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 #34

This week's scrumble is possibly not quite as unusual as the last couple, but it was fun to make all the same.

This piece started with the section on the right hand side...a number of different areas of knitted mesh, with various crochet stitches interspersed between the knit sections.

I then made the crochet black and white circle, and attached it to the edge of the developing scrumble using a few crochet slip stitches from the wrong side of the work before the black and white yarn was cut. A few more crochet areas were then added around the edges.

As usual, the yarns varied in thickness quite a bit. This piece includes 3 different boucle mohair yarns in various weights, a couple of regular mohairs, a hand-dyed wool single-ply yarn, a beaded cotton blend and a multi-coloured synthetic.

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

scrumble #32

here is my next scrumble - again a little different to any of the others so far.

the 3 pink and mauve flowers at the front started with the knit section that made up the stems - reverse stocking stitch, worked in short rows and 'pleated' to make tubular sections by working a row of stitches every so often through both the stitch on the needle and at the same time through a loop at the back of the work a few rows back.

i then crocheted around the wide ends of these tubes to form the pink flower heads, and added other crochet circles and ruffles around the other 2 sides of the triangular shape to complete the design.

mostly worked in synthetic sparkly yarns, this organic little piece would make a great freeform addition to a plain handbag, or would stand alone as a brooch or hair ornament.

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 29

Gosh, I just realized that the 2nd week of January has flown by already...

...so much for the new year's resolution to try to keep this blog on track! Will have to aim to do better next week; but anyway, here is my next completed scrumble, and this time it is a combination of both crochet and knitting.

Lots of bullion circles, crocheted in a commercial cotton and a hand-dyed wool that was a gift from someone who has taken a number of workshops with me over the years (many thanks, Sheryl). Both of these yarns had just the right twist to work wonderfully for this tricky stitch, and so they easily produced lots of nice, neat rolls (using the best yarn for the job isn't really cheating!!). I also added 3 other circle motifs made with block stitches.

The other yarns are all very fine in weight; the green cotton used in the small knitted areas contains what looks like its very own bullions - little slubs of cotton in other bright colours that came twisted into the yarn at random intervals...this yarn came on a cone and has been in my stash for at least 15 years!

I finished this scrumble off with lots of small ruffles, crocheted with various paper yarns and silk embroidery threads.