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 :-)

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 # 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 #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 # 35

here is my next freeform piece - the red leaf shape was knitted first, using garter stitch, then chains were crocheted through the knitting to create the 'veins'.

a few glass beads were stitched on (just because
i happened to run across them shortly after i had finished knitting the leaf and they matched). Then a piece of very old, hand-knotted Japanese fishing net was placed over the entire leaf.

i have added a close-up showing the net. i bought it once at a textile conference, ages ago - just because it looked interesting - but i hadn't found a use for it until now.

to hold the net in place i added lots of little areas of freeform crochet to the edges of the leaf; they were worked over the fishnet at the same time as working into the knitting, to attach it securely.

this piece measures approximately 36cm (14") in length x 18cm (7") at the widest part.

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 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 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")

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 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")

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 1 - scrumble the first

Not quite the beginning of the new year yet, but this is my first weekly scrumble. Made using both knitting and crochet, it contains a few fine-weight handpainted yarns (including a silk chenille), along with other chenille, a bit of cotton, a few synthetics for glitz and some sock yarn. The crochet bullions were done in a single ply silk. The yellow and gold yarn outlining the bullion clusters was still in my stash, bought in Germany in the '80s.
size approximately 15cm (6") x 17cm (6.5")