might as well be doing something useful… & so I began unravelling the freeform patches…. long story short… here are the items I came up with… I’m very happy.
Well… not quite… the simple styled beanie hat with a little embellishing & tweaking can become a flattering winter accessory that doesn’t date too quickly over time…
I’ve been rather busy lately, with local displays, markets & classes, so elaborate projects have been put on the back burner for a while or, at least, until I have a clearer creative head space… but that’s not to say I’ve had idle hands… hence, this collection of Beanie Hats…
With some, I’ve experimented with large hooks & double threads of chunky yarn & with others I’ve used double threads of sock yarn. I hope this beanie hat collection gives you some new ideas for the beanie that is more than just plain & simple… enjoy!
All hats are now available for sale in my Etsy Shop
