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crochet cushions - an origin story

3/7/2015

 
https://www.etsy.com/nz/shop/pirihirajames?section_id=16738053&ref=shopsection_leftnav_1
https://www.etsy.com/nz/shop/pirihirajames?section_id=16738053&ref=shopsection_leftnav_1
Kōwhaiwhai is the 4th in my collection of crochet cushions whose motifs are based on tāniko patterns.
The collection also contains interpretations of pitau, aramoana & aronui.

Being Māori, knowing & loving harakeke, muka & tāniko as I do, it is such an honour & pleasure to be able to create these pieces.

I love the patterns. 
I love the process of translating them into graphs from which I can then crochet cushions. 
I love the wool that they are made from. 
I love that it is 100% New Zealand grown & manufactured. 
I love that it is produced in small batches, hand dyed & unique.
I love the soft warmth & lofty comfort the completed cushions provide.

They make my heart sing.


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my cushions, me, my clutter

Ko Taranaki te Maunga (Taranaki the mountain)

11/6/2015

 
For those unfamiliar with where Taranaki is, look at a map of the north island of NZ, on the western side, there's a rounded belly poking out, kinda half way between Auckland & Wellington, that's the region of Taranaki & in the centre of the region stands Taranaki, our mountain.
Taranaki is our mountain. 
A dormant andesitic stratovolcano. 
It is an iconic, ever present ( tho not always visible) landmark which created our landscape, determined the regional topography, rivers & plains, influences our weather & infuses our being.
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It is difficult to put into words the significance the mountain holds for people who live in the region. 
I think it's true to say that it defines us.
There are times we completely overlook it, or can't see it due to it being hidden behind cloud so thick that you would have trouble getting a stranger to believe it was even there . . . . but we know it's there.


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Taranaki (the mountain) definitely influences local artists & creatives with a desire to re-create the mountain in their own media, to celebrate the role the mountain plays in their lives. 
And why not ? it's a perfect subject . . . .



Taranaki infuses people with identity, a sense of belonging & connection.
Wherever we go & for how ever long we are away, our mountain waits for us & whenever we return we look for it, we need to see it, then we know, absolutely, we are home. 


Depending on which side of the mountain you live determines where it features in your landscape. 
For us, it's to our south, guarding us from behind. 
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Hugh works on an on-going series of andesite sculptures (stone from the mountain), creating triangular forms with two faces, each different. 
To date he has completed 5 works, which we refer to as 'Faces of Taranaki'.


My mountain work is much more humble, it is made of wool & crochet.

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I wanted a gift for a 30 something year old who was leaving the town & province to further her career. 

There is a local ceramicist, Maria Brockhill, who makes lovely small mountains which I like to buy as gifts.
I went to the usual design store to purchase one, only to discover there were absolutely none in stock.
After pondering about what I could buy instead, I decided to make a similar sized mountain, crochet of course, & using New Zealand wool.


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Picture


Of course the recipient was completely underwhelmed & the gift has probably long ago been 'on gifted' or discarded.

I really don't care as I was overjoyed to have created my own tribute to our beautiful mountain. 
 
Someone asked if I could scale the little mountains up & make doorstops, so I did.

I modified the design to create a permanently stuffed upper & a zippered compartment in the base. 
This enables the base to be filled with anything you want to whatever weight you feel you need.
I use a small bag of rice, which weighs about 700g, to hold our doors. 
Our floors are wooden so wool is ideal as there are no accidental scratches.
Best of all is being able to slide the doorstop out of the way with my foot. 
I love my mountains. I have 3. 


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People who leave Taranaki miss the mountain. In fact some of them yearn for the mountain. 
They fill their homes with Taranaki themed paintings, wall hangings, photographs, cushions & sculpture. 

Nowadays a few of them also have my doorstops. 
They are made with all the love & respect I have for our mountain. 

Yep … it's a crochet doorstop !
… a fun, quirky, reminder of home.



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The full range of mountains available for purchase is in the Etsy online store or email me here.

Brooches . . . an origin story

29/5/2015

 

I decided, when I taught myself to crochet, that I would make flowers as they seemed to me to be an extremely good way to learn crochet stitches & techniques, they are small, quick to make & they are beautiful. 
So I made loads of them, all different sizes, different yarns & in a multitude of colours. 
Then I wondered what to do with them & how to display them, so I turned them into brooches. 

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a carpet of flowers

I love the crochet flowers both to crochet & to look at, I love their complexity, vibrancy & colour. 
Brooches are versatile. 
They can be worn on shirts, jackets or coats, used to hold scarves or shawls in place, attached to bags, pinned on the wall & I have been known to attach them to toys.

I started thinking about other brooches I might make. 
Circular, but less complex, fewer colours, less busy, simplified. 
I had been felting brightly coloured crochet nesting bowls for gifts & had also made a couple of 'double skinned' bowls (where the inner & outer are crocheted as a continuation of each other then united in the felting process …that was fun & I must re-visit that process one day)

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felted bowls for trinkets & treasures
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double skin felted bowls

Resulting from those experiments was the next incarnation of brooches which were the concentric circles of varying colours, made out of wool & felted. 
I made 2 series, one using more subdued colours which have a completely different aesthetic & appeal. 
The other series using the bright colours I had used for the felted bowls which I decided to embroider as if they are buttons. 
Brooch…Button …get it ?.…anyway …

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circle brooches
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cute as a button brooches
Then I twigged that the felted circle* is actually the ideal little 'canvas' on which I can 'draw' with embroidery. 

Currently I make the brooches in batches, up to 5 at a time. 
I crochet the circles for the bases which I then hand felt. 
The circles are shaped, dried, then re-shaped if needed & shaven to make them flatter & less hairy then they are naturally. 
By making the bases myself I get the size & colour I want. 

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felting tools !
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batch of 5 for new brooches

I design a pattern, draw it, then embroider the brooch. 
I make a backing of an acrylic felt disc to which I have securely hand stitched a brooch back/pin.
I sandwich cotton batting between the backing & the brooch for shaping. 
These layers are glued together using a quality fabric to fabric glue.

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brooches: 'daisy a day' (top) & 'lashings of pink' (bottom)
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'daisy a day' profile detail

Each brooch is individually handcrafted & all absolutely unique which is what it's all about.

Small, lightweight, wearable works of art.

The full selection of circle brooches & embroidered brooches which are available in our Etsy shop can be found here

*these are not really circles but hexagons due to the way I crochet them
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    About
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    Hi, I'm Sally
    I'm a fibre artist who loves botanicals - especially NZ native plants
    you can find me on 
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