Keeping The Chill Out...

Well the winter weather has set into Perth and Granny's been working on a pair of commissioned "wild and woolly" handwarmers - see below! You'll find more warm-me-up Granny wares at the upcoming Made On The Left Cozy Winter Market on July 1o - flyer to follow!

These are an easy ones to crochet - come along to a beginner's crochet class and learn how!

x Granny Funk.

Crochet Bike Bling @ Bicycle Swap Meet 26 March

Come one, come all to the Bicycle Swap Meet on the 26th of March at Russell Square! It's part of Cycle Instead Bike Week activities (which you can find out more about at http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/cycling/20025.asp), and Granny Funk will be there from 10am -12pm giving a free beginner's crochet workshop to make curly crochet bike streamers and bike tag swatches - do come by!!! Materials supplied!

x Granny Funk

Pimp Your Ride!

One of my favourite designs - of my own! - has been my crocheted bike seat covers. They are really fun to make, although they do take a little time, what with colour changes and directional changes for the underside (also counting is always a problem for me - don't tell my students).

They are also an exceptionally fun-come-embarrassing (depending on how socially engaging I'm feeling) project for crocheting on public transport, given their rather strange and suggestive shape and the complete lack of visual clues connecting it to a BICYCLE to the average fellow public-transport rider. This, however, is one social cost which I am happy to bear for the greater good of the dying arts, although not necessarily late at night in the drunken hour (mind you, even a pirate eye patch I was crocheting elicited some inappropriate gestures from a young boy, so either my designs are ravelling their way along a Freudian thread of which I am naively unaware, or the problem is in other people's minds).

Here are some pictures of a commissioned bike seat cover I really enjoyed making recently, entitled "Envy's Vine". I was going with the poison ivy theme, only my inclination toward botany wouldn't let me call something with an un-ivy-shaped leaf ivy:

I'm going to be making a whole lot more of these in the coming month as I gear up for my stall at the Made On The Left Christmas Market on Saturday the 13th November. With the weather warming up and the threat of being rained off your bike diminishing, it's a good time to dress up your bike.

I like to think this simple beautification of the bicycle goes some way toward promoting the bicycle as a dignified transport option*. If your bike is your friend, or if it's been rusting in the tin shed all winter and is crying out for some attention, consider commissioning a special bike seat cover for it - or for someone else's bike.

Crocheters, keep an eye out for the pattern too - soon to be available as a pdf from Granny Funk's Etsy page.

* For those who don't see crochet as inherently dignifying, well...I'll admit you've got some evidence in your favour. HERE for example.

Beanies for Woodworkers

I've recently begun learning to work with wood at the Australian School of Fine Wood and have a new appreciation for my army jumper pencil pockets. It is very easy to mislay things at the best of times, and having your pencil attached to your arm is handy. As a tribute to the beautiful surrounds of the Forest Heritage Centre, and in honour of woodworkers and their noble craft, I decided to launch a new range of Forest Heritage Beanies for woodworkers.

As everyone knows, behind-ears are also great places to keep pencils. But if your ears get cold and you need a beanie, it seems unfair that a woodworker should be doomed to pencil misplacement (in the absence of a good army jumper, that is).

Here's an example of the new range that I'm proud of - I've adapted the pencil pocket idea to suit a beanie and I think I've solved the trade-off between cold ears and wandering pencils. If you're ever down in Dwellingup, drop into the beautiful Forest Heritage Centre, check out the designer-maker furniture in the gallery and keep an eye out for Granny Funk's range coming soon to the gift shop!