EXPLODING ENLARGING the Joys of Scaling UP

Ah! The joys of ever larger applications of crochet! The dainty intricacies of doilies are appreciated anew when they are expanded to wall-size  decor, or used as stencils for  steel, plastic, and shaped into furniture.

I needed a break from the intense, lately pleasure-delimiting  thought-work of pattern writing and so asked a bit, read a bit  and looked at various doily and motif pattern books to start a rug.

I got some great advice -- I know because in choosing the piece that i liked the most, I didn't follow the advice and it's not working out! Sigh.

Four strands of LB WoolEAse is not  sizing up -- the motif in thread is 4.5" and done with 4 strands and a 10mm hook -- all I got was 11.5 inches, not an explosion!

So I've got to design more, add more rows. Images from 101 Motifs for Thread Crochet and Bib Book of Little Doilies.

Shawl Pins

My new shawl pin designs have inspired me to buy a small torch. I miss flameworking so much! And while this is for metal, I look forward to using fire again to make things, this time, copper shawl pins. And while I wait, I've developed cold wrapped and wiber versions. I also made a couple with polymer clay stems. The heat made the copper blush red.