Heart, Fruit, Houseplant Leaves

Last year I worked on a second  collection of crocheted leaves. If there is any way to characterize them, they all have an openness of form  and combine  filled and empty spaces in different ways. They are what folks call graphic, they are yarn drawings.

I don't know why I didn't  finish editing, testing and presenting them. I think I became both busy and discouraged. I'm generally busy  but encouraged, I'll pile another thing on. Prudence Mapstone's Hearts and Flowers endeavors reminded me of heart chains. The heart chains reminded me of leaf chains and this reminded me of heart leaves -- heart-shaped leaves or leaves that double as hearts.

I took the time to key in my fruit leaf -- it was a from a discussion on how to  interpret a leaf. I named my interpretation fruit leaf, because it looks like a fruit.

The houseplant leaf is so named because it reminds me of the one of the huge plants that grew in my grandparents' parlor.  I'm working on charts for them as well.
This is a bit of a challenge for the fruit leaf, but good practice for the brain.

Tags: blog tour, cgoa, Crochetville, project night night, tour through crochet country - See more at: http://crochetville.com/national-crochet-month-a-tour-through-crochet-country-begins/#sthash.rmhgQzXr.dpuf

A Favorite Flower

This flower blew my mind. It satisfies what I like most -- a huge reward for a modicum of effort. It's insightful, crunchy, deliciously dimensional.
I've used it in my exhibited wall hanging.

 I've made gifts of it. I've felted it and changed its character.

I've made a couple of changes to it,as one does to beloved patterns, when you are fully engaged in the dance, I prefer using adjustable rings mostof the time unless I want a hole in the center. And I vary the lengths of the petals.

This pattern taught me something new when I met it. I took the lesson to heart about ways to texture and shape. I salute its creator.
The picture on the website doesn't do it justice. I'll add some as I make them.
It could be described as a sort of  chrysanthemum or a zinnia. It is simply called Flower.

Thank you CrochetNMore for Flower!

http://www.crochetnmore.com/flower.htm

Puts Me to Sleep, Wakes Me Up

There's a project in residence at the foot of my bed in two gallon size  plastic bags.
It's a hat and since it will be felted  into its final form, It's rather large. I'm at the point where I am just going round and round and counting and checking and refining my notes from the first time it was done. Pattern writing used to be a  lot less freighted. I now hear the voices of future testers, based on the  comments of past testers, and where my fingers once flew, now they plod. O! Fingers, I am so very grateful that you still work, ! wooden hook I am so grateful that you feel so good moving the bulky yarn. The words get in the way, to quote the song. The mind.
So in this instance crochet is a soporific and progress has ground to a every-time-i-touch-it-i-fall-asleep.

Then tonight, I heeded the call of the wild. Freeform that is, from down-under Oz, from where hails fabulous fiberista Prudence Mapstone  who not only makes magic, she teaches and inspires it. This year's theme for the summoning is hearts and flowers, two categories of things for which I have designed many.

I feel I've striven mightily and made much of flowers, even making another clutch for that unannounced/un-concluded Vogue flower competition. It's time to trot them out.

But I haven't plumbed the depth of heartness. So a googling I went. And I found some hearts that made my fingers twitch, my heart race and my mouth water.
So maybe I'll be up till dawn. My two pick hits are dimensional hearts.
Both in and of themselves fulfill the assignment as they are hearts that include or allude to flowers.

Mia's Rosy heart is brilliant:
http://ihearthandicrafts.blogspot.com/p/heart-rose-this-pattern-is-my.html

as is Jenn's ornament
http://windrosefiberstudio.blogspot.com/2012/02/2012-ornament-project-february.html

So maybe I'll be up til dawn again. I'm delighted to be rekindled and hopefully
this glow will extend to completing  more of my many works in progress.

Crochet for Fur Refugees

Last year after Hurricane Sandy, a friend and her husband saw a kitten  in their  near country neighborhood. They live up the hill from , in the part of town where the bears, big cats, deer and coyote roam. They have 3 pugs and know the critters in their neighborhood. They were persuaded to give the charming tuxedo'd guy shelter, but he cried and cried.  They figured out why, when they  found his sister, grey and white. The godfolks tried every shelter and got the  dynamic duo their first shots, but there was no room at the inn.

Then they remembered that i wanted a cat, for Obi had been part of a duo. After some introductory visits Zen and Dindi joined Obi and me. We're still a work in progress. Dindi is the mediator or shy one, Zen is  mucho macho, even after being neutered Obi  has forgiven me but not the situation.
We've had new thoughts for the new year.

Zen shown claimed it first, but now Dindi sleeps in it. I designed two cocoons for them. It took a bit of coaxing and catnip before the first became habit but the lip was used like a lounge and the bowl was the bed.

The Stitching Challenge

The Stitching Challenge-A different kind of CAL/KAL “Create Your Own Motif” guidelines said in part:
1) Measure out 30 yards/27.5 meters of the yarn of your choice.
2) Use your knowledge of increases, decreases, stitch variations, short rows, long rows, and all the stitches and motifs you care to include, and make your own motif.
3) You may work in any direction you choose -- in the round, linearly, standing on your head...

My first effort didn't quite finish within the parameters:
Improv A Long Motif

5.0 mm (H) used about 30 yds of Red Heart SS in Ocean.Ocean

My next and favorite is the Pockets and Pillows Motif used dk Knit picks Merino Style and a F hook/3.75mm

 My third, Swirled Square used 3.75mm/F and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Cloud




My fourth one, Caribbean Window, used a G/4mm and Knit Picks Swish Worsted






 

 This was great design calisthenics!

EXPLODING ENLARGING the Joys of Scaling UP

Ah! The joys of ever larger applications of crochet! The dainty intricacies of doilies are appreciated anew when they are expanded to wall-size  decor, or used as stencils for  steel, plastic, and shaped into furniture.

I needed a break from the intense, lately pleasure-delimiting  thought-work of pattern writing and so asked a bit, read a bit  and looked at various doily and motif pattern books to start a rug.

I got some great advice -- I know because in choosing the piece that i liked the most, I didn't follow the advice and it's not working out! Sigh.

Four strands of LB WoolEAse is not  sizing up -- the motif in thread is 4.5" and done with 4 strands and a 10mm hook -- all I got was 11.5 inches, not an explosion!

So I've got to design more, add more rows. Images from 101 Motifs for Thread Crochet and Bib Book of Little Doilies.

Shawl Pins

My new shawl pin designs have inspired me to buy a small torch. I miss flameworking so much! And while this is for metal, I look forward to using fire again to make things, this time, copper shawl pins. And while I wait, I've developed cold wrapped and wiber versions. I also made a couple with polymer clay stems. The heat made the copper blush red.