PRUDENCE'S PROJECT PINK

SCRUMBLING FOR A CURE

Here are a couple of scrumbles and some small motifs done in various pink yarns that will be sent on to Prudence Mapstone in Australia for Project Pink. Prudence will join them with others from around the world and create items for charity sale. The pic on top above was taken with flash and is closer to the actual colors. The pic below that is the same thing taken without flash and seems to better define the texture and dimension.

WOMEN FOR WOMEN ON 60 MINUTES

A while back I posted about an auction offered by the International Freeform Crochet Guild based on the guild's 2007 challenge. Proceeds went to the Women for Women program which will be featured tonight on CBS's 60 Minutes in a segment called "War against Women".
Here is the press release email received by the guild and posted on IFCG's Yahoo Group:

Dear Friend,

CNN's Anderson Cooper will be highlighting the plight of the women inthe DR Congo on the venerable CBS news magazine, 60 Minutes. The showwill air at 7:00 pm on Sunday, January 13. Check your local listingsfor exact air times and please forward this to your friends to spreadthe word.As you know, every day in the Congo women are being traumatized;their suffering used as weapons of war. Anderson Cooper and 60Minutes visited our operations in the DR Congo and met the women weserve. The 60 Minutes piece, "War Against Women", will enlightenthousands more to the unspeakable violence these brave women faceevery day as well as the hope for the future that the Women for WomenInternational program brings.We invite you to watch the show or set your recorder. Check ourwebsite, www.womenforwomen.org/congo, for more information andcontinued updates on the show, to make a donation, or to learn moreabout the women of the DR Congo.We are grateful for your support and for the opportunity to share thestories of the women around the world with even more people.

On behalf of the women we serve,

Zainab Salbi
Women for Women International CEO and Founder

P.S. This is the perfect chance to spread the word about Women forWomen International! Invite friends and family to watch 60 Minuteswith you. Please forward this email to friends and family or takethis opportunity to write about us in your blog.>>>

FREEFORM ORNAMENT AUCTION!!!

Follow this link to the International Freeform Crochet and Knitting Guild's site for info on a silent auction of scrumbled ornaments which adorned the Tree of Life, Tree of Peace exhibition!
100% of the proceeds will be donated to Women to Women International!!! Cool stuff, great Cause!

Recent News

I've returned from another trip west. On the flight out I had fun chatting with the woman in front of me who also had knitting in hand. I did finish the front for my sweater while I was out there, but not having the back with me, I couldn't complete the project. I since have and will post a picture shortly.

I see TAST has begun with a flourish. There's even a ring and a Flickr group. I'm looking forward to getting settled in with the challenge. I have doodled all stitches to date, but what I hope to start doing is creating a mini sampler each week. And of course I want to refine and complete the ones I did in conjunction with Sharon's online Joggles class, Developing a Personal Library of Stitches.

When I first checked my email I found a thread about Stash Guilt in full discussion mode on one of my e-lists. Right after that I received a link to the latest edition of http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/FEATcollection.html
and one of the best and therapeutically funniest articles I have ever read relevant to stash. I applaud author Kate Antonova , and encourage everyone to read it, for even though she speaks of a yarn collection it could be a stash by any other name. I see it as a miracle regimen for SGS (Stash Guilt Syndrome). This article is so liberating I think I'll stitch an homage to The Stashbuilders' Creed, shamefully adapted by me from the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition:

#10 -Greed is eternal!
#242 -More (stash) is good; all is better.
#97 -Enough (stash) is never enough.
#6 -Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity (for stash acquisition)!!

Another Knitty article well worth sharing is Cheating at Color Theory by Julie Theaker. It promises a foolproof method for determining color value.

FREEFORM CALENDAR

I'd like to call attention to the 2007 Freeform Crochet & Knitting Calendar now available. It was compiled by Claudia Dunitz who patiently guided the digital photography challenged to show off their best scrumbles. I haven't seen the calendar yet, but I'm told it is beautifully and professionally rendered. Profits go to a worthy cause. And yes, (blush) I am one of the contributors.

Latest Projects

I've been waiting til I get caught up before posting, but since that's never going to happen, I figured I might as well use time writing as anything else. You can see two sets of my vacation pictures on my Fiberdabbler Flicker site. Click on the sets Westward Ho! and Westward Ho2!

I worked on my Hardanger GCC project. I find I need completely uninterrupted time for this pursuit, particularly when it comes to the wrapping and weaving of bars and subsequent motifs
(we must accomplish 18 different ones!) Here's what I have so far -- actually no more than when I left for home, I'm ashamed to say. Lucky me, our co-ordinator has requested an extension for us so I now have until January.

What's in my head? I signed on for a freeform challenge, also due in January. I signed up for
another online class with Sharon B, starting next week.

I completed the Bijous Blouse sweater from Oat Couture over the summer. It was the perfect project for travel. The end result was not great, rather A-line to the extreme and overall a bit too big, but I was going for the inside out sweatshirt look and just something to wear around.

I'm working on a new sweater and itching to start another.
My current sweater project appeared on the cover of May 2006 Creative Knitting. I wanted the same yarn and the same tweedy denim color. Although the color was rumored to be discontinued, I eventually got some after 3 months of waiting. I like the way it's working up.
I added some length, and I hope not too much or it will end up like my Diamond Patch sweater that started tunic length and has already grown to mini-dress. Actually I think it could be quite
a stunning garment if it ever gets to ankle length.

Bonnie Prokopowicz from the International Freeform list showed us a scarf she made up using links of FF medaillons.
I couldn't resist playing with the idea with some yarns I bought while in CA .


I did not neglect CQ this summer. Although I had said I'd never again take a CQ project when travelling, I changed my mind when I realized I could fit most of what I needed into a small tote box. I'm not ready for show and tell yet, but I will mention that the block is constructed from
recycled Goodwill clothing, mostly wool, which I fulled, but also the odd bit of wide wale courderoy and velveteen. Colors are limited to reds, grays, black & silver. It's supposed to have a Pacific Northwest "feel" to it.

Winter Greys

This piece was done for a seasonal challenge. It includes crochet, knitting, surface embroidery and beading. The beads at the bottom read from L > R: gray days; winter; old snow; black ice; sleet; brr. I was thinking the reality of our winters in terms of gray, taupes and tans. My challenge was to find beauty in the bleak.You can see more of the challenge atcommunity.webshots.com/album/515327524tJpVPE
Winter Greys, originally uploaded by Fiberdabbler.

CBJ Coloring

CBJ Coloring
Originally uploaded by Fiberdabbler.

I could not resist playing with the colorway from my
Crayon Box Jacket project,
CREATURE FROM THE CORAL LAGOON!

more pieces

more pieces
Originally uploaded by Fiberdabbler.

Sometimes I just like to let the needles and hooks play and come up with their own fabric concoctions. I feel far less tension in this mode, and I know it's because I'm self-learning crochet and still struggling with printed directions. I will depend on both as I build up a "repetoire" of stitches.

scrumble fun

scrumble fun
Originally uploaded by Fiberdabbler.

I'm Ready to Scrumble!

I'm Ready to Scrumble!
Originally uploaded by Fiberdabbler.

What I've been doing lately is homework, not to be confused with housework, which I avoid. The homework is for two Freeform Crochet and Knitting workshops later this month at Laci's. I have been practicing specific stitches and motifs from books by Prudence Mapstone, Margaret Huber and Jenny Dowde (if you go to her gallery and scroll down, you'll see a hat I made from a pattern in her book) plus a wealth of info provided by the Freeform Crochet Group. Sometimes I just play in true freeform mode, letting the needles and hooks go as they want with the yarn. I have so much fun in this mode, not the tension I feel when I try to wield the implements according to directions. This is especially true with crochet since I'm a self-taught novice.

I will be taking classes from Prudence Mapstone and Margaret Huber. I know there will be veteran and talented FF'ers there and I can hardly wait to be inspired -- and without intimidation, as I am there to learn!