Quiet Time

Quiet time... or What I Did This Summer....



This is a mat from Treasures in Crochet, Book 296 from Coats and Clark, 1981. It isn't named, although I think of it as the optical illusions mat. These are nine lucky-clover-shaped motifs joined together; see in the center it looks like four circles? I didn't crochet any circles. Makes me smile! The mat was a special request from Gryph, who saw the pattern on the cover of the booklet and asked for it. Someday there may be more motifs added, but for now I am on to Yule gifts.

The main doily hasn't been blocked yet and REALLY needs it--tis the center of a round tablecloth, extremely lacy, and bigger than I can smooth out without a blocking board. It's actually what took up most of my crocheting time this summer, before I made Gryph's mat. Once I block it, there will be a pic.




I'm calling this one "Gothic Arches" because the original name really didn't suit it. It's from a free 1947 pattern I found called "Spiderweb Lace" that I cannot find now *blink* who knew it could disappear in a week? Well, anyhow, here are two sites for free patterns.

http://www.freevintagecrochet.com/doilies.html

http://www.purplekittyyarns.com/free-doily-patterns

This edging was QUITE the challenge for two reasons. The first was that the publisher evidently assumed a high skill-and-experience level on the part of the crocheter, and the second is that it was meant to be sewn into fabric--most likely pillowcase seams. Giving it finished edges on the sides was a challenge, and so was getting it to block properly.

The way the pattern was written, the center loops are done first, then the entire bottom half is done, turning each row and working back and forth. Then the top half is done in the same manner. It was extremely awkward and I wasn't satisfied with the way it came out, especially since, in order to make the 7-chain strands arch properly the pattern called for "long treble crochets" to make the fans.

Now I ask you, who can keep the gauge consistent, motif to motif, row to row, top to bottom, when it calls for something so nebulous?! So I rewrote the pattern.

It wasn't exactly successful. *wry smile*



You can see that my attempt to make the 7-chain strands arch properly was not best served by the changes I made--look how those motifs skewed! I used double trebles to keep the gauge consistent, but I also worked in rounds rather than back and forth.... and you can see that I didn't realize I had an even number of loops in time to correct it. (That's an easy fix when you're working back and forth; you just undo the few extra stitches when you come to them.)

I think the worst problem with this experiment is through the center. One reason the motifs skewed the way they did is that the center is rigid and has no give to it. As far as I can tell, that's because I worked in rounds.

So, in the version which is on my hook now, I am making the center loops my way, a long row of them to fit my desired measurement (and definitely an odd number, I counted twice!) and I am working back and forth in rows, but instead of "long treble crochets" I am using quadruple crochets. We'll see if I have to take this one apart as many times as I did the other two!

Oh! And I bought "Cebelia" thread from DMC.... ohhhhh my.... I have never used such nice thread before! Now I see what the price difference is about... no fuzziness, no splitting, just smooth tight thread all the way. Tis like heaven!

full-size pic: Autumn Wreath

I hope this doesn't take too long to load; I couldn't get far away enough with the camera to take a smaller pic! My fingers are crossed that by setting the size in the post, I made it quicker for anyone on dial-up.

This is made from a branch I saved last winter for a dreamcatcher which somehow never really wanted to be made... when I wanted a door-wreath, though, there it was!

The broom at the top is made from pine needles, bound with the shed leaf-stalks of a Dracaena marginata (Madagascar palm). I made it in Phoenix the Autumn before I moved here. The stalk of grass was gathered in September while walking the doglet. The branch and leaves were gathered last week specifically for the wreath, and a sweetgrass braid was taken apart and rebraided to be longer and skinny specifically for the wreath.

I didn't intend for the sycamore leaves to curl up that way. They were flat as boards when I worked them into the wreath. Maybe some oak or maple is in this wreath's future! Sheesh.

The doily was not specific to the wreath until I recognized two things: I was making too many mistakes to give it away, and all that brown-ness needed some white! LOL, I've always been like that... I used to tell my sibs they could only have the broken cookies or overdone ones when I was baking, since the good ones went on the holiday gift trays. *made sure there were plenty of broken ones, though* Anyhow, I will do this doily again (I've already started it in that rainbow thread I used for the ric rac, just to see how it works) but probably in a larger thread. Size eighty thread gives a small doily, as you see here--tis only six inches edge-to-edge--and I would like it to be a little larger if I am going to give it as a gift.

The pattern was unnamed, from the October 2004 issue of Magic Crochet magazine. It was an issue of doilies and mats, slanted toward the Winter holidays, and I am so glad I have it! I was tired of four- and six- and eight-based patterns; a five-based pattern is so nice, and I am always on the lookout for five-pointed stars.

OH MY GOODNESS!!

I have SIX baby bell-peppers and THREE baby eggplants in my lil flowerpot garden, all at once! lol!! Guess my Fall harvest will give me more than I got all Summer long! I had thought the garden was done last month, and almost tossed the plants... so glad I was lazy! *grin*

I'm working on another doily, size 80 thread again. Tis a five-point star for the holidays, and there are lacy fans between the points to make it round-ish. Pics will come a lil later. I found a couple more back issues of Magic Crochet and Decorative Crochet magazines, plus my Rita Weiss book, 101 Crochet Edgings. Tis fun to look through, pick and choose, and start something new!

It's funny how things take on their own lives... I look at the doily, and it seems like something someone else has made, something completely independent of me--and I marvel at it! Then I pick up my hook and get back to work. *wink*

That Crochet post I promised you

Thought I would share not just the crochet, but also the books... well, booklets. I started collecting these not long after I first learned to crochet in the very late 1970s. Fanciworks is one of my favorites... probably as much for the name as for anything. *smiling*

When I was first taking art classes, my teacher said that one of the secrets to art is not only knowing what to put in, but also when to stop. See that ordinary doily on the cover up there?

If you stop at the right place, it suddenly looks Art Deco. This reminds me very much of the Egyptian craze that swept the US in the 1920s. The pattern is called "Crocus" and you can see the flowers do look like crocuses... but they are just stylized enough to remind me of the flower-topped Egyptian pillars in the pyramids, and the pattern at the edges reinforces that.

So I stopped. *grin*

I'm not going to block this one--or even press it--because I like that slightly ruffled look. We have a small carved wooden box sitting on this doily and the ruffle frames the box and contrasts with it very nicely.

More of my fav booklets. The Starwheels are from Treasures in Crochet and the Queen's Scroll (a new one) is from Tablecloths and Bedspreads.

Edgings, oh edgings... how I love my edgings! And the Crazy Quilt book was all about lace and edgings on the seams of the crazy patches... yet I have none. So surely it is most logical to make some? After all, the sewing machine is still buried...

Here is my assortment of motifs and edgings. Starwheels are at the bottom, and Queen's Scroll is in the upper left. It's giving me a TON of a trouble and I haven;t decided yet if the instructions are wrong--it happens--or if I am not getting it yet. I finally had to give up, count the spaces in the corner loops in the illustration, and do it my way. Sheesh!

There are several different edgings in this pic, but the one I am most taken with is a simple little repeat that makes... of all things!... RIC-RAC!!! You can see it crossed through the center, and the liiiitttttttle teeeeeensy one just to the side is the same exact thing, but instead of doing it in size 30 thread--the rainbow is size 30--I did it in size 80 like the motifs. Astonishing difference.

So. I intended to make a mini-mat with four of these starwheels, but I have given up. When I finally finished the sec0ond one--which gave me a pile of trouble!--I discovered I had already finished the first one as an ornament. The HECK with it! I did the second one as an ornament too, and I am done with Starwheels for the foreseeable future! Then I went to take this pic and was I surprised! See how the right-hand side one is smaller? That's the second one, and no wonder it ghave me trouble!! I changed the gauge!! Lord love a DUCK, that was entirely too tight for my hands to be working, and it hurt. I'm not making that mistake with Queen's Scroll.

Oh, btw, I should probably mention that I took these pics by lamplight and I guess even flourescents are kind of yellow like incandescents. The Starwheels are actually pristine snow white, not ecru. That might have shown if I had used the flash, but the pics generally come out better without it.

Friday on the way home from the library, we caught a bus with Pockets the Clown (in her Muggle disguise as a bus driver, lol). We had fun talking to her about clowning. She has 19 pockets in her suit. *grin*

Well, you know I'd already been ric-racking, and when I held up the rainbow ric-rac, Gryph liked the way it twisted (as skinny crochet does before you press it).

Then I made my book review and started reading the new books (review of them at a later date)... and something was percolating in my mind....

Hmmmmm, how interesting... yes, rainbow ric-rac does go with denim... the fringed seams on the Western crazy-quilt items in Crazy Quilt Decor were on my mind.... and Pockets the Clown was on my mind....
This is the crochet project I had a little trouble finishing. That is a lot of ric-rac, two separate pieces, one to go around the pocket and the other to be the handle. It's easy but monotonous and my hands are tired right now, swollen and sore, so I got bored with the ric-rac before I finished; but I did persevere and I am so glad I did!

What's a pocket without a pal? Those are mini jingle bells, standing in for buttons. The hair is made from some of the threads I pulled out when I was fringing the denim. This little pal is handsewn--I did it last night while Gryph and I listened to the first Amanda Peabody mystery, Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters.

And here ya go, a pocket for Pockets' pocket collection! I clipped the pal in with two teeeeensy lil clothespins, one blue and one green. Hope she likes it; this one is kinda hard to give away! *grin*

Viney, viney

Imagine my shock, dear reader, after my rainy blog post when I went out and discovered every plant sitting in scads of water----EXCEPT for my butternut sqash, wilting away in a DRY pot. I thought sure I would lose it then, yanno? I soaked it, but I thought sure I would lose it.

Guess what?

The garden yesterday, July 14th. That squash wilts every day from the intense sunlight, and comes back every evening... and to think I wondered fretfully if it would get any sun at all!! No more doubts about that, sheesh!

I fertilized again yesterday, along with the daily water. Everything seems to be pretty happy.

Especially this...

Sorry for the blurry pics, btw, twas windy enough that I'm lucky I got any pics. Anyhow, this is a pic of the weeds in perspective, zooming out of their four inch pot next to a tall 12 inch pot. I guess it's time to screw up all my courage and my taste buds too, and find out what amaranth tastes like. Or maybe I'll let it bloom and set seed--I already know I like the seeds, since I've bought them at a health food store in the past.

I'm thinking that might be the smart way to go, since I am not certain sure this really IS amaranth. Where the heck would it have come from? I haven't seen it anywhere around here, and that was brand new potting soil in that pot... was it in my herb seed packet? The herbs certainly didn't bother to sprout in that pot... but amaranth in bloom is unmistakable, so when it blooms I will know for certain what it is.

Alas, alas, this is what's left of the mulberry at the back fence after the city scalped it. Tis only knee high now and is sure to bush out even more now, ripe for future scalping. I bought some pruning shears and will have to gradually prune it back into a tree--taller this time, so no one is tempted to reduce it again.

Of course, I don't have much room to talk.....

.......scalpmint....... it is now sitting under a butternut leaf. A new pot is planned for this one over the weekend... but um, seems hardly necessary, eh? *wry smile* Hard to believe that plant was a good ten inches high and ever so lush when I bought it...

Lil punkin and the big bully! In this pic you can see the purslane is filling the pot nicely, the basil is taking hold and expanding a lil at the right hand side of the pot, and the punkin seedlings are reeeeeeeeaching for the sunlight--but will the butternut share? Or is it a big, big bully? Stay tuned, for the saga will surely be documented in breathlessly annoying detail; I'm worse than a grandmother with new grandbabies! *snaps open wallet and scads of pics unfold* lol! Okay, not really, but I feel that way! *grin*

Viney exuberance... ahhhh, life is good! *wink* We'll see if the eggplant can out-compete the butternuts, lol...

I really DO need more pots. Tis time for the next batch of green beans, and those snake gourd seeds are whispering my name... they LIKED the books I've been reading.... *eyebrow waggle* Plus yanno, the mint will need more water than it can get in a four inch pot if I want it to thrive.

On the art/crafting front, I'm still reading library books, but last night I spent a little time working on that crocheted Starwheel motif. I'm through the worst of it and back into the fast and interesting part, so I'm hoping to have a pic of it by the weekend. I still cannot spend much time on it because of the fineness of the thread; it taxes my eyes and my hands alike now, but I am determined to persevere!

I also spent some time working on Gryph's amulet bag. I closed up the bottom of it and am putting on the first of the fringe. It still has thread ends dangling everywhere and I'm not certain they're long enough to hold much in the way of fringe beads, but it's okay because I'm pretty wild with my fringe anyhow--here! I can show you an example of my fringes, and you might see why it takes me so long to finish one bag. *wink*

I made this bag several years ago for a friend and it's pretty typical of the way I work. The fringe on Gryph's bag might not be quite so full, but it will have the same kind of exuberant look to it.

That bag always has been one of my favorites; I designed it from scratch.

Happy summering, and here's hoping you find great joy and beauty in little things today, like the vine on a squash or the fringe on a bag--or even in your memories of things you've done.

My 50th post!

And here is that troublesome but beloved doily! let's see if I can upload both pics...

Aaaaahhh, there we be... You can see how big this is going to be, since UNblocked it already covers most of the armchair's back. I've finished a couple more rows now and the pineapples are almost all done, the fans much fannier... er... that sounds weird... well anyhow, lol... this is a twenty-six row doily and I am almost finished with row twenty-three. I took a break from crocheting last night but maybe tonight I can finish it.

We'll see what mischief I can get into after that! I already have another recipe to post, this time for Banana Walnut Cake. First though, I have to walk Her Tiny Highness, the Ladybug *Guard Princess!(tm)*

*slides in singing like Al Jolson*

"DOIIIILLLYYYY, how I love ya, how I love ya, my dear old doily! I put a million miles of string in it's true *spoken in that Jolsony way* but EVVVryone SMILES when they look at you!!"

Blogger won't let me upload pics today, but I am making good progress on the doily. It is getting quite large! And most unfortunately, my hands and wrists are getting quite swollen... *sigh* Tis amazing that as my hands remember more and more what to do and how to do it, as I pick up speed and my gauge starts to even out, my wrists get more and more swollen. It shouldn't be that way, and yet it is.

I think it's the pineapples. Making all those chains puts a real strain on me, I guess, because I have to keep the thread under pressure to keep the gauge even. When you're doing solid crochet, the fabric you're creating does some of the holding for you--but these chains are so airy and flimsy that my hands have to do it all.

So anyhow, even though I absolutely love to crochet and am getting a huge kick out of creating something so lacy, I guess I have to finish this doily and then give my wrists a rest. When I start crocheting again, I guess I have to be careful what kind of pattern I choose.

Oh, lol, and the blotchiness doesn't bother me anymore. This was the best fifty cents I ever spent! Well, a dollar if you count the magazine. *smile*

Pics when Blogger cooperates again!

What's up with (ow!) this??

So the wonderful thing about crocheting doilies is that they're so portable. I keep this one in a sandwich bag to keep it clean and to keep from losing the ball of thread under every chair I come across, and that means I can take it places like the laundromat.

The not-so-wonderful thing about doilies is that crocheting them makes my hands hurt. I so did not expect that from this doily!! But it is pineapples and that means one uses one's non-dominant hand to hold the doily tight while one makes chains of stitches... and my left hand is starting to hurt a lot, especially the part of my palm where the thumb connects.

I don't know if the Starwheel didn't cause this problem because I couldn't crochet on it for extended times--my eyes kept getting tired--or because it was more solid.

I took this pic of the doily at the laundromat on a sorting table. The light seems to have minimized what you can see of the tea-dying. I still haven't decided what to do about the whole splotchy issue. It bothers me less right now but I'm afraid that might just be familiarity.

Oh, and I discovered that I am making mistakes like crazy (mostly missed stitches). So far I've been able to compensate, but it's kinda weird... cuz yanno, the me I used to be would have ripped whole rows out to get to and correct even a small mistake.

The me I am today quotes Lisa, "oh well, no one will notice," and then goes off to rub her sore hand muscles. *wry smile*

That doily I mentioned...

So I have been having some scary heart symptoms that pretty much dictated time every day with my feet up. There aren't too many things I can do with my feet up and I confess that I took shameless advantage of the situation and read lots of books *grin* but I have been making something, too.

When I found our beauty at the thrift store, they were having a craft sale. I was pretty shameless about that, too, lol... and I am VERY happy to say that I have a crochet thread stash again! Not only that, but I found a copy of one of my fav crochet magazines!

Well, they're right--the mats are mighty pretty! I paged through and found several that interested me. I love lace, just love it, and before I got the carpal tunnel syndrome I made very nice crocheted doilies for everyone---well, everyone but me. Now I don't have the same control I used to have (or the same eyesight, sheesh!), but I still love lace so yanno... I had to choose one and start it right away!

I chose one called Romantic Oval which is lacier than I usually do, and I chose a thread that intrigued me no end when I bought it. Whoever had originally owned this thread had taken the time and trouble to take it off the cardboard core it had been on, had tea-died it, and had wrapped it back into balls... I sooo wanted to see how the tea-dying would play out in a pattern!

Well, the laciness of this pattern kept the doily looking like "a buncha nuthin" for quite a while, and I knew I would not be able to get a pic that looked like anything... cuz yanno... even looking at it in my lap, I couldn't see anything more than a buncha nuthin! I almost gave up. I even more almost gave up when I saw the blotchiness of the tea-dye job, and the weird way it worked itself through the lace. But I had to have my feet up, and the alternative was to go back to that size 80 thread and finish the star wheel mat, and my wrists needed to NOT do anything that fussy, so I persevered.

Last night, as I started the pineapples that make up the border, the whole thing suddenly came together and turned from a buncha nuthin into a doily! I was so excited that I took a pic!

The trouble with furniture that has a nice finish on it is that it is reflective..... ooooooopsie, what's that huge white blotch in the middle of the pic? Why, the camera flash, which I cannot seem to turn off no matter what I do!

*gnashing teeth*

Wait! I know!! My favorite paper to the rescue!

I love Strathmore papers! Matte black to the rescue!
I do have to say, the pic makes the doily look more solid and also more finished than it actually is. I haven't starched it yet and when I do, I expect it will gain some size. This is gonna be a big one! I could stop now and it would be pretty enough, but I'm going to finish it because I love pineapples.

Do you see my problem with the tea-dye, though? The doily doesn't look dyed; it just looks like someone spilled something on it. If I bleach it, I'll risk weakening the fibers... I may have to boil it in coffee and just hope it takes the color evenly.

It's a shame, because the thread was shiny before the tea-dying.

I think when I do the cover doily (I do love pineapples!), I'll do it in thread that hasn't been altered.

Hey, I found a treasure at the Friends of the Library store last week! I paid the same price it originally sold for, too... just one thin dime.

Hmmmm. Makes me want to go get some hankies! Except for one thing.... these are delicate, delicate, delicate... the BIGGEST thread they call for is size 50! Most of the edgings call for size 70... but the clincher? One uses my Starwheel motif, like I blogged about early on, the one I am working up in size 80 thread... only guess what size they call for... one I have never even SEEN---size 100 thread!!!

I have to say, the Starwheel is pretty doggoned challenging in size 80. I cannot IMAGINE doing it in size 100! Seriously... wouldn't that be *thinner* than sewing thread?! I am blown away by the determination and dedication of the women who sat patiently with their thinnest threads and finest hankies, making such beautiful things...