2016 International FreeForm Arts Guild Challenge

My work, for the 2016 International FreeForm Arts Guild Challenge — Flora and Fauna — is published.

You can see my, and the other artists' work that is included in the book here:

http://freeformfiberart.blogspot.co.nz/2016/06/2016-akua-lezli-hope.html

FreeForm Vest: Homes and Healing

I've been very productive, a surge of creativity sparked by the daily make and learn that was National Crochet Month this year.  The triptych and its oddments called out for more, and I've been compelled and impelled to oblige, sometimes foregoing sleep to work out an idea.

The slo burn was to create a "quick" freeform piece comprised of  my newly evolved
motifs: houses, wings and a return to flat dolls. I had several motifs already in the deliciously cream with  undertones of butter, Cloud. I knew I wanted to make my take on the Russian leaves,  and leaf-making approach -- mainly the ones that aren't like anything I've ever seen, not even Irish Crochet, those are in one of my favorite Elann colors 1477-- a subdued yellow green. Then, for dark there is the evocative Fairytale, a sort of burgundy meets pink, red grape meets raspberry, luscious. And I wanted a yellow. So here's where i pause.

I didn't want to place an order and needed just one skein of a light yellow. Honey
in Knit Picks merino looked just right on the screen. So i bought it from a Raveler.
When it arrived it was much more intense a yellow that on screen, but i pushed ahead and made motifs in.

Suddenly the balance of the narrative was off. Yes, yes, I wanted yellow, but this one
white it worked fine with the cream and the green, it undid the pinks and raspberrys.

And I came to the hard decision to not use it.

Removing all the place the shapes filled, hurt.  But the glowing, Crayola pile
of  these nearly school bus-colored bits, assured me that  it was only the commitment to push my color boundaries that made me include it.

If it were for art, I would have left them in, but  I knew they would burn and itch
and annoy me over time... I don't know why but they just didn't fit.

So now my quick project will take longer than I hoped.  Yet,
I'm learning as I go -- and the project gave me several new patterns
that I'll discuss in greater detail in another post: houses, wings, new leaves, flat dolls.

Day 25

I was DFAD - designer for a day and I shared and illustrated three stitches--- slanting puffs, pockets and  orange wedges. Here's the piece I made yesterday using all three:

DAY 24

Day 24
sewing and moving stuff around and creating more letters including my own S. And then trying to write down how to make the letters, because I wanted to remember the solutions and keep a record of sizing. The new word is HEAL in letters 20% smaller than my first ones (starting chain of 12 vs. ch 15)

I no longer had room for the unassembled pieces. And sewing was a great physical challenge for me -- I think i need another table…. I tried sewing pieces together vertically, and them switched to putting pieces in the tray and sewing.

I was sad when some solutions left out the plan -- because pieces were dropped or had run away and then reappeared too late to be included.

If i hadn’t used wire and metal, I might have considered a garment, as it over all 3 feet by six feet (approx. 1 meter by 2 meters). I ordered material to hang/mount it and hope it arrives in time.

One of the forgotten pieces that reappeared was the frame. It will fulfill my Irish piece prompt  though there will be a another bunch of sewing to attache the netting and the letters (sigh).

March is National Crochet Month

March is National Crochet Month and I've been crocheting daily, creating dialy and  sometimes, multiple times a day, with hook and fiber. I' hard at work on to projects -- one  has become three--  so there are four separate pieces growing around me.

 Through participating in the National Crochet Month Freeform Crochet Along (CAL) I've had daily prompts and I've responded to them, tried to fulfill them or amended them. It's been exhilarating to  take this journey with people from all around the world, and to share responses and creations, one scrumble or motif at a time.

It's been wonderful to wake up and see one of them grow. This happened a couple of days ago as the  assemblage outgrew the lunch try it had been inhabiting. I found a curtain, strung a dowel through it and hoisted it across my bedroom book case.
If i were able to stand, I would have hung it higher.

This let me know that the parts I think of as the beginning and the end -- or the left and the right, had no room for the middle. And I've reconceptualized it as a  triptych.

I find I've been too curmudgeonly -- everything I've resisted doing has had the greatest yield in an object, addition  or learning.

Like hairpin lace. Here are my riffs on hairpin. First time I've touched the loom in a year, since I made some for my teacher's certificate.

Then there's the incredible  wealth of inspiration from Duplet magazine. I made what turned out to be a huge leaf from there. So I designed a smaller one, larger than the tiny ones, but smaller than the big one. It took three tries, but now I have  new pattern that I know I will use again and again.

Here are some other recent ( this week) scrumbles and motifs.

And here they are in place

The beginning and the end -- in progress

The middle in progress

It's wonderful to have a shared journey. The IFFC piece is required to be kept secret, as are the 20 designs I have out in world, seeking acceptance.  The FreeForm
CAL 2012 has been liberating!

Swapping Catalyst for Creating

One of the wonderful things about the internet is the ability to communicate with people around the world, who share your interests. No longer is the lack of local interest a limitation on growth and experience. For me, a once wild urban child in the country, the net has long been a lifeline. Early on, back in the late 80s, I began to exchange work with those of similar minds. And now in the 21st century it is my routine to kick start my creative endeavors by participating in swaps. 

I've been hard at work on a piece for the 2012 International Freeform Association's show & book and the rules say that I can't share any of the work in progress. This makes me sad as the fascinating part for me about freeform is how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It's sometimes hard to even find the part again once the whole has been formed. But I've got other freeform images to share. 

I just participated in a scrumble swap hosted in the fabulous Prudence Mapstone's group on Ravelry. My only regret is that I did not have sunshine any day long enough to get great pix and I didn't have the energy to do much staging. But I'm pleased at their difference -- due to the specifications and personalities of the recipients. And the exchange recharged my batteries for working on what seems to be on its way to becoming my largest freeform work yet.

Somewhere in My World: IFF Guild Show

At last, I can talk about it and now i've forgotten what i wanted to say.
I'll try to find some of the notes I kept and add them here.
My latest fiberwork:
http://www.freeformcrochet.com/2010/Pages/Akua.html

The 2010 International Freeform Fiberarts Guild Show
Somewhere in My World.
http://www.freeformcrochet.com/

The Hats

Minaret Tibet Cream Towers
created for the monochrome challenge in Free Form Challengers



Hat for Dawoud
antoher freeform/free design hat

Spring Hat Again

I wanted it, but know I need to make product and so made it again, but this time for myself.... which freed me. I made thee crown roomier and the band a little smaller and added several of my leaves. I think I will add more, over time.

Springing Ahead More Light Less Night

I'm trying hard to hold on. Making is a way to put part of the nattering nagging nervousness on hold. What would I do if I could do it? Much more. which says make more, somehow. So I am so happy to have this second hat completed.

An inspired young woman inspired me-- Mini-Dee created a gorgeous cluster shell stitich, which I've attached as an ornament to the hat.
http://journals.aol.com/crochetwithdee/CrochetWithDee/entries/2007/03/07/a-crochet-lesson-by-mini-dee/2044
Her mother made a video demo of this lovely motif/stitch!

As this is a hat for sale, I've restrained myself, I like it and will make another version a bit more embellished pour moi.

Praise for Hat

as my neighbors are all older than me and I'm not young, I never expect there to be even a glancing coincidence of esthetic. BUT
whooee! "fancy hat" said three different people about the purple free form.

I added more topstitching and my own tiny leaf, which with three fibers held together is not all that tiny. I love it! but it was so hard, lol! I may make myself another purple hat....

In the interim, I had some scratchy rug yarn that I snatched up and corcheted into a long tube to cover the mailing tub that i just realized would be the perfect draft block. I am so pleased with this bright and neat looking draft stop

uh using knitting to Freee Form!

At the Tuesday night fiber gathering I started, I was gifted with a spool knitter and several pairs of knitting needles, ( two I will keep and the others will go into the growing share/ get people started cache) courtesy of a lovely lady whose aging aches make such needle work untenable.

I learned two ways to cast on, knit a couple of rows

I did my first fabric bits knitting incorporated them into the scrumble for the Free Form challenge. I used my brand spanking newly gifted knitting needles, some big old silver clankers, Boye 11 that are a bit too long for me, to start and nearly finish another earth.

I didn't like Earth 1 as much I wanted to, lol, but i love Earth Two (any sf fanatics remember that show?) if for no other reason than it started with knitting and nearly concludes with knitting---

I tried to mimic what i saw Myra suggest on knitty gritty and just wove the knitting needle in the top of a row of block stitches and then i knit a fabric to fill in the space between that area and a block stitch cricle - an earth wheel -- (my second working of that Bonnie P motif, love it!) I was so excited to "pick up" in that way and even grab another spot of fabric to knit into/from.

But i don't know how to cast off... i thought i had cast off correctly but the yarn was at the bottom and there i was with a loop hang out with no yarn to thread through it
so what's a freeformer to do but snatch it up with some more fiber and a crochet hook and make a bit more, LOL!
I'm feeling really good,, even though I didn't cast off quite right, crochet was there to save the day. I have no clue which method of knitting I'm using... the yarn is wrapped around my left index finger the fabric is on the left hand needle.... i alternated row of knit with a row of purl.

Motifs for Free Form Doll

Bonnie P's motif is the rufffle spiral flower on the doll front and the block stitch medallion ( a new favorite) on the doll's back

Her arms are the front post double crochet cord done square.

She's 95% done--- I want to add some tiny leaves around her bottom and
I made up a tiny leaf just for her. Felted it turned out jsut right

Thanks Bonnie!