Rainbow Beanie & Cooler

Well I know I haven't been around much lately, but I have some time for a bit of a catch up, so here we go!

Firstly, I've started crocheting some coolers, which are in the ICAN@7 Gallery. Lovely Courtney from the Red Kitchen made a request - she wanted a rainbow cooler, with a matching beanie. So this is what I came up with:

Don't you just LOVE the texture of the beanie and the cooler?!

I've done a puff stitch, and spiraled the 6 colours around (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple). The puff stitch I used is: 4xTR in stitch, remove loop from hook, insert hook at beginning of 1st st, pick loop back up and pull through. I started both with a magic ring, with 2 TR of each colour (ie 12TR in the magic ring). By the way, the coolers are made for the 'girly' drinks, like Cruizers, which are smaller than a standard can.

Oh, and here's a 'in progress' shot of the cooler:

Notice that I am working with all colours at once? Center pull yarns are great for this - stand all your yarns together in a basket, so all the "center pulls" are free to come out the top.

Red Barnacles - free form crochet

Yes, I know I have been slack in my blogging for the last couple of months, but I haven't been slack in my making. I am making a conscious effort to catch up on my blogging at the moment. So here is my "Red Barnacles".

There are about 15 different reds, and well over 200 'barnacles'. They are all done in SC (single crochet), with various sizes. No pattern was followed, I made them up as I went. For about 3 months there was always a ball of red yarn and a crochet hook in my handbag! I really love the texture this creates.

This is currently hanging in the ICAN@7 gallery. I'm pretty sure it will end up in my lounge room when it's finished - unless, someone likes this more than me (is that really possible?!).

ican@7 gallery, Port Kembla

ican@7 have a gallery/selling space at the Redpoint Artist Complex. There is a new show every month, with an opening on the 2nd Saturday of the month, from 2pm to 5pm. All the artist studios are open, and there are also some art markets held on the lawn. A great organic cafe has also recently opened on the corner. Each month some of the ican members hold a special day with different activities. In September it is a social craft day - see the flyer below.

Check out the ican@7 gallery - you never know what great things you're going to see!