Hooray for Crochet!

It's March and that means it is (Inter)National Crochet Month (NatCroMo). Crocheters all over the world are celebrating in many varied ways, but none as exuberantly as my fellow hookers on Ravelry. Every day in March, kaet will inspire those of us participating in the second edition of the NatCroMo Freeform Game with a daily instruction. By March 31st each of us will have completed a freeform creation and no matter what it looks like we will all have had great fun along the way. Today's instruction is very unstructured, as befits freeform. It is: A is for Apple. Here is my interpretation, greatly inspired by my love of Granny Smith apples. The photo is a bit on the fuzzy side so you will have to use your imagination.

This is a good time for me to mention my attendance January 21st and 22nd at a series of Freeform Knit and Crochet Classes at SouthWest Trading Company, Inc. in Tempe, Arizona. Prudence Mapstone, a talented fiber artist and gifted teacher, was the instructor. Prudence's work, as well as inspirational guidance on freeforming, can be found here.

I basked in the camaraderie of my fellow attendees during the two sessions I participated in and learned so much about freeforming through the hands-on approach we followed each day. I was not prolific, but am very happy with what I was able to accomplish.

This freeform leaf will eventually be part of a shawl for me:

This scrumble looked so much like a fish when I was finished that I decided to make a tote bag with it for my daughter-in-law who loves all things nautical:

A scrumble, by the way, is a freeform patch made with an assortment of yarns which can combine both knitting and crocheting. The scrumbles are then joined to form a larger item such as a handbag or a shawl.

I reported last March that I was making some scrumbles to send to Prudence Mapstone for The Pink Project, an activity to support breast cancer research. Well, Prudence has taken all the scrumbles sent to her from all over the world and combined them to make beautiful and unusual items. They are now up for auction and can be viewed and bid on via this website. I encourage you to view them and bid if you feel so inclined. It is for a very good cause.