In this tutorial, Free-Form Crochet Advanced Stitches, you will learn ten different crochet techniques that you can use to make interesting textured scrumbles. I have a few tutorials on all the basics of free-form crochet and I will link to all of those below. I absolutely love this style of crochet because you never know where it will take you! I had a basic plan for this tutorial, in that I knew all the various stitches and techniques I wanted to share, but I had no idea how the crumble was going to turn out…and I love it!
If you are new to free-form crochet, I have a series of beginner tutorials to get you started on this super fun and creative style of crochet. I don’t have any actual written patterns for any of the tutorials because it is just a series of stitches and techniques that are used in a creative way. Each blog post has a video tutorial and additional written information and resources.
While you can use any type of yarn you like and any crochet hook size you like, I think free-form crochet scrumbles work up best using wool and wool blends because these yarns offer a variety of fun textures. No matter what you choose, however, the one tool I do recommend is a hand-steamer. Steaming your scrumble as you go helps the motif to lay nice and flat. Working with so many different stitches and textures can create some ‘wonkiness’, and the hand-steamer helps to remedy that.
My tutorials on the basics of free-form crochet also give some really great tips on how to crochet perfect scrumbles and avoid this wonky potential.
The supplies you will need are:
- Yarn of your choice in multiple colors and textures
- Custom bullion stitch hook (see below for instructions)
- Crochet hook(s)
- Darning needle
- Scissors
- Hand-steamer
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In Part Two of Free-form Crochet Advanced Stitches, I will demonstrate how to do the bullion stitch. I have never been able to do this stitch with a regular crochet hook because I could never pull the yarn through all the loops on my hook without them getting snagged.
I modified a rug hooking tool (also called a latch hook) by taping a one-inch piece of small tubular plastic to the shank of the hook. The end of an expired pen cartridge is perfect, but a piece of a wooden skewer would work as well. I fiddled with this a lot to get the tubing the right length because if it is longer, it is hard to get the hook down into the crochet work, so one inch (2.5 cm) seemed to work the best. Also, you need to use a latch hook with a straight shank, some have a curve in them. I found mine at a thrift store.
Someone requested to see a view of the back of the scrumbles. I thought that was a great idea so I have inserted one here. I am showing both the advanced scrumble and the fabric we created in the tutorial on how to join scrumbles together. All the tutorials for this Free-form Crochet Series can be found below. Enjoy!
In Part One of this tutorial, I will review the magic ring and beginning circle. Then I will demonstrate the Puff Stitch, the Berry Stitch, the Fan or Shell Stitch, the Front Post Double, and the Treble Crochet, as well as some joining on and fastening off techniques.
In Part two of Free-form Crochet Advanced Stitches, I will demonstrate how to do the Popcorn Stitch, the Extended Single Crochet Stitch, the Bullion Stitch, the Crab Stitch, and an Overlay Single Crochet. These are just some of the more common textured stitches in free-form crochet and you can certainly experiment with different stitches in your scrumbles. Be playful and the worst thing that can happen is that you have to pull out something that didn’t work…no problem!
In this tutorial, Free-form Crochet ~ An Introduction, you will learn all the basics of scrumbling. You will learn how to create asymmetrical shapes, how to increase the height of stitches, how to increase stitches in the round so the motif lays nice and flat, and how to join yarn at different heights and in different parts of a stitch.
In this tutorial, Free-form Crochet ~ Beginning Shapes, I show how to make a variety of beginning shapes for scrumbles. This is the only tutorial where I do have written directions for the beginning shapes.
Learn how to crochet a two-tone spiral in this tutorial, Free-form Crochet ~ Spiral Shape. This shape can be used on its own as a scrumble with an overlay single crochet or crab stitch, or it can be the beginning shape for a scrumble.
The final tutorial in my Introduction to Free-form Crochet series is on how to join scrumbles together. This is probably the most helpful tutorial of them all because there are several tricks and techniques that help to create the perfect piece of fabric.
So, with this comprehensive series of free-form crochet tutorials, you can create beautiful scrumbles and fabric that can be used in countless crochet projects. I wish you many happy hours of creative, and fun crocheting!
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