Hello, Welcome to Yarn Over with Natasha!! My name is Natasha Smuts, the designer behind the toys and this blog.
I grew up in a very crafty household. Granny’s, aunties, and my mother knitted and crocheted; we did beadwork and even painted pictures of funny cows at one stage. Since I can remember, we were always doing something creative, and attending festivals to sell our crafts. Growing up with such a creative family, I was taught to work with my hands and always think creatively.
The most ironic part of my journey with Yarn Over is that I could never knit, and I still can’t. I was more creative with a pencil and paper.
My husband is my biggest supporter, aside from the fantastic friends I have made since I started crocheting. I was already crocheting since 2015, but it wasn’t until 2019 that I decided I wanted to make this a business. As always, he was 100% supportive of my choice.
I had been doing network marketing for ten years, and it kept on failing. On Easter weekend 2019, I remember sitting on our sofa crying, telling my husband that I wanted to do something else, I wanted to crochet. Eight months after I started Yarn over, I stopped all my network marketing gigs and ran my crocheting business.
My girls are the motivation and the inspiration behind Yarn Over. When Lin-Mari was born in 2014, all I wanted to do was be with her at home. I looked into blogging and found some crochet blogs, and fell in love with the idea. This is how I started my crocheting journey back then. I first learned from YouTube tutorials, later on, I learned how to read patterns. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough information or money to start a proper blog and kept this idea of having my blog in the back of my mind until now.
I wanted to make and design garments in the beginning, but I found amigurumi instead. Seeing these characters come to life by adding little details to the faces had me from the get-go. I’ve tried different things, but I got bored too quickly and ended up just making amigurumi again.
- I’m a full-time crochet pattern designer
- I’m also an ambassador for Bibi’s Wool Centre
- I was born, raised, and still living in the Northern province of South Africa
- Of course, by my designs, you can tell that I’m an animal lover.
- I contribute some of my pattern sale money to “Four Paws South Africa” they help rescue lions from trophy hunts and small zoo enclosures.
- I have studied photography and makeup artistry when I finished school and did it for a side hustle until I had my first daughter.
- My favorite hobby that I do just for fun is grayscale coloring.