6KCBWDAY1 ~ If I Were a Yarn

I'm excited to be participating in the 6th Annual Blog Week: We're writing about 6 topics provided for us; one for each day.

Day One (Monday 11th May): If You Were Yarn.
If you were a type or brand of yarn, which would you be? Are you a classic pure wool? Is there extra tension but a bit of bounce in you because of your high twist? Would you be more like a high-maintainance, strictly hand-wash fluffy angora or a ‘bring it on’ acrylic, bravely heading into the world of possible baby-sick laundering disasters knowing that you will always come out bright and unharmed?

Spend some time browsing yarns and getting to know their qualities, and decide which yarn you think best matches your personality.

Trying to decide which yarn I would be if I were a yarn is proving to be difficult! I do love it all, but I love unusual materials the most! Randomly, I choose one, raffia, to get started here. Raffia is not all that unusual, but it does lend itself to sculptural effects as opposed to being used for a scarf or a garment. I enjoy crocheting unusual, artsy, sculptural items. "Flexible" and "sturdy": that's me!

I am determined to cover my world in crochet.

This is a recently created covered rock which I believed actually required raffia. The friend I made it for is a gardener who collects rocks; and I wanted this gift to be able to weather the elements. Raffia fills the bill for being outside in the rain and sun.

Rock covered in raffia

Looking at crochet and the materials used to create it is my constant goal. If I were a yarn, I would be any linear material that is not thought of as "crochetable." I am always looking for different materials that can be twisted into something beautiful. It excites me to see a wiggly length of something turn into something wonderful with the flick of the hook and a bit of imagination.

Experimenting: crocheting porcelain turned into a business card holder

Grapevine Basket

I combined yarn with grapevine to crochet this basket which appeared as a pattern in Crochet! Magazine, (March 20111).

In my attempt to "cover my world in crochet," I often crochet over rocks that I have collected.

1995: Heartrock Hotel: Award Winning Design

Sea Sculpture, Detail

In creating this sculpture with driftwood, I used cactus yarn, metallic threads and "jelly yarn."

Head Piece: silk & metallic threads covering a twig. Model: Bethany Leigh

Enjoy browsing through your yarn stash to see which fits your personality. Leave me a comment here and tell me what yarn you are! I'd love to hear from you.

Craft vs. Fine Art: How is Crochet Blurring the Lines

I was awakening to the world of crochet in 1972,a time of immense artistic expression through fiber arts; and crochet was not the “ugly stepchild” at the time. In fact, Ferne Cone Gellar who I admire as a successful fiber artist said in “Knitting: The Stepchild of the Fiber Arts?” ( Fibercraft Newsletter 1978), “Has knitting been slighted among the areas of the fiber arts? The very word ‘knitting’ evokes images of the little old lady in tennis shoes. Over the years, I’ve learned to ignore all those jokes.” Cone Gellar went on to publish Crazy Crocheting in 1981 and encouraged her readers to create more than bedspreads, providing ideas such as “things to play with or to display on a shelf or hang on a wall.” A photo of single crochet from bread wrappers served as inspiration. In 1972 in her book, Creating Art from Fibers & Fabrics , Dona Meilach wrote: “Why are fibers and fabrics becoming increasingly appealing to artists? Most artists ag...

Wartime Crochet With Attitude, Part I

Wednesday, October 30, 2013 Karen Ballard and I have a mutual love of free form crochet. We met for the first time in a class taught by Prudence Mapstone of Australia at the Chain Link Crochet Conference 2011. I admire Karen's vast knowledge of needle work history and am grateful for her willingness to share with us as my guest blogger this week. Karen wearing a World War II-era knitting hat with stubby needles on top Karen's Heritage Heart, with flowers symbolic of her heritage, is currently on tour with Prudence Mapstone's traveling "Hearts & Flowers Exhibition" in Australia and New Zealand World War 1 Attitudes About Crochet by Karen Ballard In 2008, I coined that term, "Workbasket Campaigns" to describe the organized efforts during World War I (WWI) and World War II (WWII) coordinated through the American Red Cross {ARC} and the Navy League to create needle crafted items. These items were mostly knitted but also sewn, qu...

Crochet and Society: How Crochet has Contributed

Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Because I am passionate about crochet and because it plays such an important role in my life. I am constantly “thinking crochet.” I want to bring awareness about crochet to everyone in the world. They don’t necessarily need to achieve the level of passion that I have for the craft, but my dream is that our society in general would come to recognize crochet as a valuable art and craft. I also want to see the entire genre of crochet planted firmly on a continuum with all the other needle arts as a valuable pastime and art, and for the day to come when society stops confusing it with knitting! I have often joked that I am “covering my world in crochet” and that’s because I think crochet can beautify nature as well as contribute to many aspects of my community. I have been covering rocks for years and I turn them into sculptures or decorative o bjects. Claire Zeisler: Fragments & Dashes , Threads magazine, Oct/Nov 1985 My fi...

Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

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