Leaves, Flowers

OOO! Soooo busy that I feared talking about what I was doing would replace doing it.
So first let me chat about leaves. I hope to entice more people to buy my wonderful leaf patterns, especially as
crocheting seems generally leaf challenged, when the manufacturers of yarn post the yechiest free patterns
of mishapen bloboids and people praise them!

But yes, since it's free, I guess it's good== it sure helped me refine and define my leaf esthetic, although to be sure, seeing more refined, and easy options presented for knitters, made me want to add my two centimes to the conversation, so to speak.

Anyway, those who sell the most patterns seem to sell objects more than motifs. I'm a motif maven, myself and
I guess that why I'm drawn to freeform. big hunks of repetition bore me, but if I develop a leaf hat pattern or a
scarflette/neckwarmer, that may attract more folks to my leaves.

Anyway, I've made several necklaces and a leaf lariat for sale. Hopefully, someone will find these compelling and purchase them.

Maple and Oak Leaves

Ahh! Now to just doublecheck the patterns--- hard to do them as if I don't already know what I'm doing-- or more often, to add a stitch here or there and not write it down.
Here are the other two maple leaves and the oak leaf!

I like that the maple leaves are different as well as different approaches and the oakleaf is smaller than the others I've seen, and not worked in a chain! Ahh all four patterns are free from the chain.

Akua's Maple Leaf Pattern #3

After working on two maple leaf patterns to sell with my new leaf pattern collection,
I worked on one to share here.
This is all sc and is smaller than the other ones, which is wonderful for appliqués and lariats.

Akua’s Maple Leaf #3 ( all sc)

Make adjustable ring
1. 5 sc in ring, ch1, turn: 5sc
2. sc in first 2 sc, 3 sc in next, sc, sc, turn: 7 sc
3. ch 1, 2 sc in first , sc in next 2, 3 sc in next, sc in next 2, 2 sc in last, ch1, turn: 11 sc
4. first lobe: skip first sc, sc in next 2, 2 sc in next, ch1, turn: 4 sc
5. sc in 4 sc, ch1, turn
6. skip first sc, sc, skip next sc, sc in last sc, slip st down side to base:2 sc
7. middle lobe: sc, 3 sc in next sc, sc, ch 1, turn: 5 sc
8. sc across, ch1 turn: 5 sc
9. skip first sc, sc in next 2,skip sc, sc in next sc, ch1 turn:3 sc
10. skip first sc, sc in next 2, ch1, turn: 2sc
11. skip first sc, sc in next, ch1, slst, slip stitch along side to base
12. side lobe: sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc, ( leaving end sc alone) ch 1, turn: 4 sc
13. repeat 5
14. skip first sc, sc, skip next sc, sc in last, ch1 turn: 2sc
15. sc2 tog, ch1, slip stitch in top
16. slip stitch , ch 1 at leaf margin points, slipstitch to center. Make chain for stem
or sl st to other side and fasten off

Variation: This is deliberately, asymmetrical. If you prefer more symmetry-- and sometimes i do-- depends on the yarn-- read pattern and work the first lobe, the same as the last: for row 6 six :skip first sc, sc, skip next sc, sc in last sc, ch1 turn, then sc2tog, ch 1, sl st in top, sl st to base


The image shows stem (petiole) #4.
Stem #4: ch2, sc in first ch, ch1, turn sc,* ch1, turn sc,8 repeat for desire length

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

Ahhhh. Leaves are my delight, especially as lariat/neckwarmer adornments. And I am proud to have developed
a wonderful maple leaf, and to have improved my gingko leaf.


Yet I needed more for the garland/lariat/neckwarmer and as I'm not a fan of repeats, more is indeed, more for me.
I thought about an old leaf spray and didn't remember the souce. I searched for it on the web and couldn't find it.
Digging through my samples, I found it! The green leaf spray was my sample.. and it feels good, right, well done...
but how to do it?

My patterns are an unreachable floor away and I have, unsuccessfully sent someone to find my crochet flower pattern books.... so I trieed to decode the stitches and I remembered on thing about the construction, that the first (closest) leaf is the last one to be made. The white one is the reproduction, I think I came close.



I am very inspired by Roberta Wong's peerless book on crocheted lei. In it she has a tiny leaf, Rereading it as I set about designing my Fall Leaf adornments, I found what I was missing: a small leaf, created in what seems a totally different way. It unlocked a whole series of thoughts. Her leaf was created to accompany buds and flowers, to be twisted in a bundle. As mine is more a singular entity, I needed a plumper,fuller representation. And this was easily accomplished,

What a refreshing antidote to the stolid march of stitches and stitch heights along a chain!


Then I did find a leaf spray, this white one, a new one to me. Very gestural, the leaves look sketched and
I think this would be fab fab fab if I had white wool, so I could felt it, and make the small leaves firm....

Well this leaf spray had a similarity of approach in the leaf creation to the larger spray, in that it wasn't about
the march of stitches and stitch heights along a chain. Each is shaped. And it is easy to make each one
different and still stay true to, well remember, LOL! the pattern.


So I'm almost ready to do a leaf pattern collection. I thought I was before, but now that I have several approaches
to leaf making, I think the collection is more robust.

Freeform Fall Flower and Leaf Lariats, Neckwarmers, Garlands

What to call these adornments?
Arranged alliteratively these are Freeform Fall Fiber Flower and Leaf Lariats or scarflettes, neckwarmers, garlands.

I returned again to leaves and decided my flower necklaces could lengthen and loosen and whoa! What fun and excitement!
I was gifted yarn that I made hats and squares for charity( through All Crafts for Charity on yahoo) and realized
that the fall colors worked together.

Cold Autumn Much Crochet

Loss, Loss, Loss. My Daddy, my fluffy cat. So now, between bouts of tears, my hands create again, the fiber path.
I've crocheted hats for unknown babies in need, squares to join others who create to heal the world. And tschatskas-- not quite amigurumi, but not real either. Birds, pumpkins, gnome/elf/santa, and a mouse.

My leaves have joined quartz crystal on earrings and I have necklaces, fiber garlands. I'm working on a trio to
be the fall garland. I'll amend this with pix.