hope you all have a good one!

not exactly a scrumble...

My photo today is not exactly a 'normal' scrumble, but it is freeform crochet.   

I started by using a fairly thick synthetic (nylon?) macramé cord to create the central spiral, then extended it by adding other stitches using fine mercerised cottons and glittery threads. 

The macramé cord was also used to needle-wrap some of the bars that hold the central crocheted piece in place, and also for finger wrapping around the recycled embroidery hoop into which the crochet has been suspended.  

To complete the piece I added 3 lengths of i-cord...and some large crystal pendants (only one of which is obvious in the photo, but there are others at the end of each the 'dangles').


This piece was created last year, for an exhibit titled 'Dare to Dream'.

Let me know if you ever decide to make your own freeform dreamcatcher.  Would love to see photos!  :-)

today's scrumble is ruffled

OK, taking a quick break from what I am currently working on, so here is a photo of another one :-)

a creamy scrumble

wool...mohair...silk...cotton

This freeform piece was worked using odds and ends of many different creamy-coloured yarns that I had in my stash, plus a little bit of brown, grey and yellow mixed in for contrast.  

It is mostly crochet, but also includes a couple of areas in knitted linen stitch.   These sections were worked using 3 colours, alternating 1 colour per row.  I like the little spots of colour and the textured effect that linen stitch gives when it is worked this way.  

For the bullions, I chose a lovely single-ply pure silk yarn that has plenty of body ('spaghetti' from The Loom in Bangkok).  It was originally created as a weaving yarn, but it crochets and knits up fabulously too.

still scrumbling :-)

It's been absolutely ages since I posted anything on this blog, so I figured it was probably about time to add another scrumble or two  ;-)  

Here's a closeup of a section of one (with lots of crochet bullions and a little bit of embroidery) that I did last year (or maybe it was the year before!).   If anyone is still reading here, let me know, and I will aim to post a few more photos periodically.  I can't promise it will actually be weekly, but for the moment I'll aim for a new addition on Monday mornings, and I'll see how I go.

#48

Figured that I'd better get another scrumble posted to the blog pretty soon, seeing that it is almost the end of the year already.  Where does the time get to?

I suddenly realized that the last one was posted here back in March, so my resolution to post photos reasonably often throughout the year didn't quite work!  Perhaps I will manage to update on a more regular basis in 2013...you never know ;-)

Apparently I am still in red-and-orange-mode, by the look of it; this one, like the previous scrumble, is very much in those tones.

This piece was actually the trial scrumble that I recently made when I was trying to decide on which yarns to use in a new freeform vest I am currently creating.  Most of the threads that I have used here are going into the actual garment...but not the one that was used for the slightly lighter, soft and bubbly section just under the bullion stitches towards the top right.  That yarn turned out to be a bit too soft,  and it felt as though it might be likely to snag, and also the colour looked lighter and had a much more pinkish tone when viewed in daylight (although at night it definitely seemed to go well enough with all of the other oranges)...but I wasn't intending to keep the vest for evening wear only, so unfortunately that particular yarn will just have to bide its time in the stash for a little longer.

Most of the yarns used are 100% cotton, and some are handpainted, but I have also included a little bit of angora in a fabulously bright mix of oranges with hot pink undertones, plus an interesting synthetic, tape-like one that I bought in San Francisco about 10 years ago (that's the dark bit on the left) and another bright orange rayon mixture that I found in the marketplace at the CGOA conference in Reno a few months ago.

This scrumble is nearly all crochet, but I am adding a bit more knitting to most of the others that I am creating for the vest.  Doing that, along with keeping things fairly 'open' by using lots of lacy crochet stitches, will help keep the weight down a bit, and make it more suitable for our summertime in our sub-tropical climate.   It will be one I know I will wear a lot, but it is also being done to help illustrate another book, which I hope to get done in the not too distant future.

Once again my new year's resolution will be to update the blog a little bit more often.  I hope that everyone reading here has managed to fit some creative fibrearts into their lives this year, and fingers crossed that we will all have time for even more in 2013.

and as a PS, and because I guess it's OK for me to do bit of self-advertising here...since I have almost run out of reprints of 2 of my books, and because I have decided that I won't be printing hard copies of either of them again, then I'm going to add that we have just made 'Freeform: serendipitous design techniques for knitting & crochet' and 'never too many Handbags' available as e-books...both can now be purchased in PDF form through http://www.knotjustknitting.com/freeform-tutorials   ;-)

Scrumble #47

here is a scrumble for March

...so much for my original idea of weekly scrumbles!

Maybe I will get another done before April, but at least I am aiming for a minimum of one a month this year...and since this is the 5th for 2012, I have already done way better than last year ;-)

I always seem to have a problem photographing oranges and reds, so in the picture the centre of the scrumble has lost a little bit of definition. The piece started with a small knitted section behind the ruffle (just above and right of centre), and then I crocheted on the raggy-looking orange bit (Indian recycled silk). Much richer in real life than in the photo.

I then continued outwards with little areas of both knitting and crochet, working multi-coloured stripes for most of the knitting and back post stitches and slip stitches for a lot of the crochet, with the aim of avoiding too much of a stripey effect. The tw0 little crochet flowers were made separately and attached onto the surface.

Lots of stash yarns, both new and very old, were used in the making of this scrumble; they include wool, silk, cotton, rayon and a few blends, plus a bit of man-made stuff for added sparkle (which probably doesn't show up much in the little thumbnail, but should be apparent if you click for the larger photo)

Scrumble #40

Sometimes it just happens that freeform knitting and crocheting has a mind of its own. No matter what you try to do, some scrumbles seem to be intent on becoming something you were not expecting.

About half way through creating this particular mauve and purple piece I turned it around to add something to another side, and suddenly discovered that it was morphing into...

...a bear in a hat!

The crocheted lurex ruffle had become more like an eye than a flower, the knitted cable was now looking very snout-like, and the bullion clusters seemed to have positioned themselves just where ears and a nose should be.

Since that definitely hadn't been my intention, I started to think about the best way to detract from the impression I was getting...but each time I looked at the scrumble from a certain angle that blasted bear was still there, winking at me.

So don't laugh! In the end I just gave up and went along with it, adding a bobble for an eyeball, a crochet edging around the 'collar', and some purple bouclé ribbons streaming from the back of her hat.

Hope you like her ;-)


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Scrumble #39

Scrumble #39 actually started with a couple of small crochet doodlings that were made quite a while ago, but were only recently rediscovered amongst my stash - these were the little yellow area of Tunisian crochet near the centre of the scrumble, and the oval shape with spiral embellishment that is underneath it, near the bottom.

When I decided to use the yellow cotton Tunisian section in this scrumble, I knew that it would be too light a colour. Not wanting it to be too much of a contrast, I immediately wove a length of olive green ribbon yarn under the bars, so that it would blend better with all of the other autumn-tones yarns I was selecting for this piece.

I added a couple of knitted sections to both of these 'starter' pieces before sewing them together; then, once they were joined, I continued outwards in all directions, using tiny scraps of yarn to create other random motifs. Most of these small sections were finished off just because I was about to run out of that particular yarn.

The 2 green leaves and both of the flowers, plus the wool bullion circle (top left) and the round linen piece (top right, partly hidden under the bent bullion flower), were done last; these were all made separately before being attached (some with crochet slip stitches, the others sewn).

scrumble #38 - finally

I'm finally back to blogging my scrumbles again...and I definitely do intend to keep it up on a fairly regular basis for a while, at least over the next couple of months, until I reach #52 (a year's worth, even though it will have taken me more like 2 years to complete them all)

I really love creating small freeform pieces, so this one contains 2 small hearts, one knitted and the other crocheted from the same dark lilac twinkly man-made yarn. They were created separately, and both were surrounded by a row of crochet using a very soft and slinky recycled sari yarn - then they waited patiently for the rest of the scrumble to evolve.

The main, central part of the scrumble was made as one piece, with random sections added onto the initial red knitted area... then the hearts were joined on using crochet (slip stitches worked from the back to join the top one, but 4 short sections of chain stitch for the lower, pendant one)

Along with the twinkly stuff, some of the other yarns used include wool (a lovely chunky single), cotton (various mercerized), silk (a soft but still 'crunchy' handspun mulberry silk from India) and acrylic (an ancient find in my stash - must be over 20 years old)

Reds and oranges always seem to be really difficult to photograph well, but the detail should show up a bit better once you click on the thumbnail.

(...and I'm already working on #39, so it shouldn't be too long before I post here again)

scrumble #33

A Valentine's Heart!

I didn't really start off with that in mind.

The initial circles bore no resemblance to a heart shape as they were joined; but when I added some random crochet lacy stitches around the edge of the circles it suddenly wanted to become that shape, so I built it up with the novelty yarn around the outside.

this one measures 25cm wide x 20cm deep

Week #31

here is my latest blog scrumble. am visiting NYC at the moment, and heading out shortly for a class...so no time to write about it at present. if you have any questions about how this one is made feel free to ask, and i will get back to reply in a day or two.

scrumble # 30

This week's scrumble started with the crochet spiral flower in the centre.

Similar to those described in my 'never too many Handbags' book, it has a single colour base, then surface stitches are worked into the back loops of the stitches in the previous round of the spiral.

Once it was the desired size, I worked rows of slip stitches for surface embellishment.

The first round was worked into the 'free' front loops of the base stitches, then another round of slip stiches was worked into these slip stitches, and then another into those. Ruffles were formed by increasing as these embellishments were made.

I then picked up stitches and knitted various small areas outwards from behind the spiral.

Other crochet stitches were added between the knitted areas, and onto their edges.

Yarns used included wool, mohair, silk, various synthetics and a wool and linen mix.

week 23

My 23rd scrumble started with a couple of cables, knitted from a variegated slub cotton blend yarn. Then I added various crochet sections to the edges of each cable, using scraps of mohair and cotton. The blue floral motif was made next; I crocheted it in linen and edged it with a very fine mohair, then I hand stitched the 3 sections together.

A few stitches were then picked up into the crochet using a knitting needle, and I knitted the grey and brown striped section on the left. Next came 2 random circular crochet motifs; when completed these were joined on to the sides of the knitted square, using crochet slip stitches, before the yarn used for the outside rounds of the crochet was finished off. The round open floral motif on the upper right was also crocheted separately and then joined.

To give balance to the scrumble, a few small cups (crochet 'dome' shapes used upside down) were made and stitched to the surface, and then four 'fairy wing' variations (like those found in my 'Freeform' book) were also created separately and then added around the edge.

week 19

Last week while travelling I came across a reference to psiloceras planorbis - ammonites from the Jurassic period that can be found fossilized in rocks in the south eastern areas of Wales....so for week 19's scrumble I have incorporated a crochet ammonite-like spiral shape set amongst a loose interpretation of some of the shapes and colours of the Welsh countryside. Mohair and other soft, hazy yarns were used to mirror the muted blending of even the stronger colours that were often apparent in the spring landscape.

week 18

I have spent the past couple of weeks in Wales and England, where the colours of the landscape have varied from the muted browns and greens of misty hills to the more vibrant greens of new folliage and the various colours of spring flowers...but one of the small bags of mixed yarns that I had brought with me has insisted on working itself into a more tropical ocean theme - as I have noticed many times before, freeforming sometimes just has a mind of its own!

Week 18's scrumble began with the crochet spiral motif in the centre, worked in blue cotton and later embellished with slip stitches in pink. A row of softer blue chain stitches were worked between the points, and then a very thick yarn was threaded through some of the chain stitches, leaving large loops sticking out from the edge. I then crocheted around the perimeter using a thinner blue and pink mix yarn, using short stitches with chains in between. These stitches were worked from the wrong side of the piece, as were the green and blue mohair additions around the edge and the majority of the dark blue and lurex lacy sections, but the bullion stitches in between were made from the right side, using a chunky pale lime single-ply wool.

I imagine that a much more 'English countryside inspired' scrumble will make its appearance here in a week or two ;-)

week 17

This week's scrumble again features a flower motif...this time using a length of French knitting (i-cord) made with some left-over sock yarn. The rest of the ball of yarn hadn't been used for socks, either, but had been incorporated into other previous freeforming. First the base area was completed all in one piece, then the knitting was done and twisted up and stitched into place so that it held its shape. A small crochet bobble completed the flower. The rest of the scrumble is mainly crochet, using lots of ends of fine-weight novelty yarns, sometimes used single, but often doubled up for added texture and subtle colouring. Once again, too many thin fuzzy yarns made it difficult to get a clear photo, so click on the thumbnail to take a look at the larger image for a bit more clarity.

week 16 scrumble

The yummy red and orange left-over yarns that I used in this little scrumble positively glow like molten lava. Again, the photo doesn't really do it justice!

Much of the background and the base of the 3D flower on the left are knitted; the stars, the other flower and the edging around the lip of the 3D flower are done in crochet.
Measures about 18cm (7") x 16cm (6.5")

week 15

The fine sparkly yarn that I added on the surface of a few of the motifs in the week 15 scrumble also made it a bit hard to photograph; everything seemed to come out either too light or too dark. The pale yellow block stitch motif was totally washed out in the first photos I took, so I stitched the small sun charm to the centre, to help give it more definition. The yellow and apricot spiral dome is actually hollow at the back; the slip stitches that were added to the surface help to stiffen it sufficiently so that it holds it shape well.
This scrumble measures about 25cm (10") x 18cm (7")

week 13 scrumble

This week's scrumble was actually finished on time, as were the next few that I will also be posting shortly...it just took me a while to get around to taking the photos, but I will soon be up to date again with the blog posts...as far as Week 16

This piece is almost totally crochet. Yarns used include mohair, wool, cotton and various synthetics, including a pretty sparkly nylon yarn that didn't photograph very well. The 3 little flower motifs around the edge are from my 'never too many Handbags' book.
Measures about 25cm (10") x 18cm (7")