Hello, Welcome to Yarn Over with Natasha!! My name is Natasha Smuts, the designer behind the toys and this blog.
Yarn Over Background
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 Supporter
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 motivation and inspiration
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.
Short facts about me
- 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 a 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.
- I work at a doggy polar, owned by my mother. So I basically work with animals everyday.
What am I doing now?
I’m now doing pattern designing Full-time from home!
And I started a little online yarn shop.
I made my first successful pattern collection called the “Cuddle me” patterns. They are a mixture between a lovey pattern and an amigurumi. I have made 13 in total and there will be many more designs still to come in this range.
You can have a look at all my cute designs on my website!
If you like to follow me more closely you can find me on social media, and if you want to hear from me directly you can sign up to my weekly email newsletter.