week 27

I created this scrumble in 2 separate sections then, using just a few stitches, I sewed them together in the centre. Each of the pieces began with a small slip stitch knitted square, worked in hot pink wool and a variegated mauve mohair.

Before they were joined I added some crochet block stitches and popcorns to each piece, and a little more knitting using an unusual ribbon yarn. A couple of gaps in the work were crocheted around a few times to produce the deep 'holes', and these were then finished off with a round of crab stitch.

Once the 2 pieces were joined, I worked some random crochet mesh into the upper and lower v-shaped dips to fill them, and then edged a couple of sections for continuity, using a thick mohair boucle yarn. Finally a little more crochet was added on the surface and at the edges, using a thin yarn that was both matt and glittery.

week 26

I finally got around to taking some photos of the latest scrumbles! Here is the one I did for week 26... actually, I had even finished it early, and displayed it (along with weeks 1 thru 25) at the Craft & Quilt Fair in Hobart a few weeks ago, so it is definitely about time that I got the photo up.

This scrumble is pretty much all in knitting. Initially I cheated a bit, because I started it with an orange wool swatch that was kicking around from years ago. Onto the surface of the swatch I added a twist of tubular knitting, then I picked up stitches in various places around the edge and added a few random knitted shapes. Some of these were done with a fabulous, chunky, beaded handspun yarn - a gift from a friend at Ravelry. Finally I edged around the square with a little crochet, done with a recycled sari yarn from Nepal.

scrumble for week 25

This week's scrumble is all in greys and browns, and actually is much more alive than it appears in the thumbnail, so be sure to click on the photo to see the enlarged version too.

The other day I ran across a scrap of knitted-then-felted soy and wool fabric that had been used last year to create a hat for my latest book. The felting was actually done by Jonelle Raffino from South West Trading, as she co-authored the book with me. For the designs in this book I have added a wide range of different freeform embellishments to Jonelle's basic creations...and for the hats, wraps and cape that we jointly created, she mailed me many different pieces of felted fabric, which I subsequently cut up, and then crocheted around. Here is a picture of 'Hat and Soul', the hat in question from our new book, "Freeform Style".

So as I said, the scrumble for this week started with a scrap of that left-over felted Karaoke yarn. It was a strange double triangle sort of a shape, so I just folded it over and then picked up stitches and knitted into the edges or onto the surface to create triangles, ridges and ruffles. The yarns I used for the embellishments this time were mostly slinky ribbons, mohairs and a wool boucle.

Consequently, this scrumble is around 90% knitting - the only crochet is the random mesh overlay that I finally added above the felted sections, and this was worked in a similar manner to what I did for the hat.

Week 24

I finished this week's scrumble a few days ago, just in time to display (along with all of the scrumbles from the previous weeks) at my stand at the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair. The display is getting a lot of interest, and I hope to be able to continue showing the growing range of scrumbles at other shows around Australia throughout the year.

This one is a mixture of both crochet and knitting; there are some knitted slip stitch areas plus some knitted ribbed sections, together with many different round-ish crochet motifs, and some ruffles. The yarns were in various thicknesses - from a rather chunky, looped blend to some quite fine synthetics; they included mostly mohair or man-made glitzy stuff, along with some wool and a few scraps of cotton.

The purple flower motif was finished with a little embroidery to give definition to the petals, as they didn't appear to show up so well once the other crochet had been added around that particular motif; then I also finished off the centre of this flower by stitching on some commercially made floral art stamens.

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 22

see, I promised I'd have this next one up soon after the last! so I'm pretty much all caught up again now, I think.

So, what's a girl to do when she finds a ball of lovely lofty wool yarn that has been spun as a single and dyed a gorgeous purple...why, crochet lots of bullions with it, of course!

you have to admit that this type of yarn really is ideal for them. overuse of the crochet bullion stitch - who, me??? ;-)

Week 21

This week's scrumble is made with cotton, wool, silk, hemp, a few odds and ends of a Japanese paper yarn, and some man-made fibres. The rough hemp twine gives an interesting contrast to the other yarns, whether crocheted (as in the beaded flower on the right) or knitted (the sections at the top and left-hand edges). I am currently working on a much larger project that incorporates this yarn, and even though it is a little difficult to work with (a bit rough on the hands and overtwisted) I am enjoying seeing how it reacts to different stitches.

I was running a little bit late with this scrumble, but I almost have Week 22 done, too, so that one should be up by tomorrow!

20th week

This week's scrumble is all in crochet, and I'm again playing at bullion spirals. The pink one in the centre was done using 3 different pink yarns; the base was made by working a 2 colour spiral made up of tr (US dc) in a thin wool boucle and bullions in a thicker wool crepe, all stitches worked into the back loops only of the stitches in the previous round. The front loops were then embellished with sl sts in a shiny, variegated pink rayon ribbon yarn.

The purple double circle (which alternates bullions with tr in the outer round) was attached to the edge of the spiral using a few crochet slip stitches (this slightly distorted the spiral's shape). Then more random crochet was added around the central motifs - I used a bit of cotton, some wool, a soft looped mohair and some dark green manmade sparkle, but mostly it was with a handspun recycled rayon-mix yarn from Nepal.

The yellows in the variegated looped mohair actually blend in better 'in the flesh' than they appear to do in the photo.

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 14

Week 14's scrumble features 2 crocheted spiral motifs, embellished with surface slip stitches, fillet mesh, limpets and bullion stitches. Mostly worked in ariegated and hand-painted yarns in mohair and wool, along with a few man-made odds and ends.
Measures approx 23cm (9") wide x 18cm (7") deep

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")

a lacy floral crumble for week 12

I created this week's scrumble around the purple flower motif - it is simply long chain loops worked in a circle, and then covered from the wrong side with enough half treble stitches (US: hdc) to firm up the edges of each petal. Next the green/yellow random crochet was worked outwards from either side. The smaller flower and the slip stitch embellished star motif each started separately, and were joined to the main piece with crochet slip stitches wherever the points touched. A single small bobble was made and attached, then the scrumble was turned over to the wrong side and the crochet continued to edge just one side. A few rows of random lacy stitches were worked around the lower edge with a varieagated lurex yarn. Finally two dark purple sparkly cupped flowers were added to the surface.

Week 11 - a mainly cotton scrumble

My scrumble for this week began with the circular crochet motif that alternated bullion with regular crochet stitches. More crochet was then worked onto the edge of the motif, using two different shades of green. I then added some surface crochet around the edge of the circle, and continued it outwards to create a spiraling effect. Next I picked up stitches with my knitting needles, and added first one, and then a second rectangular knitted motif - each was done in a two-colour slip stitch pattern. Finally a little more crochet - popcorns, shells and a bullion cluster.

Week 10

I had a short length of red French knitting (i-cord) left over from the Week 2 scrumble, so decided to work with reds again this time. Began by making the crochet spiral and randomly joining on a few more crochet motifs, added the cord, then a couple of knitted triangles, and finally more crochet, including domes, popcorns and various mesh areas. I always like the look of scrumbles with 'pointy' edges. They work well when fitting pieces together, too; the 'sticking out bits' help the pieces interlock, sort of like a jig-saw puzzle, and also make the seams show up less than when joining longer straightish edges.

Week 9

This week's scrumble definitely thinks it is a tidal rock pool. If the photo seems a little small and you can't see all the detail please take another look next week; I will change it to a better size next week when I am back to my own computer.
edited to say photo is all fixed up; click on the thumbnail to see this scrumble in all its glory ;-)

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.

Week 7

OK, I realize this week's scrumble is a very much a 'typically Prudence' effort , but I have been pretty busy, and I still seem to find kniting garter stitch leaf shapes a relaxing way to start a piece . The coarse wool yarn used for the leaf that started this one must have been in my stash at least 20 years; the yellowy-lime sections were crocheted with 2 very thin yarns together - an ultra-thin cotton thread which periodically morphed into short sections of bright, thick slubs, held along with a very finely fringed, sparkly nylon yarn. The centres of the blue circle motifs were crocheted with a French rayon tape, and the lurex yarn used to decorate the leaf is probably almost as old as the wool it embellishes...see what treasures a good clean out right to the back of the stash can unearth!
size approximately 28cm (11") x 15cm (6")

week 6 - running a little late

Just realized that I had finished my scrumble for Week 6, but I didn't have good net connection when travelling last week, and then I forgot to post it when I got home...so here it is...looking a little dark with all its brown woolly knitting and deep blue crochet. I liked the way the rib shifted itself about sinuously to accommodate the added cup-shaped embellishments, which were crocheted around some (yfwd, work2tog)-eyelets in the knitting.
size approximately 20cm (8") x 15cm (6")

Week 5

Even though it's mostly blue I feel as though I want to call this week's scrumble a Purple People Eater (...blue people eater definitely doesn't have the same ring!) I think it is because the little inverted domes on short crochet cords, a la 'Romainian point lace', remind me of the eyes of space creature drawings from my youth.
size approximately 20cm (8") x 18cm (7")

scrumble for week 4

This week's scrumble started with the lime green crochet spiral. Before cutting off the yarn I added points around the edge. The stitches were worked in the back loops only, so that further embellishment could easily be added onto the surface. A row of slip stitches was then worked, from the wrong side, around the outside points of the spiral motif. Then a couple of knitted slip stitch triangles were added - they were begun using a combination of both casting on and picking up of the stitches, each onto 3 of the points of the spiral. Other random crochet was also added to complete the piece.
size approximately 38cm (15") x 20cm (8")

week 3 scrumble

only black, white and red yarns were used in this week's scrumble...they were of varying thicknesses, and are mainly man-made fibres. a combination of knitting and crochet; parts of it are quite 3D -the red sparkly bauble is a crochet circle that has been drawn in over the top of another smaller bobble - the small bobble became the padding for the larger ball, which in turn was covered with white crochet mesh.
size approximately 20cm (8") x 15cm (6")

my week 2 scrumble

My 2nd weekly scrumble. This one started with a length of french knitting (I-cord), randomly twisted around and then stitched and embellished with a contrast yarn where it touched or overlapped. Small areas of freeform crochet were added around the edge, using short scraps of many different red yarns. The crochet bullions were made with an unusual, velvety artificial suede cord - sometimes difficult to work since it stuck to my fingers and had absolutely no stretch whatsoever, but it worked nicely for bullions when I persevered since it was a round single strand.
size approximately 28cm (11") x 14cm (5.5 ")