
Liddell WORKS update
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about the Liddell WORKS Project and how my little bit of it is going, so I thought I’d add some pics of a new Liddell-inspired crochet hardhat.

The strongly contrasting patterns of this crochet hardhat in hi vis yellow and green against black, inspired by light filtering through and reflecting off an industrial background.
The inspiration for this one is the strongly contrasting geometric patterns made by the peculiarly Liddell-coloured light sources shining through and reflecting off machinery, stairs and walkways etc.
What I find interesting after finishing it is that there are similarities between the patterns on this hat- hi vis green and yellow against black- with the patterns on the goannas here!
They have evolved protective colouration suited to the forest, where light is filtered through the canopy, resulting in yellow-green stripes and patches on a dark charcoal-grey background.

The crochet hardhat has a double ‘shell’ with a padded, wired brim, padded raised border and central ridge, and a ‘reflective’ safety stripe (mohair and metallic mix yarn).
So this Liddell hat says a lot about light and dark and geometric patterns created by contrast, which are similar to the sort of contrasting patterns seen in the forest here- one manmade, one natural.
What I really like about this hat though is the hi vis faux fur lining! It was crocheted from the same furry yarn I used for another couple of the hardhats, but as a lining, it feels soft, warm and protective. While faux fur isn’t usually mentioned in conjunction with industrial safety gear, the faux fur lining in this hat does give a snuggly, protective feeling to the hat.
All the crochet hardhats I’ve made have a double shell to make them sturdy, while the brim is wired and padded (with millinery wire and polyfill) and the raised edge and central spine are also padded with polyfill. A reflective stripe made of mohair-metallic-lurex mix yarn circles the crown.
So the time for making these hardhats is drawing to a close. I have a deadline at the end of March to meet to have them all made and photographed before some of them go off to be shown at Singleton or Muswellbrook galleries in early June. There is still time to get the others I’m working on finished, and maybe produce another one or two- I’m really enjoying the process.
There is more info about the Liddell WORKS Project on the Arts Upper Hunter website.

The inner lining of this crochet hardhat. This was crocheted using yellow hi vis faux fur yarn, which is soft and snuggly and not very easy to crochet!