jueves, 14 de abril de 2016

Mrs Thomasina Tittlemouse: Crocheted Christmas Wall-hanging

Mrs Thomasina Tittlemouse: Crocheted Christmas Wall-hanging: "On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree" So the first line of the traditional Chr...

Crocheted Christmas Wall-hanging

"On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree"


So the first line of the traditional Christmas carol goes.

I don't know quite what anyone would do with the gift of a pear tree containing a roosting partridge, but there you have it! For that matter, I am not sure what anyone would do with quite a number of the gifts in the song! Seven swans a-swimming? Eight maids a-milking?! I suppose the nine ladies dancing, ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming might make quite a lively and effective entertainment troupe but some of the others might be more trouble than they were worth!

There's a school of thought that holds that the gifts are not quite as random an array as they seem but each has a hidden significance, indicating an aspect of the Christian faith. The idea is that the song may have developed in England, some centuries ago, when Roman Catholicism was persecuted and when to voice overt mnemonics of Roman Catholic belief was frowned on, at best, and personally risky, at worst, although in fact the symbolism is not exclusively Roman Catholic. Anyway the idea that the gifts are not random, but symbolic, appeals to me and gives the song a rather nice, additional dimension even though it may be a spurious theory and the random gifts may well be, despite the charming idea of the symbolism, just that - random.

Whether or not that's the case, the song is charming and it's captured my imagination and fuelled a happy, little, Christmas-hooky project because I got it into my head that it would be rather fun to hook up a little Christmas wall-hanging, a kind of hooky sampler illustrating the first line of the carol. Unlike traditional vintage samplers, worked on linen with fine thread, in cross-stitch or other embroidery stitches, this was never going to have any kind of improving text worked on it; it would just be the image. If the symbolism theory is correct, it would carry its own iconic message of Christmas because the first gift of the partridge in the pear tree is meant to represent Jesus himself. (The unusual pairing of a ground-nesting bird in the branches of a fruit tree, representing the unprecedented combination of the divine and the human, in the Christ-child.)

Unusually for me, I had a very clear idea of what I wanted it to look like in my head, before I started thinking about any kind of pattern I could use or adapt. The only question was whether crochet would lend itself to realising the image I had decided on.

I did some preliminary pencil sketches to see if I could come up with a simple partridge shape that might translate into crochet without too much difficulty and had a little play around with some circles and spirals.




A spiral shape in a soft taupe colour made a satisfactorily plump partridge body and a smaller rust-coloured circle, edged on one side, in the same taupe body colour, made a reasonable head. I added a small mother-of-pearl button as an eye and a small dark brown beak to the head and stitched on a leaf shape worked in grey to the body, for a wing. I now had a birdy that looked quite partridge-esque!

So far, so good! Next up was the tree, the top of which I simply made as a crocheted circle of different greens, adding a scalloped edge to indicate a leafy outline.


 A trunk was added from the bottom upwards by chaining a length for the base in dark brown and working decreasing rows of treble (UK) / double (US) crochet stitches for the root-ball,


continuing in narrow straight rows for the trunk itself and then increasing for a few rows to make the branches reaching up into the leaf canopy.

My partridge now had a roost of sorts! No pears as yet, though!

The pears were a little tricky to design at first and I made several initial attempts that ended up looking more like grapefruits!


In the end, a simple circle with a few extra rows worked on top and a woody stalk added to the top of each one, seemed to fit the bill.


Some of the pears are yellow and ripe - probably juicy Williams pears! And some are green and hard - probably Conference ones! I know, I know, how can they be growing on the same tree?! Artistic licence, that's what!


I wanted the background to suggest the colours of a setting or a rising sun in a winter landscape to set off the restrained palette of the bird and tree so I did a rough pencil sketch


and then simply worked it in graduating colourful sunset/ sunrise-coloured stripes of treble (UK) / double (US) crochet with turquoises and blues to indicate a frosty field at the base and the edge of a winter sky at the top.




It's turned out rather effectively, I think. Assembly was nice and straightforward - I just pinned the components onto the background


and used ordinary sewing thread, in colours to match the crochet, to oversew each piece in place.

I then turned over the top of the background to make a channel for a piece of wooden dowelling to be threaded through the top to provide a means to hang it. D was persuaded to drill a hole in each end of the dowelling with a fine drill-bit and all it needed was some string (purple of course!) to hang it up by.


Bingo!


I have actually had this hanging up for several weeks even though it's not yet even Advent because having hung it up, (just to see what it looked like!) I couldn't bear to take it down, but the intention is to keep it as a Christmas hanging that comes out at the beginning of December each year with the Advent candles and calendars and goes away again with the rest of the Christmas decorations at Epiphany.

I thought a photograph of it might make a nice Christmas card too, although I discover I should have thought through the proportions slightly more cannily, if I was intending to do this, as a standard size photograph chops off the top and bottom of the background, unless I have a bit of wall showing which isn't the card I envisaged! Tant pis!

What I particularly like about this little project is that it's stretched my abilities to crochet "off-piste" and experiment in a kind of free-form way, using what I've learnt over the last few years more spontaneously. And when all is said and done, each component is actually pretty simple. It's given me confidence to travel without a pattern sometimes.

I also find the result is very pleasing - it has a warm feel to it - both literally and visually - and a slightly three-dimensional aspect, which makes a cosy addition to the room on a winter's evening. Possibly I should add something to weight the bottom edge down a bit to make it hang a little better but there isn't enough crochet at the base to fold over and make another dowelling channel so I must think how I might best achieve that. Any ideas? All suggestions gratefully received.

If you fancy trying your hand at something similar, I'd encourage you to have a go - it was such a fun and satisfying project. You don't need to worry too much about what yarn or hook you use - just use bits and bobs of yarn left over from other projects, together with the appropriate hook for whatever weight of yarn you happen to have. It doesn't have to be all the same type or weight throughout, although obviously you'll want to make sure each component has a consistency about it and you may want to work the background in a uniform weight of yarn. You can adjust the sizing to suit your design and tension is irrelevant.

For ease and satisfaction of realisation, I'd recommend thinking of an image that can be made up of fairly simple shapes - circles, triangles, strips, squares or rectangles so that it's not too difficult to achieve the design you are after. But actually, even shapes that look initially complicated, like birds, can be broken down to simpler constituent parts so you may find your imagination is the only limit!


If you're intrigued to know what the other gifts are meant to stand for, here's the low-down:
  • two turtle doves - the two parts of the Bible
  • three French hens -  the three gifts brought by the wise men to the baby Jesus 
  • four colley birds - the four Gospels (colley birds is an old-fashioned name for blackbirds)
  • five gold rings - the five books of the Torah (ie the first five books in the Bible)
  • six geese a-laying - the six productive days of Creation, as described in Genesis
  • seven swans a-swimming - the seven acts of mercy deemed to be part of Christian duty 
  • eight maids a-milking - the eight Beatitudes, as listed in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount 
  • nine ladies dancing - the nine fruits of the Spirit, as listed by St Paul
  • ten lords a-leaping - the Ten Commandments
  • eleven pipers piping - the eleven disciples remaining after Judas had betrayed Jesus
  • twelve drummers drumming - the twelve points of Christian belief, as listed in the Apostles' Creed
Several of the gifts seem to have more than one possible symbolism but I've listed the ones that most consistently come up. And as I say, the theory, although charming, may, or may not, have much foundation in historical fact. 




But my hooky partridge makes me smile anyway 
and I hope he brings you a happy smile too!

E x

QS crochet: Łapacz snów

QS crochet: Dreamcatcher : The making of dream catcher thought for a year - if not longer. The idea had to mellow your mind and gain power, but in the end live to see ...

Dreamcatcher


About making a dream catcher thought for a year - if not longer.  The idea had to mellow your mind and gain power, but in the end been Implemented. The work Began with the gathering of material - cording, ribbons, feathers and beads in a variety of colors. Fell on neutral beiges and browns with a little orange. Then came the time for the napkin, which I did two approaches. First, I started to knit According to the formula available HERE - but it was too dense and multi- color version does not look good. I Decided on a much simpler, more transparent napkin, Which turned out to be a hit. Dreamcatcher embellished with feathers, ribbons and wooden and plastic beads. In the middle of napkins I sewed glass "eye" Which nicely reflects the light. I am very happy with what I came out. How many times I look at the dream catcher, my inner hippie until squeals with joy;)
 
    
 










Zooty Owl's Crafty Blog: Daisy Centre Mandala Square

Zooty Owl's Crafty Blog: Daisy Centre Mandala Square: Woo hoo I managed to turn the DAISY CENTRE MANDALA into a square!     I think these will make a fantastic stashbusting afghan I used ...

Daisy Centre Mandala Square

Woo hoo I managed to turn the DAISY CENTRE MANDALA into a square!     I think these will make a fantastic stashbusting afghan


Mandala Square

I used a light grey to do the squaring.

Here is how I did it:

Row 1:   into sp between any 7dc cluster on last row of Mandala, 4ch;  (3ch 1sc into top of 4th dc on next 7dc cluster;   3ch 1sc into sp between next 7dc cluster) repeat to last sp between clusters; 3ch, 1sc into 4dc on last 7dc cluster;  3ch ss into first chain at start of row


Mandala Square

Row 2:  ss into first 3ch sp, 3sc; 1ch   (into next 3ch sp, 3sc, 1ch) x2;   (into next 3ch sp, 3hdc, 1ch) x2;  (into next 3ch sp, 3dc, 1ch) x 2:  into next 3ch sp 3tr, 3ch, 3tr, 1ch  (first corner formed);  [(into next 3ch sp, 3dc, 1ch) x2;  (into next 3ch sp, 3hdc, 1ch) x2;  (into next 3ch sp, 3sc, 1ch) x3; (into next 3ch sp, 3hdc, 1ch) x2;  (into next 3ch sp, 3dc, 1ch) x2;   (into next 3ch sp, 3tr, 3ch, 3tr, 1ch - corner formed)] x3;  (into next 3ch sp, 3dc, 1ch) x2;   (into next 3ch sp, 3hdc, 1ch) x2;   ss into ch at start

At this stage your square will still be looking slightly curved


Mandala Square

Row 3:  4ch, sc into next 1ch sp; (3ch, 1sc into next 1ch sp) repeat  to 2nd last 1ch sp;  3ch ss into 1st chain at start
Note:  into corner 3ch do sc, 3ch, sc


Mandala Square

Row 4:  ss into 3ch sp;  2ch; 2hdc, 1ch;  (3hdc, 1ch into next 3ch sp)  x4;  (3dc, 1ch into next 3ch sp) x2;   3tr, 1ch into next 3ch sp   [3tr, 3ch, 3tr, 1ch into corner 3ch;   3tr, 1ch into next 3ch sp;   (3dc, 1ch into next 3ch sp) x2;   (3hd, 1ch into next 3ch sp) x7;  (3dc, 1ch into next 3ch sp) x2;   3tr, 1ch into next 3ch sp] x3;   3tr, 3ch, 3tr; 1ch into last 3ch corner sp;  3tr, 1ch into next 3ch sp;   3tr, 1c into next 3ch sp;  (3dc, 1ch into next 3ch sp) x2;  (3hdc, 1ch into next 3ch sp) x2;  ss into top of start 2ch to close


Mandala Square

The edges do look every so slightly untidy - so if I was going to use this as an aghan block I would do a row of 3dc cluster around to tidy it up nicely!

Outstanding Crochet: Sneak peek on a new pattern to be added soon - Cro...

Outstanding Crochet: Sneak peek on a new pattern to be added soon - Cro...: This bag was a puzzle to work on - to make all the motifs connected in a bag shape. There was a moment of giving up (for a half an hour:). ...

Sneak peek on a new pattern to be added soon - Crochet Motifs Bag.

This bag was a puzzle to work on - to make all the motifs connected in a bag shape. There was a moment of giving up (for a half an hour:). I just finished it, all instructions are written, all charts are drawn. I have to get it all together in a file and check, check, check.
This bag was started as a hobo bag, but it didn't happen (sorry, Irina! :) I never know what it's going to be in the end and that's the beauty of creating. I redone the inner bag ??? like... 7 times? I am glad it's made out of worsted weight yarn, so it didn't take too long every time. :)))
The outer bag was adjusted just once. I made it round first, but it turned out too big, so I reshaped it to what you see.
There were 2 yarns used: worsted weight for the inner bag and fingering linen yarn for outer bag. All motifs (4 kinds) are connected as you go.
Follow me via E-mail (right upper corner) or keep an eye via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Etsy or Ravelry. The pattern will be available soon.
Happy crocheting, my friends!




Latające dywany: Dziurkacz

Flying carpets: Punch : that is, the carpet in the hole :) He followed me for over a month, but first skandynawizowałam bedroom, then stuck a couple of weeks in uro ...

Punch

That is, the carpet in the hole :) He followed my me for over a month, but first skandynawizowałam bedroom, then stuck a few weeks birthday napkin for my mother.  The day before yesterday in the end I sat and wydziergałam for two days, so here is a miracle:






The carpet Measures 195 cm in diameter, used up 1,700 meters of string with a thickness of 5 mm (1450 m and 250 m ecru gray), something weighs about 7.4 kg.  I did it with aluminum crochet 9 mm.

Knitting carpet gave me a lot of fun, because the model was really a very simple and did not require any more complex thought processes.  In another punched but I intend to:
  • make round holes without a center, it will look better,
  • to around 32 holes, not 16 - That so the holes are smaller and can not be trips over the foot,
  • Use crochet 10 mm, because nine was too small, I had to wrestle with string and wiped my hands.

Although this is only a prototype, however, soon I'll draw the pattern and it can be made available :)

Mi lista de blogs

Buscar este blog