For the past eight years I've been creating freeform crochet hats as my art form. I went to school for art--painting, to be exact--and now I paint with yarn. I love taking natural fibers, such as wool, and transforming them into yarn and then into wearable sculptures. Nature and music are my main inspirations. I usually start a hat with an idea of what I want and let the yarn decide how the hat should end up, making each hat unique.







Back in the day, I used whatever yarn I could get my hands on, be it natural or synthetic. While living in Chicago I would sometimes find old sweaters at thrift stores and unravel them for the yarn. As time went by, I found a love for more natural fibers and felt the need to learn how to create it myself. I learned how to spin yarn with my trusty Louet S10 wheel, "The Newt Ginnie," named after the wonderful woman who taught me to spin, along with the adorable pooch that sat by my side while learning. This leads me to where I am today, totally obssessed with wool.







While making these hats, I waste nothing. I spin the yarn, create a hat then use the left over yarn for making headbands or remnant hats. I keep all of the scraps to felt and attach to hats later on.







I'm now living in Oregon and hope to someday have a small flock of sheep and maybe an alpaca or five. To be continued...







All of my current hats and accessories for sale can be found at my etsy site:



www.girlwithahook.com







You can contact me at my email address:



vargas1940@yahoo.com