Monday, April 2, 2012
Wow, it's April already and before I get started on free form crochet, I want to share a couple of pictures of my last couple of days celebrating National Crochet Month in March. My friend, Rita,
and I got together to do sparkly things (as she says). She wanted some help with making earrings.Rita is an art therapist and is very creative. She inspired me and best of all, she gave me a sampling of some really iteresting beads she inherited. Yeah! More earrings coming soon! Here's a pair I created that day; they had been in the cue for a while.
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| Earrings I made from Rita's beads |
I've been a fan of free form crochet for quite some time. My crochet "roots" date back to the 70s when I first learned to crochet. So, I lean toward an admiration of the style was prevalent in those days: colorful, creative and mixed media with no material left untried. "If it bends, it can be crocheted" is my mantra!
As a benefit of my membership in
CGOA, I was privileged to meet the Gurus of free form crochet and originators of the moniker
"scrumble," James Walters and Sylvia Cosh, in
1995 when they taught at our conference that was held in
New Jersey. In 1997, when the conference was held in
Chicago, James and Sylvia again taught.
After the conference was over, they stayed with me a couple of days and I remember feeling that it was a complete and hard to imagine honor to have them crocheting in the afternoon sunshine in my living room while I cooked dinner for them. This is the gift that Sylvia was crocheting, not realizing that it was for me! It was a treasure then and has so much more meaning now that she is gone.
Sylvia died of ovarian cancer in 2000.
I have been a member of the
International Freeform Crochet Guild (INTFFCG) for some time. It is a Yahoo group where we share our love of freeform crochet, and we have an annual challenge in which anyone who is a member can participate. I have submitted my freeform creations the last three years and each year a photo book of the challenge entries is created and sold and the profits go to charity. (in about 2012, the name was changed to
International Freeform Fiberarts Guild)
In
2010 our theme was "Somewhere in My World"
This was my submission and it depicts the juxtaposition of my desire to live in two worlds: Chicago, USA and Mexico. I can't remember exactly how I did it, but I combine the freeform CAL at NatCroMo with the Challenge theme. In 2011 our theme was "Mythologies: Stories and Fairy Tales" and this was my entry:
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| Freeform Fairy: Finesse Me |
The
2012 INTFFCG Challenge: "Reinterpret a Work of Art or Piece of Music" I must say that I probably enjoyed this challenge the most so far.
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| Inspired by Van Gogh's Vase with Red Poppies |
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| Back of Necklace |
Here some examples of other free form crochet I have done over the years:
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| Scrumbled Yoke Sweater, 2001 |
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| Freeform Vest, front, 2006 |
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| Back |
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| NatCroMo on Ravelry, 2008 |
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| NatCroMo on Ravelry, 2009 |
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| Hummingbird Brooch |
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| Bead Crochet Scrumbles |
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| Freeform Brooch sent to Oprah Winfrey |
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| Cloissonne-Inspired Brooch |
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| Freeform scarf inspired by Prudence Maptone Class: Chain Link 2011, Greenville, SC |
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| Freeform Fun & Frivolity CAL on Cro-Kween Designs, Ravelry |
and I got together to do sparkly things (as she says). She wanted some help with making earrings.Rita is an art therapist and is very creative. She inspired me and best of all, she gave me a sampling of some really iteresting beads she inherited. Yeah! More earrings coming soon! Here's a pair I created that day; they had been in the cue for a while. 
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