One For The Track...

I recently enjoyed the pleasure of experiment in a commissioned work for a friend planning to walk the Bibbulmun track (yes, all of it, and for the second time). She wanted some arm warmers for the chilly mornings - green and foresty, with flecks of blue, invoking both the woodland and the ocean. Well, I thought that was a way to create a major colour clash, but I said nothing and pondered over the task, thinking how I might be able to separate the blues and forest greens with a certain smattering of brown and yellow. Here are the pictures of the finished object, which for the purposes of not getting too warm too quickly and thus avoiding a frustrating state of my-arms-are-cold-but-they're-too-hot-in-those-damn-things, I added a Goth-if-only-it-was-black style openwork lacing.

Now, with a happy customer safely meandering about the countryside, try to imagine them with suitable track-walking clothing and tell me, did I get away with it?

Love,

Granny Funk

Crochet Me An Ocean

I thought I'd post a commissioned work I made recently for a surfing friend - partly because it brought me a lot of joy and partly to show how versatile crochet can be. This piece was designed around an ocean theme - I tried to capture the sand, surf and the bright underwater treasures of coral. Commissioned pieces are really fun - I like playing around with a theme and trying to work out how I could capture it with yarn.

Designed originally as a button-up neck scarf for the chilly coastal winds, this piece quickly moved upwards to my friend's head as a wide head band - where, quite honestly, it looked even better. I really enjoy the design process of tailor-made items, especially where it's for someone I know. Matching a piece to a theme and also to a person is a skill that takes a combination of logical thought, intuition, and creativity. I had initially planned to add bottle-tops and "ocean junk" to make the piece a commentary on both marine beauty and ecological degradation, but the piece felt finished before the junk made it in so I decided to curb my activist bent. It was enough to make a piece that was a tribute to the beauty of the ocean in itself. Speaking of tributes to the ocean, the friend who commissioned this piece has taken some beautiful underwater photos which you can find here.