Heart Package, Heart Pouch

Valentine's Day, my play niece, and an ad for a class on creating felt pouches led to a new creative series. (Really? does one need a class on that?) I though I would go one better and made heart envelopes/ pouches out of felt, stamped them, layered them, sewed on glass beads and stitched them with delicious Rowan wool cotton yarn.

Then I thought -- why not crochet them. I began by designing intarsia hearts -- one in a rectangle and the other in a graduated flap and then created a textured body. They're about 5" x 3.5" and feel lovely.

Black Bear: Flora and Fauna

The International Freeform Guild holds an annual challenge that results in a book  whose sales are donated to charity. This year's theme is Flora and Fauna.
So thinking about the indigenous and area specific wildlife I might include, I thought about the second largest animal around: black bears. They wander the hills above my home at the edge of this town called a city. They crossed a friend's yard.
I looked at pictures of bears, but one particular drawing gave me the way in to creating this appliqué.

I'm testing the pattern and hope to offer it for sale by the end of the month.
My first finished design of the new year. Happy New Year!

Little Gnomes Healing Hurt

My deep holiday blues were lessened by creating a lovely gnome. I was inspired by these rather large elementals to design and make my own versions. The pattern has been tested and just now released. My brother requested the Crone Gnome, so she's departed, and my bff asked for a little bearded guy. They have brought me some measure of equanimity in a time of pain.

Door Wreath

I started a wreath last century. It was to have crocheted grapes and an array of flowers... and now that I think about it, it was from a now out of print and highly treasured publication -- a calendar of crocheted wreaths from Annie's. My plan included some of  August's components and a bit of May and June.

I've learned a lot since then - a lot more about dimensional creations. That wreath was before I knew about amigurimi, or felting, or the wide array of flowers that I would meet and come to design.

With the return of spring this year, there has been the desire to declare myself
to myself and to stretch. So crochet will be made visible outside my home as well as within it -- and what lovelier more home affirming way than a wreath on the door.

CHEMUNG New Cable Crochet Hat Design

I am so excited about Chemung! It is still not finished but I couldn’t wait to post about it. This thread will ultimate become the posting thread. The idea has pushed past ll the others in queue and said, ”I’m new, I’m next!”

These are shots of the second one -- I couldn’t finish the first because I ran out of yarn.
However the first one -- in worsted -- seemed to want to be in dk.

So I began again, refined the pattern and made the body of the second hat.

Now the part that is not yet completed is the brim, but now that I’ve seen and felt it without the brim -- I think I will present the hat with both versions.

It is named for the river which runs through my micropolis and the Valley we inhabit which shares the same name. It is said to mean “land of the saber tooth” but since they predate humans I don’t think it’s an accurate translation of the indigenous name.

I love how the cable says river and hills and valley -- that it resembles the terrain here -- and that you can wear it to look like a helmet, or a side braid.

The brim went very fast-- i guess it was slower the first time because I was making it up. I really love this hat as an evocation of place and time. It can be worn with its peak or pulled down as the beanie it is. As soon as I write up finishing directions, I’m ready to test.