Reconstruction

 

While I was updating Ravelry today, I remembered I hadn't shown you how this lace crochet sample dyed up last week. This project goes back a bit, to the end of last year in fact where I was deconstructing a lace pattern I liked that had no instructions to follow so I thought I'd have a go at writing one out for myself. The aim was to design and make my own lace crochet parasol inspired by these images here,  here and here.

I'm quite comfortable with crochet and the general construction of stitches but I've had less experience with the more complex crochet lace designs. So last year, I was sampling a few out and getting the hang of how pieces increased in the round and how to build the complexity of structure and pattern into a design. There are some amazing patterns out there that are dismissed because they look too 'doily'- like, but I've learned a lot from my doilies! 

Working out the lace pattern design

I learned how to increase evenly around the circumference, and that the tension is sooo important. If you mess this up then your whole pattern can go out of shape, even with strenuous blocking and pulling back into shape when it's wet at the end. I also got the feel of when that was happening before I got to the end which helped a lot!! There was a lot of crocheting and ripping back as I went so this little sample has had a time of it:) 

But once I understood how to make an increasing circle regardless of the complexity of the stitches, I could then become more free with the pattern. As I was following an existing piece rather than designing from scratch, it was quite easy to place the pattern elements into each portion of the circle. This sample uses a filet stitch and chained threads so it is easy to see how it grows as you crochet.

I originally decided to use a silk/wool undyed yarn instead of cotton as I wanted a softer edge to the design. I'm not convinced that this is the best yarn for the job but the sample certainly does have a 'soft focus' look to it! It handled the wear and tear of sampling well but it you can see the slight wool content giving it fuzzy halo - slightly.

Saying that, it isn't as noticeable now it's been dyed. Being mostly silk it has taken the acid dyes well but not as intensely as the sock yarns. The dyeing was another tester to see how well the colour took and how easy it would be to hand paint a pre-crocheted sample. Very easy! In fact it absorbed the dye quicker than the wool and the colours bled into each other for quite a ways. Less is more in this case!

So it's answered the question of  'do I dye the yarn and crochet, or crochet then dye?' Crochet then dye!! As much as I love dyeing yarns, I can get much more control over the colour gradations this way and as the circle gets bigger and bigger, the colour proportions would stay the same width. A pre-dyed yarn of equal colour blocks - like a graduating yarn - would make smaller and smaller bands the wider it got. Not what I want myself but cool if that's the look you're going for:)

Well, that's the testing all done. So am I ready to design and make that parasol? :)

lace inspiration

Lace parasol  - created by Lenta

I've been browsing a lot online this week and keep getting drawn to the gorgeous lace designs that are out out there right now. So I thought I'd share a few inspiring projects with you that have taken my fancy. First, this beautiful parasol on Ravelry - I love how it uses such a simple motif to achieve such complexity in the overall design. And, of course, it makes me want to try and deconstruct the pattern so I can gauge the tension and construction elements to create a new design of my own.

You may remember I attempted something like this not so long ago and after several attempts of working out the tension for the filet, clusters and shell sts, it got abandoned and now sits languishing in a corner. But now I'm fired up again and ready to have some hooky fun. I think I should have used the proper crochet cotton  as the sock yarn gave it a fuzzy look, not crisp and clean like I wanted so I'll have to rummage and see what I have to get started. Anyway, it will probably take me a little while to work out the pattern construction, which gives me plenty of time to get some cotton and do a bit of creative dyeing too. Yay!

Spanish peacock shawl -  by MandaKR

The other beautiful design I found was this fine 2ply lace shawl  - just wow! The actual pattern is designed by the amazing Meg Swanson called Spanish Peacock Shawl and this version is just stunning. I've always appreciated these circular shawls but haven't been tempted to make one till now. But I should really be thinking about making presents for that major event at the end of the year - don't want to mention xmas quite yet:) Not when I'm still hoping for a little late summer, lol! Still, this has jumped pretty much to the top of my to-do list. 

Now, let's work out that crochet lace - chains, clusters and most importantly tension:) see you all soon, hopefully with a little more regularity than the rest of this month!

A happy, creative day to you all! 

elaine x