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!  :-)

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.

Scrumble # 41

ok, so i'm really not planning on making all my future scrumbles resemble anything in particular, but since i said last time that i had one that was sort of wanting to turn into a fish, i decided to go with the flow with this one, too ;-)

it started out ages back when i made the knitted 'body' (which was worked in short rows: 2-colour stripes in garter stitch with a dull and a glittery yarn). then i added various bits and pieces of freeform crochet directly onto the edges of the knitting (and a couple of sections onto the surface too). the crochet was done using some wool boucle, a smooth cotton, some ribbon, a stretchy cotton/lycra yarn, and a hand-dyed one that looked like a cotton/acrylic mix.

the unusual openwork area where the fish's 'head' should be was created using a crochet cord of the kind that is usually worked as the foundation for Romanian point lace.

once i had created a length of cord that was about 8" long, i twisted it around onto itself and stitched it together wherever it touched. then i added rows of crochet slip stitches to the edges of the cord, to give it a 3-D edging. the tail was added last; just simple fringing, using 2 different flat ribbon yarns.

and before you ask the answer is...no, it isn't actually underwater...though i hoped that the background would help to give the photo that impression! i finished working on it yesterday, and then photographed it sitting on top of some pigface (carpobrotus - a succulent plant) that was growing wild on a sand dune near Monterey, CA; i thought it made great 'seaweed'!

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).

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 8

This week's scrumble surprised me by looking rather like some sort of little animal in the photo; I hadn't actually noticed it as I was working, but this way up it certainly has a face! Lots of textured wool and yummy looped mohair; it started with the pale stripey knitted section; lots of wrong-side crochet was added, then a bit more knitting, and more crochet.