What a great stash buster! Love it.
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honey comb pull over
1 year ago
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Friday, 28 August 2009
Thursday, 27 August 2009
FREEFORM CROCHET
Why I love the freedom
Let me count the ways...
Play
Freeform crochet lends itself to enjoying the process of making as much as the pleasure of holding the finished product. You can stick your hook in anywhere you like and ‘try it and see’.
Instant Art
This is a quick and easy way to make art that requires the most basic of skills using the minimum amount of equipment. With a hook and a couple of well chosen yarns you cannot fail.
Speed
It takes next to no time to produce something original that can become anything you like: a motif to embellish a favourite sweater, a bag, a garment, a blanket, a hanging...
Cost
You can indulge a love of yarns without spending a fortune. Most shops have end-of-line offers or baskets of oddments going for a song. Some will even give you the stuff they can’t sell!
Design Freedom
You can do what you like and need never follow a pattern again. (NB I’m a rare bird who likes following patterns, but I love the challenge of freeform more. It’s a creative adventure).
How to make your first piece of freeform
Equipment
· 5mm hook or the one that you feel most comfortable using.
· Ball of random dyed yarn.
· Several more balls of yarn in the solid colours you can see in the random dyed yarn. Don’t worry about the weight; you can always work with two strands held together.
Ready, steady, go...
If working without instructions is daunting:
· Work back and forth in rows to produce an approximate square of about 3” in your favourite stitch. Try to incorporate two different yarns.
OR, if you’re feeling brave:
· Take two of your yarns for a walk and doodle to come up with a ‘something’ measuring approximately 3” x 3”.
The finished shape is irrelevant! Just make sure it lies flat.
Next...
Break the rules and think random. Here are a few suggestions to keep you going.
· Do not turn at the end of a row, but work up the side of your work and
- introduce a curve or two
by increasing and decreasing
changing stitch height
- add texture (lumps & bumps)
work only into the back/front loop of stitches
create spikes, popcorns, puff stitches, bobbles, bullions...
(working with heavily textured yarn will do the work for you!)
· After that:
- stop mid row and turn
- stop and insert your hook somewhere new - to begin again or in-fill
- shoot off in any direction that takes your fancy, by adding chains and working on those, or increasing like crazy in the middle of or at the end of a row
- introduce some surface crochet in the form of ripples and ruffles
- break off and start a new piece
- make something by joining several fragments together.
Join work with a crochet hook, or use a darning needle to sew pieces together. You can squeeze and overlap pieces to fill gaps; or make shapes tailored to fit gaps. I use a paper template to assist with the process of ‘designing’ my work.
REMEMBER:
· Frequently stop, and start elsewhere.
· Use as many colours as possible.
· Use as many textures as possible.
· Change your yarn often and work only a few stitches in each colour.
· Vary your stitches.
· Think three-dimensional.
· Only rip work out in an emergency. Cultivate Kaffe Fassett’s maxim and “use your mistakes”.
· Be adventurous. Have a little faith in yourself and your latent creative spirit.
· Don’t panic! Remain open-minded and willing to let your work guide you. Put it down and take a walk. Then look again. You may be surprised.
· Nothing is wasted. Any patches you don’t use this time can be put away and applied to something else. Or it may be the beginning of something new.
· There is no ‘right’ or’ wrong’ way – only your way!
For the future:
Become a serious yarn collector. Be on the lookout for any colours and textures that you don’t already have and stash them away in see-through boxes organised by colour and not by weight.
Become an expert at crochet. Take every opportunity to brush up on the technicalities and learn new stitches. This will ensure you remain in charge of your work and not it in charge of you!
Learn to think like a freeform crochet artist: notice and record when colours and forms interact to produce a pleasing effect. I liken freeform to painting with a multitude of colours, which no matter how often you mix them up will never become dull or muddy.
Observe the world - and in particular the natural one. Look hard at your surroundings. If possible sketch what you see, but a camera will do just as well.
Keep a note of where you’ve been. In a visual journal note down anything interesting and record what you’ve done – and how! I incorporate photographs of my work at each stage of a project.
Build a library to include books, magazines, and articles on crochet – as well as art and design. This will be an invaluable source of reference to which you will return again and again.
Find a crochet buddy and be innovative together! You may care to join a local group, or start one; and/or to join the myriads that already exist in cyber space.
Finally, dare to be radical and experiment
Finally, dare to be radical and experiment
Some of the books I checked out when writing this piece:
Sylvia Cosh and James Walters, The Crochet Workbook
Jenny Dowde, Freeformations, Designs and Projects in Knitting & Crochet, Freeform Knitting and Crochet, Surface Works
Margaret Hubert, Fun with Free-Form Crochet
Renate Kirkpatrick, Freeform Crochet and Beyond
Prudence Mapstone, Serendipitous Design Techniques for Knitting & Crochet
Copyright © Sophia Roberts 2009
All rights reserved
Let me count the ways...
Play
Freeform crochet lends itself to enjoying the process of making as much as the pleasure of holding the finished product. You can stick your hook in anywhere you like and ‘try it and see’.
Instant Art
This is a quick and easy way to make art that requires the most basic of skills using the minimum amount of equipment. With a hook and a couple of well chosen yarns you cannot fail.
Speed
It takes next to no time to produce something original that can become anything you like: a motif to embellish a favourite sweater, a bag, a garment, a blanket, a hanging...
Cost
You can indulge a love of yarns without spending a fortune. Most shops have end-of-line offers or baskets of oddments going for a song. Some will even give you the stuff they can’t sell!
Design Freedom
You can do what you like and need never follow a pattern again. (NB I’m a rare bird who likes following patterns, but I love the challenge of freeform more. It’s a creative adventure).
How to make your first piece of freeform
Equipment
· 5mm hook or the one that you feel most comfortable using.
· Ball of random dyed yarn.
· Several more balls of yarn in the solid colours you can see in the random dyed yarn. Don’t worry about the weight; you can always work with two strands held together.
Ready, steady, go...
If working without instructions is daunting:
· Work back and forth in rows to produce an approximate square of about 3” in your favourite stitch. Try to incorporate two different yarns.
OR, if you’re feeling brave:
· Take two of your yarns for a walk and doodle to come up with a ‘something’ measuring approximately 3” x 3”.
The finished shape is irrelevant! Just make sure it lies flat.
Next...
Break the rules and think random. Here are a few suggestions to keep you going.
· Do not turn at the end of a row, but work up the side of your work and
- introduce a curve or two
by increasing and decreasing
changing stitch height
- add texture (lumps & bumps)
work only into the back/front loop of stitches
create spikes, popcorns, puff stitches, bobbles, bullions...
(working with heavily textured yarn will do the work for you!)
· After that:
- stop mid row and turn
- stop and insert your hook somewhere new - to begin again or in-fill
- shoot off in any direction that takes your fancy, by adding chains and working on those, or increasing like crazy in the middle of or at the end of a row
- introduce some surface crochet in the form of ripples and ruffles
- break off and start a new piece
- make something by joining several fragments together.
Join work with a crochet hook, or use a darning needle to sew pieces together. You can squeeze and overlap pieces to fill gaps; or make shapes tailored to fit gaps. I use a paper template to assist with the process of ‘designing’ my work.
REMEMBER:
· Frequently stop, and start elsewhere.
· Use as many colours as possible.
· Use as many textures as possible.
· Change your yarn often and work only a few stitches in each colour.
· Vary your stitches.
· Think three-dimensional.
· Only rip work out in an emergency. Cultivate Kaffe Fassett’s maxim and “use your mistakes”.
· Be adventurous. Have a little faith in yourself and your latent creative spirit.
· Don’t panic! Remain open-minded and willing to let your work guide you. Put it down and take a walk. Then look again. You may be surprised.
· Nothing is wasted. Any patches you don’t use this time can be put away and applied to something else. Or it may be the beginning of something new.
· There is no ‘right’ or’ wrong’ way – only your way!
For the future:
Become a serious yarn collector. Be on the lookout for any colours and textures that you don’t already have and stash them away in see-through boxes organised by colour and not by weight.
Become an expert at crochet. Take every opportunity to brush up on the technicalities and learn new stitches. This will ensure you remain in charge of your work and not it in charge of you!
Learn to think like a freeform crochet artist: notice and record when colours and forms interact to produce a pleasing effect. I liken freeform to painting with a multitude of colours, which no matter how often you mix them up will never become dull or muddy.
Observe the world - and in particular the natural one. Look hard at your surroundings. If possible sketch what you see, but a camera will do just as well.
Keep a note of where you’ve been. In a visual journal note down anything interesting and record what you’ve done – and how! I incorporate photographs of my work at each stage of a project.
Build a library to include books, magazines, and articles on crochet – as well as art and design. This will be an invaluable source of reference to which you will return again and again.
Find a crochet buddy and be innovative together! You may care to join a local group, or start one; and/or to join the myriads that already exist in cyber space.
Finally, dare to be radical and experiment
Finally, dare to be radical and experiment
Some of the books I checked out when writing this piece:
Sylvia Cosh and James Walters, The Crochet Workbook
Jenny Dowde, Freeformations, Designs and Projects in Knitting & Crochet, Freeform Knitting and Crochet, Surface Works
Margaret Hubert, Fun with Free-Form Crochet
Renate Kirkpatrick, Freeform Crochet and Beyond
Prudence Mapstone, Serendipitous Design Techniques for Knitting & Crochet
Copyright © Sophia Roberts 2009
All rights reserved
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Scrumble for Atie (California)
I am - at last - completing the Round Robin Freeform project I started last last year.
I despaired that this one would work, then finally - after a five hour flat out stint - it came together, and I knew it was finished.
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