“Take your yarn for a walk,” says author Jenny Dowde, who teaches the freeform “scrumbling” technique. With scrumbling, needleworkers can work unbound by patterns and yet still successfully knit or crochet a project. With just a range of simple stitches and only a few basic techniques, anyone can create lovely and useful household objects and eye-catching wearable art. Full-color photographs illustrate Dowde’s methods in action, from completing both basic and advanced stitches to working with wires and beads, along with a host of special techniques, including constructing buttons, unusual closures, and special accents from polymer clay.
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Waterstones Newsletter:How much do I love this book? Actually, not quite as much as I love the idea of it. The beginning of the book is great, with an introduction to colour theory (always useful when thinking in terms of design!) and a separate section on design itself (not quite as comprehensive). This is followed by a detailed secion on how to knit and crochet 'fragments'. A similar number of pages as dedicated to all these things combined, towards the back of the book, details 'FUNky FX', both knitted and crocheted.I guess the thing that I don't quite love in the book is the middle section, more than twice the length of the bits described above, which is purely project based. I guess the trick is (if, like me, you don't really want to be replicating designs) you use the projects to learn additional elements of design, and just extract from each pattern the section that you want to learn. There are some interesting bits such as knit & crochet with beads & (separately) with wire; and although most of the projects don't actually inspire me greatly, at least they are not prescriptive and unoriginal like the majority of knitting/crochet books around. Project-based or not, at least the book encourages people to experiment with design, and to look outside the box.Even though I don't quite love this book in its entirety, it is still a brilliant starting point, that will hopefully kickstart inspiration within people who would like to explore knitting and crochet with a bit more creativity. The same author has written another volume, 'Freeformations', and the same publisher has recently published another similar title, 'Freeform Crochet & Beyond' by Renate Kirkpatrick (which I haven't seen, yet). For even more creative flexibility and inspiration, I highly recommend 'Have You Any Wool?' and 'Wool'n'Magic', both by Jan Messent and recently re-issued by Search Press. Hurrah! As the artist Paul Klee once said, one of the greatest creative pleasures of drawing is 'talking a line for a walk'. Well, this book aims to introduce you to the wonderful world of 'taking your yarn for a walk'! Exploring colour and texture through the medium of crochet has never been so much fun - or so liberating. This book will get you looking at crochet as you never have before. Freeforming in crochet and knitting is known as 'scumbling' - the name itself gives you a sense of the fun factor in this activity - and it's guaranteed to free up your design sense and encourage you to think beyond what author Jenny Dowde describes as the 'paint by numbers' approach to fibre arts that many of us are accustomed to. Freeform crochet is really a form of wearable art - it has an abstractness and self-contained purpose that's refreshing in what can be a very traditional world. If you're interested in exploring your crochet wild side, this book is definitely worth a read.-Inside Crochet
About the Author
Jenny Dowde has participated in Australian Textile Fibre Forum computer design workshops. She has also made polymer clay buttons for a designer knitwear company and taught polymer clay workshops at various Fibre Forums in Australia. In 1997 she discovered the wonderful medium, "scrumbling" or freeform crochet, with the only equipment required being a hook and lots of yarn! She now combines knitting with crochet in her freeform work.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book to get started with freeform crochet,
By
This review is from: Freeform Knitting and Crochet (Milner Craft Series) (Paperback)
I read through most of this book the day I got it because it was that good. There is a section on color theory that helps you choose your yarns, and there are clear instructions on how to put together your "scrumbles" - which are the building blocks for freeform crochet. It is more step-by-step than other books on freeform, which is good for those who need it. The pictures are beautiful and inspiring, too. I'm a long-time crocheter, but I'm new to freeform. This book inspired me to work on my first freeform project - a vest. Crocheters with a desire for more creative expression will love this book!
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Go For it!,
By Auntie Gail (Boston MA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Freeform Knitting and Crochet (Milner Craft Series) (Paperback)
I love this book, its broken down the walls surrounding the mystery of how to make my own free form garments and helped ease my fear that i can't be that creative! Its well written, with great ideas for projects, even with directions on how to make your own buttons, and has the best discussion on color and how to use and mix it that i have seen. This is the perfect way to use up small bits of left over yarns, especially all the great new funky yarns i can't resist.
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
great for beginners, just wish there was a little more,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Freeform Knitting and Crochet (Milner Craft Series) (Paperback)
I bought this book without looking inside, and while I really like the technical information in the book, I have a little bit of a hesitation about recommending it wholeheartedly. I think for an absolute beginner, this would be a fabulous book. It goes over everything from color design to translating that to garments. There's a short tutorial on stitches, and a gallery of basic patterns that you can customize.
For someone who's already had a fair bit of color theory, and who may just need more of the nuts-and-bolts type "here's some more stuff you can do", I think that section could have been expanded quite a bit. Overall, I'm very pleased with the book, I just wish there was more component piecing information/stitches to use. I would DEFINITELY recommend it to anyone just getting into this type of thing, however, and consider its purchase money well spent.
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