Yarn Challenged

I don't consider myself a competitive person. I didn't know I was a

challenge junkie until Jane started her FF challenge Yahoo group,

know I know I can't walk past a challenge. Maybe it is just excuse or

incentive I need to put a reason behind having the hook or the needles in

my hands.Do I need an excuse?..probably not....

Lights and Shadows--using one color yarn. That was way to good to pass by...

being a paint artist by nature I have many times just used pencil to get the depth

of light and shadow. I knew yarn would be a little different..I also knew I wanted to

incorporate the element of 3-d with a sculptural look and feel... With several hundred

yarn colors at my very arms length---- how was I supposed to choose just one? The concept

of freeform is building a colorway stash, I have worked long and hard to do this. Now I am

challenged to use just one!! that in itself was the challenge for me!! This is how it happened....

Scientifically--I reached up in the top box of yarn,wiggled my hand down in the middle,where I couldn't see--and fished one out! There that wasn't so hard to choose!!!

It was Lion Brand Jamie baby yarn in a fisherman color..Very good Choice!!! I spent

the afternoon knitting,turning it this way and that,adding a line,making a part and

assembling it. Cool..I liked this alot!!! I grabbed the camera--and here you are.....

As if that wasn't good enough......There was a Bullion challenge..Now Bullion's are little fat crochet stitches made by wrapping the yarn around your hook-10 0r 15 times(or more or less)and drawing your yarn through all these wraps..Was I intimidated? Oh my yes, when I first started I could manage the wrap part...for a year I wrapped and cursed...It was not working for me. I was suspecting either 1. there was magic command involved or 2. someone(like everyone) was in a conspiracy and leaving a step hidden. but I kept trying, I'm up for a challenge--did I mention that? I finally figured out the secret a couple months ago. For me it was the hook...how simple is that? My daughter Becky carves the best crochet hooks and she has sent me quite a few of them. I picked up my favorite square end on, one day, and a bullion fell off it as if it was magic! wrapped, pulled through--like slicing butter...how cool was this? WAY...and about 2 million bullion's later...I was indeed up for a bullion challenge..using any of the wooden hooks in my collection.

THe challenge part of it was to made something you see in nature-not a leaf or flower-using some bullion's....I choose the sun--and used a colorway I had never used--yellows.( I found them when putting the Jamie baby yarn away) So here is my version of sunshine.....via yarn, a fantastic wooden hook and some very bright yarns.....

Always,Kathie