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…
It seems like an age since my last post… with Christmas & New Year celebrations well & truly over, I was keen to get back to what I love, writing patterns. With lots of ideas floating around in my head, I wanted to get them written down on my trusty work computer; the computer I’ve had for years. She had all the bits & pieces I need for the precise & intricate details required for pattern writing… You can imagine my stress & panic: when she refused to start up & the Techie sadly shook his head…
So, years of work gone… my fault really… I should have up-dated regularly, I should have backed-up more often… well, I didn’t, trusting that the ‘old girl’ would go on forever… naive, silly me…
However, it’s not the end of the world… some of my work can be re-loaded onto another computer, unfortunately, I was using very old programs so more up-to-date ones will need to be found & I’ll be able to re-build… A whole new learning curve… yikes! that’s a job…
Meanwhile, crochet on… just so you know I haven’t been completely idle, here are a few new items I’ve created, with more to come, & which I’ll be listing in my Etsy Shop over the coming weeks as I get more photos done… stay tuned…
Hello everyone,… it’s hard to believe that yet another year is coming to an end; I do hope it’s been a happy, healthy & creative one for you all &, that 2018 will be even better. A huge thank you to all the crochet class ladies, your participation, (rain, hail or shine), has been wonderful & greatly appreciated &, hopefully, will continue with the same zeal, friendship & creativity in 2018. A generous welcome to all the new ladies. I hope your crochet interests have been re-ignited &, I trust, the door has been opened for the very new beginners to this fabulous, fun craft.
I’d also like to thank the many people who have contacted me throughout the year. I really value your lovely compliments & feedback &, the requests for advise with those tricky stitches that we come across from time to time, I hope I’ve been of help…
Another gracious, Thank You must go to all my Etsy, Ravelry & Zibbet customers, most of which are international &, being so far away, I really appreciate your trust & taking the time to leave great feedback.
~ So…, 2017… it took a while to get my mojo back on track after a difficult 2016, but time has a way of moving forward & taking us along with it…
~ I wasn’t able to enter Alice Springs Beanie Festival comp but did manage to send a bundle of beanies to Beanie Central with only one coming back…Yay!
~ Maleny Knitfest was a great success with Robyn Baily at my side working the trade stall while I workshopped. I was honoured to win both best Beanie & best Scarf awards. And, while I’m at it, I must give a ‘shout out to Karen Lynch’ who won 2nd prize in the beanie comp…Well done!
~ The Landsborough Inaugural Tea Cosy/Beanie Challenge’ was also a success with People’s Choice Awards. I was delighted to win both best Beanie & best Tea Cosy…
~ I also had the great honour of being included in ‘Artistry in Fiber Vol 2 – Sculpture’, A coffee table book featuring an array of world-wide fibre artists.
Here’s hoping 2018 brings many fabulous inspirations & new interesting crochet challenges. I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas & all the very best for the New Year ahead… cheers, Renate
Here are some new freeform crochet pieces I’ve been working on over the past few weeks, now finished & listed in 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.
I simply love yarn; the rush you get when you find a new one. How colour and/or texture floods the mind & inspirations just flows in.
As a rule, when I’m in the process of purchasing yarn, in the back of my mind I’m always afraid that I won’t have enough for a single project, either a project in mind or a potential one that hasn’t been thought of yet. And so, inevitably I, more often than not, purchase far more than I eventually use &, as most yarnies will agree, yarn stashes can grow at an alarming rate.
To gain some semblance of control, quick & easy projects can, to some extent, if not completely, reduce that overwhelming feeling of becoming a yarn hoarder…
These 4 projects are a great examples for using up those larger amounts of yarn sitting idle for far too long.
For the ponchos I used variations of my own pattern which can be found here
For the hooded poncho I knotted together (leaving the knots as a feature) a combination of complimentary, natural & acrylic, green & brown yarns & using a large hook (UK:10mm / US: N), crocheted in trebles (US: dc) & worked in stripes, adding extra rows around the neck-line to produce the cowl / hood.
The yarn for the red, purple & black poncho is a 12 ply acrylic that I never found again, but luckily I had just enough. Again, I used a largish hook (UK: 8mm / US: L) & crocheted in trebles (US: dc)
The pink / purple poncho in made up of a beautiful 30% wool / 70% acrylic 8 ply yarn that, if your lucky, can still be purchased but I’ve never found it in this colour combo again… I used hook size (UK: 6mm / US: H) & also crocheted in trebles (US: dc)
I didn’t have a pattern for the Circular vest. Working in trebles (US: dc) & a hook size (UK: 4.5 mm / US: G), I began in the centre as you would for any circle & spiralled around & around, always marking the first stitch of each round & increasing as you would for a circle. I used my mannequin to determine arm-holes & basically freestyled it to the end. This is a gorgeous 8 ply, 60% super wash wool / 40% polyamide, yarn & a delight to work with. Check out the circular Vest on Etsy
So, to end this long post, I’d just like to say… don’t be daunted by your growing yarn stash… find patterns & projects that use limited amounts of yarn. Take a chance & use combinations of different yarns, knot them together or just join in new yarn as one runs out. Try out different size hooks… it’s fun, it’s creative, you’re never quite sure how it will turn out but, best of all, it’s a mighty, practical way of losing that hoarder reputation…
