Thoughts on Freeform Crochet and My Process

With my series of workshops quickly approaching, I thing this is a good time to share some of my thoughts on the choices I make  freeform crochet.  It would be easy to just say, "I just start and let the yarn lead me in what direction it wants to go in."  It's so much more than that!  True, the yarn I'm using DOES tend to dictate what I create with it, but I also want to have SOME control over what I'm creating.  It's all about finding the balance between what the yarn wants to do organically and what it is I want to create with it.  

There are choices to be made! What yarn should you use?  What fiber is your yarn made of? Do you have a goal you want to reach or do you want to make it up as you go?  These are all things I think about before I start…usually.  Let me take you though a legible version of what goes through my brain when starting a project.
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I create wearable pieces, mainly hats and headbands, and I want any part that touches the skin to be super soft.  So I'm going to go for my yarns that are made with the softest of soft fibers: Merino, Cormo, Corriedale, Faux Cashmere, Rambouillet, etc.  I then think about the texture I'm going for.  If I want to create a drapey, slouchy hat or one with lots of folds, I'm going to want a thin yarn with minimal texture.  This is because I will be creating the texture with the folds and if it's slouchy, I don't want it to be too heavy.  

 

 If I decide to create a sculptural hat that keeps it's shape, I'll want a thicker yarn, yet a soft yarn that doesn't itch when it touches your skin.  I wouldn't want to use silk or bamboo due to their dense and slippery nature.  I'll go for a soft wool: Merino, Cormo, Corriedale, Rambouillet, etc.  If it's a yarn with texture, I'll usually work it so the texture is popping out on the outside of the piece.  If I'm using a smooth yarn, I can make different textures with different types of stitches. A double crochet makes a wider row, but it leaves some holes.  Crocheting through the back loop gives a more solid, knit-like look.  Crocheting into the bars gives a ribbed look and creates a thick fabric.

I try a few different stitches, undo my piece, then try some more stitches until the piece starts becoming more appealing to me.  There has been many a hat that by the time I'm well into it, the front becomes the back or the top becomes the bottom or side.  While I'm working, I might start to make a hat in one piece, but later decide to combine multiple pieces.  Sometimes sewing pieces together allows for more freedom and that's when more sculpting can happen.  The great thing about crochet, you can then go and crochet on top of the pieces you stitched together. I like to just keep building and taking apart until I get it to my version of right.

 So back to choices!  Here's how I start working.  I dig through a hug bag of yarn that I spun previously.  I go for what I might have the most yardage of and what color I'm in the mood to work with (more than usually, my outfit ends up matching the project i'm working on).  Depending on the texture and thickness of the yarn will determine how I crochet it.  If it's a minimally textured yarn and more of a worsted to bulky weight, it normally becomes the "base" of the hat, the part that touches the skin.  I start crocheting, sometimes I like to start with a flat circle and build off of that.  I prefer crocheting through the back loop for a more solid fabric.  I go from a flat circle to a bowl shape and i go back and forth creating a sculptural, bulbous shape.  This ends up just being one piece of the hat, I'll add it to some more simple, circular shapes and sew them together.  I then crochet on all of the pieces to make them into one piece.

I try the hat on over and over throughout the process and normally take the pieces apart multiple times and recreate them.  Once I feel that the hat has a good fit and shape, I go back into my giant yarn bag to look for some accent yarns.  Sometimes I choose a thick and textured art yarn and sew it to the hat I just created.   Sometimes I choose a thin, yet textured art yarn and crochet it to the hat.  Other times I choose a complimenting colored, thinner yarn and crochet lines on the hat.  I choose whichever feels right for that hat.  This, too, gets taken apart multiple times before I get it "right".  Eventually, I put it on and it just feels "finished".  It has to look and feel finished.  Sometimes I ask for opinions from friends, but it all comes down to if I'm feeling it or not. It takes awhile for both of those things to happen, but it eventually happens.

This is my process, a hard to explain in words kind of process, but my process.  So eventhough freeform crochet can be a, "just pick up some yarn an go"kind of process, it's not normally not how I go about it.  There's
lots of thought, but also lots of freedom.  Freedom to change and sculpt a piece to however I want it.

On that note…I have some workshops coming up!  The next one coming up is at Mad Wool in Connecticut.  I'll then be teaching at Picasso Moon in Sarasota, Florida and then at the Spin Artiste Studio in Maryland right before the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival!  Go to my website and scroll down to see the schedule and details of each workshop.

Workshop Schedule and Descriptions