No this isn’t a foreign landscape, though it does make me think of fields and hedges, these are my scrumbles from a workshop I took through the Guild last week. It was about freeform knitting. I really had no idea what it was going to be when I signed up but I’m very glad I did.
 
Freeform knitting and crochet is a way of creating totally unique fabric out of all the bits and pieces of yarn left over from other projects. Not that you can’t buy new yarns or anything - you’re bound to need something that’s not in your basket! You start by knitting or crocheting a small piece, like a two inch square, and then add to it with other yarns and stitch patterns in whatever direction you want. You mix crochet and knit stitches to get different textures to fill in spaces. The result is very organic looking and very forgiving of a learning curve. Over time you can make many scrumbles and then join them together to make garments, purses and blankets.
 
The workshop was based on the techniques taught by Prudence Mapstone. Her web-site has lots of information on freeform knitting and some beautiful examples of her work. She also has a few books available which I plan to add to my library. Even if you never worked a stitch, the pictures and text are wonderful and inspiring.
 
Here’s a top view of my scrumbles to give you a better idea of how they actually look.

 

 

After learning to make scrumbles last week I had a renewed interest in crochet. I’ve learned a little bit here and there in the past but I find I get a little bored and forgetful after a few rows and generally prefer knitted fabric. Recently, however, I’ve been seeing more crochet project that appeal to me, they tend to be things worked in the round: there is the Babette Blanket project on the Purl Bee, and the hexagons on Moonstitches. The problem was that these designs came from books or magazines and I had been unable to find patterns I liked on the internet.
 
Then I found the Hundred Flowers Scarf. Those cheerful multi-coloured flowers just called out to me and I was very excited to discover that the designer had posted instructions for making them. I showed the pattern to Jane and she offered to give me a bit of help working through it. Last night I went over to her house for a visit and when I returned home I had this pretty little flower with me.
 
I also have with me a crochet book on loan with patterns for a very pretty pink shrug and a cozy blanket. I love to learn a new craft.

I worked on the green wool skirt this weekend. I suppose I should have taken a before picture but I didn’t really feel you guys needed to see my skirt on the floor around my ankles.
 
I started by picking apart the top seam between the skirt and the lining. This is when I discovered that the fabric was actually a knit and that was why it was so stretchy. The waist band had been finished with nothing more than a line of stitching so there was nothing to stop it from growing as you wore the skirt. For some reason - because the designer didn’t think the waist would stretch or something - there was also a short section of elastic across the centre back. I also picked the zipper out of the side seam.
 
I sewed twill tape across the top of the skirt to halt the stretching and tried it on to figure out how much to take off each side. It was about two inches at the waist, for it to sit where I wanted, and an inch at the hip. I probably took about half an inch off each side of the rest of the skirt just to keep the lines smooth. The next steps were to reinstall the zipper - my most successful machine installed invisible zipper to date! - and then do the side seams. The fabric was really nice sew though I had to be careful not to stretch it as I fed it into the machine.
 
I did the lining after I was finished the skirt. I just sized them up against one another and trimmed the lining to match the skirt. I started out sewing the lining in so that it would be turned to the inside - no topstitching - but realized that the waistband would be too thick and wouldn’t turn easily. I picked out my stitches and redid the waistband the way it was originally with raw edges (this fabric doesn’t fray anyway) and a line of topstitching. My topstitching is a different colour than the rest and if you look really closely you can see the twill tape showing in a few spots but my shirt usually covers my waist band so I’m not really worried about it.
 
I wore my new skirt to work today. It was warm and comfy. Here is the full length picture so you can see it a little better. Photo credits go to Rob.