Crocheting and Knitting with Green Magic

While black magic draws on the supernatural for evil and selfish purposes, GREEN MAGIC is inspired by and cultivates the natural world and outdoor spaces. Knitters and crocheters, let us celebrate the power and magic of our needles and hooks as we transform simple skein skeins of yarn into wondrous, wearable and useful art.

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When you observe an experienced knitter or crocheter at work, it is truly amazing to see how the fiber artist is able to make intricate loops and stitches.  The motions are executed so swiftly and are frequently made without even looking at the work at hand.  Yet, they  produce finished pieces that can be intricate and quite lovely.    It is truly magical!!

"Why GREEN MAGIC?"  For me is is a return to the garden theme.  Two weeks ago, I invited you to view the garden paradise, that my husband Bert, created around our home.  As I sat on the backyard deck, I enjoyed the lush greenery and flowers while daydreaming about the knitted and crocheted pieces based on the garden theme.  .  When I realized that I could turn my dreams into experiences into actual garments, it was an "aha" moment.  Since then I have been energized to design and execute many new items that are featured in these postings.  Today I invite you to venture with me along the garden paths to learn how GREEN MAGIC has moved me to incorporate more of the leaves and flowers into my wearable art.  Unfortunately,  it takes more than "abracadabra" to transform my stash of yarn into scarves, gloves, hats, or shawls.  I have so many ideas.  Time is the great limitation!

One of my favorites, my mismatched fingerless gloves, was crocheted in muted green shades (Mint Swirl) from  Sweet Roll by Premier Yarns.

A headband and a child's hat were inspired by the begonia plant in the front yard. 

I also played with a multilayered yellow and green flower on a knitted black and green trimmed fingerless glove.  The black was good here since it helped the other colors to stand out.  On another pair, the forget-me-note, blue flowers on the light green gloves  captured the look of the blooms that were there for such a short time.

Many Hostas have tone on tone  leaves.  A dark center may be surrounded by a lighter green or a lighter green strip may be surrounded by a darker shade. I adapted a pattern called "Mirror Image" from Sassy Scarves by Liesure Arts. I crocheted two shades of worsted weight  yarn with a shell pattern to achieve the look of that a Hosta with a dark green band down the center.  My finished piece was abut 5" wide by 50" inches long.  The ends can be joined to create a slim cowl.

Another cowl features the bumpy texture of one of the varieties of Hosta..  The look was achieved by alternating a row of half double crochet with a row of puff stitch. The "Tea Leaf Pattern" by Jennifer Dickerson can be found at www.fiberfluxblog.com.   I located the pattern on Pinterest.  I am really pleased with the way my piece turned out.  However, since I did not have enough yarn for a full length scarf, I stopped after about 32 inches and joined the edges to make a cowl.  I really liked how the stitch definition showed with lighter colors in my self-striping yarn.  The directions showed the scarf with a skein of "cream to taupe" yarn Scarfie by Lion Brand.  I plan to make the piece again into a full length scarf with the suggested yarn or some other self-striping yarn in light muted colors.

My final project for this post is a narrow extended triangle scarf (13" x75") called "Minnie."   The pattern was designed by Annie Baker and is available as a downloadable pattern at Ravelry.com. (http://junnifpercablesknitting.com/2010/12/06/minnie-scarf)  It is a self-fringing piece knitted in a garter stitch with 2 skeins of Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable (4) on size 10 1/2 knitting needles.  The varigated yarn includes shades from yellow to lilac to rose, pink, and sage green.  While no one flower or leaf has the exact tones found in the scarf, the combination reminds me of the many leaves and flowers in the garden.  The self fringed edges can  be found on many of the hostas or other plants in the garden.  This was a feature that was easy to execute and made for a delightful accent on the finished piece.  I enjoyed the sherbertlike colors and softness of the yarn. The finished scarf draped beautifully.  However, unlike some other Red Heart Unforgetable Boutique skeins, this yarn tended to split and shred at times.  I had to cut and rejoin, but  the blocked scarf did not show where I wove in the ends.  I almost hope that this scarf does not sell at my next craft fair as I look forward to wearing it myself.

Green Magic has me going on and on, but I will have to leave some pieces for a future post. 

Have you experienced GREEN MAGIC  or any other kind of magic in creating or designing your knitted or crocheted pieces? How did your magic or muse help you.  Please leave your thoughts and photos.  You can find postings of my blog on Facebook.  You can also follow me on Pinterest.  Search for lilcreates to see all of my boards or go directly to the board with my blog and other creations. https://www.pinterest.com/lillianmalkus/lillians-blog-and-other-creations