My re-purposed Freeform Crochet Coat…

Forest InspiredSo, 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.

Hood & scarf ComboDSCF1717Large Freeform ToteLarge Freeform ToteSmall Freeform bagSmall Freeform crochet bagFreeform Crochet Tcosy

Freestyle, Freeform Crochet shawls, wraps, stoles….

Rainbow freeform shawl floralI have been determined to complete some unfinished projects, despite the summer heat & holiday season, so… the New Year began busily with these Freestyle, Freeform Crochet shawls which I started in November 2015, only to just finally finished in January 2016. Oh well, 3 months for 3 shawls isn’t too shabby, I guess…

All 3 shawls were created in a gorgeous 60% Superwash wool & 40% Polyamide… with long, gentle colour variegations that are bright & cheerful… just the kind of yarn I love working with.

Freeform shawl purple pink

I used a combination of motifs from these patterns: Spirals & Scallops Ebook, 16 Crochet Lace motifs Ebook & Sharp Peaked Chevron Pattern, then chained the motifs together…

I love the way the colours twist & turn & meander this way & that… I love the individuality of each piece… I love that they are going to bring much joy & creativity to the wearer…

 

freeform shawl purple olive green 2freeform shawl purple pink 2freeform shawl rainbow

Beanies… Plain & Simple….

chunky purple flowerWell… 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

turquoise hatpurple turquoise flapper

purple chunky beanie

Red chunky BeanieMulti chunky beaniemulti chunky clochepurple turquoise cloche 1rustic clochepurple brooch clocherustic brooch clochepurple brooch beanierustic brooch beaniered flower beaniemulti beanie scarf set2ply beanie scarf set4ply beanie scarf set

3 new Freestyle knitted Shawls with Freeform crochet edging…

cream freestyle wrapThese freestyle knitted scarf, shawl, wraps are some of my favourite pieces to create & I get many requests for custom orders but, as I never know how each piece will evolve or turn out, l aways hesitate to take on personal requests. Instead, I wait till I find the right yarn, in inspiring colours or textures, & just make them in the hope that others will like them too.

The body of these pieces have been knitted freestyle, by this I mean, randomly increasing & decreasing the edges & then filling in the raggedy edges with freeform crochet motifs & edging… No patterns to follow, which is very liberating & totally creative…

These 3 pieces are available in my Etsy shop… enjoy!

Freestyle shawl turquoiseFern green freestyle knit

Handspun yarn…. A new direction perhaps?…

Handspun shawl

No, not really, but I do love handspun yarn & so admire those who devote so much time & effort creating it. Some time ago I inherited a large box of handspun yarn which, initially, inspired me to make a coat with over-sized crochet motifs but, over time, my enthusiasm for the project waned & it was put on the back-burner.

Needless to say, I’d already invested a lot of time making the motifs, then to just push the project to the back of the cupboard was such a waste & that bothered me. The idea came to create smaller items… here are a couple I’ve finished… Big, bold & chunky…Handspun beanie hat2Handspun beanie hat

handspun shawl2