Akua's Daisy

I have learned soooo much on the internet and been comforted by other thread and yarn bearers!
I love flowers and am now working toward another flower pattern collection. I like dimensional
flowers, but am impatient: if a flower takes more than an 90 minutes, it's not for me ( as certain
chrysanthemum patterns do). Anyway I'm delighted to have decoded my improvisation and refined it.

And along the way, I've imprinted my own daisy, as I couldn't find my Daisy patterns.
(I know you all may be thinking, she could just look them up, but once I'm out of the wheelchair,
that's it for awhile and my bed is another worksite with table, hooks, yarns at one side, patterns
notes and tools in a huge canvas bag at the other).

So here's Akua's Daisy

Sl ring, ch1, 5 sc in ring: 5 sc
sc in each sc: 5 sc
sc in each sc: 5 sc
*sl st, ch3, trc, (ch2, sl st: picot), trc, ch3, sl st*, in each sc: 5 petals
Fasten off.


Variation
Sl ring, ch1, 5sc
sc in each sc: 5sc
sc in each sc: 5 sc
*slst, ch3, 2trc, ch3, slst*, in each sc: 5 petals
Fasten off.





Variation
With color A:
Sl ring, ch1, 5 sc
sc in each sc: 5 sc
sc in each sc: 5 sc
sl st to first sc, fasten off.
join Color B in same spot
*sl st, ch3, trc, (ch2, sl st: picot), trc, ch3, sl st*, in each sc: 5 petals
Fasten off.


It's my favorite "fill in" flower for BLOOM.

Decoding the Improvisation

In the wee hours of a recent morning, I created a flower. As I worked to put together this freeform piece BLOOM for an artist's call, I found this new blossom really compelling.

So I began to look for the pattern. and look and look.... turns out i passed it twice, as I sufficiently amended/reinvented it, that i didn't recognize the source....

So then I tried to do it again. But this is two ripply and wild


And this was too open, airy



But the originial riff was just right... so now to decode what i did
and to name it... I think it's a dahlia....

Leaves, Flowers

OOO! Soooo busy that I feared talking about what I was doing would replace doing it.
So first let me chat about leaves. I hope to entice more people to buy my wonderful leaf patterns, especially as
crocheting seems generally leaf challenged, when the manufacturers of yarn post the yechiest free patterns
of mishapen bloboids and people praise them!

But yes, since it's free, I guess it's good== it sure helped me refine and define my leaf esthetic, although to be sure, seeing more refined, and easy options presented for knitters, made me want to add my two centimes to the conversation, so to speak.

Anyway, those who sell the most patterns seem to sell objects more than motifs. I'm a motif maven, myself and
I guess that why I'm drawn to freeform. big hunks of repetition bore me, but if I develop a leaf hat pattern or a
scarflette/neckwarmer, that may attract more folks to my leaves.

Anyway, I've made several necklaces and a leaf lariat for sale. Hopefully, someone will find these compelling and purchase them.

Silver Wave Collar in Two Treasuries!

My new Silver Wave Collar is featured in two treasuries!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=42602
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=38234

So exciting as it is a combination of two previous original designs -- the guys neckwarmers and the ladies neckwarmers created for Christmas gifts. And the merino-- I had some left over, but not quite enough
then Voila! one last skein was up for say on eBay-- form the same cone. I really love the near roving
thick and thin of this grey merino and it just flew through my fingers and wooden L Hook. It was a
delight to make. I would love to do it again in purple, but I'vwe beenloving my purple
merino into bookmarks to gift for Valentine's Day... now if only something would sell so I could buy more
nice yarn...

Finding, Reusing

An article in Craftstylish referred to this
http://pomoboho.blogspot.com/2008/12/keiths-bottle-cap-trivet.html
which uses crocheting and bottle caps to make a trivet. Really lovely!
But the sad state of my life is I no longer linger long enough over food to merit the effort of trivet making.

Anyway the reprise of this idea use "ugly buttons" as the basis for the trivets. Now as I was in search of grey buttons and instead used square black leather, but nonetheless, wanted grey, it was irksome to see perfectly good buttons used. The original idea used the usless-- bottle caps.... sigh... i know, I take things too seriously. Isn't it the Western way to call useful things useless or ugly and then needlessly repurpose them?

Heart in Hand Series

My first Heart in Hand pin created for an Etsy competition has a crystal quartz bead on a merino wool heart,on a merino wool hand.



This pin speaks of the treasures that lie within, of giving, of making connections...

Freshwater pearls grace the ivory merino wool heart, held by the hand-dyed, felted wool hand. At its longest ( tip of finger to base of palm) it is about 2.75" and at its widest it is approximately 2"


This item was created for the EtsyHookers Creative Challenge No. 5. You can view all the entries on our team blog at http://etsyhookers.blogspot.com. Voting will begin on February 16th at 12 noon EST and everyone is invited to vote.

Flying Bird Pin Crochet Pattern!

The Flying Bird Pin Crochet Pattern is the second in my series of bird patterns.

Using 1/3 skein (approximately 30 yards) of light worsted weight yarn, F hook/3.75mm or equivalent (slightly smaller than recommended for yarn), the Flying Bird's body approx 2.75”, Wings 2.25” Tail 1.5”

The other materials needed are a small amount of fiberfill or other stuffing,
beads, round head pins or shiny black thread or thin yarn for eyes, a pin back, yarn needle and (optional) a small amount of embroidery thread for nose, neck markings, tail markings.

The pattern is available at my Etsy store.