I've woven in the last loose end of the Stardust Melodies CAL afghan, but I've yet to wash and photograph it. I may wait until the weather cools down a bit (maybe a few weeks?) to try to get photos.
The latest project off the hook is bits and bobs of crochet lace I made to embellish a small magnetic chalkboard that hangs in my craft room.
The thread is leftovers of size 10 crochet cotton. (I think it's probably America's Best Country Cotton, which was discontinued years ago.)
The pattern for the strip of lace is in Kristin Omdahl's book The Finer Edge: Crocheted Trims, Motifs & Borders. The loose motifs are from The Harmony Guides: Crochet Stitch Motifs. (One of them is just the first two rounds, I think, of a larger motif.)
I soaked them in a light starch solution (which is how I like to finish most thread crochet projects I make), blocked them loosely, and attached them to the board (only the bottom of which is magnetic chalkboard, by the way). I considered gluing them in place, but in the end opted for small bits of double-stick tape, which seems to be working just fine (and is less messy than glue).
This didn't take long to do, and it was fun to play around with little remnants of thread and a pattern book.
I particularly liked making the strip of lace. This was a bit of a trial run, as I've been thinking of making enough crochet lace to edge the front of my china cabinet's shelves. Since this worked out so well, I'll probably go forward with that plan, eventually.
I think lace that's worked side to side (rather than lengthwise) is the way to go, if at all possible. This was a side-to-side pattern, and I appreciated that there was so little chaining/foundation to deal with. Also, you can easily measure how much more you need as you go and crochet just the right amount of yardage per shelf (or whatever else you'll apply the lace to, when it's done).
The latest project off the hook is bits and bobs of crochet lace I made to embellish a small magnetic chalkboard that hangs in my craft room.
The thread is leftovers of size 10 crochet cotton. (I think it's probably America's Best Country Cotton, which was discontinued years ago.)
The pattern for the strip of lace is in Kristin Omdahl's book The Finer Edge: Crocheted Trims, Motifs & Borders. The loose motifs are from The Harmony Guides: Crochet Stitch Motifs. (One of them is just the first two rounds, I think, of a larger motif.)
I soaked them in a light starch solution (which is how I like to finish most thread crochet projects I make), blocked them loosely, and attached them to the board (only the bottom of which is magnetic chalkboard, by the way). I considered gluing them in place, but in the end opted for small bits of double-stick tape, which seems to be working just fine (and is less messy than glue).
This didn't take long to do, and it was fun to play around with little remnants of thread and a pattern book.
I particularly liked making the strip of lace. This was a bit of a trial run, as I've been thinking of making enough crochet lace to edge the front of my china cabinet's shelves. Since this worked out so well, I'll probably go forward with that plan, eventually.
I think lace that's worked side to side (rather than lengthwise) is the way to go, if at all possible. This was a side-to-side pattern, and I appreciated that there was so little chaining/foundation to deal with. Also, you can easily measure how much more you need as you go and crochet just the right amount of yardage per shelf (or whatever else you'll apply the lace to, when it's done).