Monday, May 1, 2017

Lacework in Full Bloom

April lived up to her longstanding reputation by immersing us in her signature early Spring rains. As May picks up where she left off, I feel drenched in the beauty that continues to bloom around me. Although it's still cool and the weather still drips from time to time, the Earth is budding and blossoming and singing her song of the centuries, never missing her cue.
That age old air of Spring Fever grabs hold of me, washing over me and running through my veins, and eventually causing crocheted items of lace and flowers to fall from my fingertips this time of year. Flowers, Petals, Blossoms and Blooms... My soul is drawn to them .... always.
I sprinkle them throughout the house in tiny vases and old bottles so I can see their happy faces smiling up at me and catch a hint
of their fragrance as I wander from room to room.
My heart must return to the gentle art of crochet each Springtime of its own accord because it is so alike this fresh season full of delicate tiny flowers in variegated colors and rich textures. It's as though the natural world and the created world are holding hands with one another when we recreate blossoms out of fiber. It just always somehow feels right to me,
especially in the newness of Spring.
 that's pictured above and below,
it's my newest delight on my Shop.
I loved making it so much that I have my hook into another one
in stunning shades of blue.
For details on purchasing this scarf you can click the link above or here.
The pattern for this scarf is by one of my all time favorite crochet designers,
Kristin Omdahl in her beautiful book
If you would like to make one for yourself,
I see the Barnes and Noble website has it at a discounted rate right now.
Just click on the book title I've listed and it will take you to the site.
I am also working on an Hourglass Stitch Baby Blanket
 by Selena Shepard of DankFiber.
For those of you who love to crochet baby blankets and would like something different to try, click on the link that takes you to her Etsy Shop.
Her patterns are very well written and she provides beautiful pictures.
The yarn I'm using for the blanket is Knit Picks Comfy Fingering in Lilac Mist.
Between the pattern and the fiber this baby blanket is coming along beautifully soft and delicate, if slowly. As I've said repeatedly, I am a loose crocheter, therefore I am using a size C aluminum hook to get the correct gauge rather than one of my preferred Laurel Hill Ebony hooks because they don't come in this smaller size. These small metal hooks cause a bit of pain in my hands due to my rheumatoid issues so I have assigned this to be an occasional weekend project. I think it will be well worth it in the end though, whenever that is. Patience, after all, is a Virtue {and goodness knows, I can always work at developing more}.
Sometimes I enjoy these slow creations and the journey of stitches it takes to get to the end result because in them I am reminded that Life is to be taken in small, exquisite moments that we relish in rather than always rushing ahead feverishly toward some self imposed goal. I appreciate things that cause me to take Life a bit slower and Myself a whole lot less seriously at times, like watching flowers dance in the breeze as I try to reproduce just a measure of their infinite beauty.
"Flowers could be described as bursts of color ,
pattern and infinite grace all governed by sacred geometry.
They are perfectly woven into the fabric of existence
to brighten up our world."
Cherie Roe Dirksen