meandering starflower

Do you ever try to trace the meanders of a fiber doodle? Those swatches you make, not because you anticipate making a full garment, but because you want to see how something works, or because you can't figure out a pattern, or because you have just a little bit of yarn and are stuck at the busstop and desperately want to cast on for something: I call them fiber doodles. Most of mine get ripped out, but I can't help but think every one is valuable. The yarn person's version of a sketchbook, in pieces.

This morning I finished a little doodle that I rather like. Its most immediate origins can be traced to an atypically warm day last month, when I walked up the hill to the public library. I checked out Jean Frost's book of Jackets and over the next few weeks perused it in odd moments. (btw, thanks to the person who commented on this book a while ago--I already had it in my hands and you are absolutely right, I do enjoy it!) I especially like the scalloped jacket, which she says is based on a pattern from Knitted Counterpanes, a book sadly out of print. Next step, the glories of interlibrary loan. Within a couple weeks I had a copy of Knitted Counterpanes and enjoyed paging through it, looking at the embossed patterns knit on tiny needles. I can't imagine knitting an entire bedspread, mostly because there are so many other things I want to knit. But the white textures, sometimes bumpy, sometimes lacy, reminded me of crochet. June was posting about crochet a while ago, which made me remember how I used to love it. I was a crocheter long before I was a knitter and used to make cardigans for my teddy bear. Most crochet sweaters seem to me extraordinarily ugly, but there are lots of other things to make with crochet, such as bedspreads and tableclothes, as depicted in old thread leaflets.

These are Dover reprints. I love browsing through them. Some of the patterns are very pretty, but more than that I love the names of the designs and the introductory blurbs. All about the beauty of a well-set table, and how this lacy cloth will enhance the housewife's reputation for hospitality. One mentions that the maker of a fine luncheon set will appear to advantage when "the girls" come over for lunch. The names are things like "La Chatelaine", "Lady Bountiful", and "Shepardess". Although these leaflets were published by thread companies and are therefore essentially advertisements, I still wonder about the kind of life depicted in the few brief seductive sentences about each piece. Luncheon parties? Buffets--in your own home? Linen napkins that are actually used? Did anyone ever really have this kind of existence?

My doodle is taken from a bedspread pattern, one I have long been drawn to. I tried it first in 10/2 perle cotton and by the time I got the center done it seemed very coarse and clunky. Crochet can seem like that very easily, in my opinion. I switched to a finer thread and hook and tried again.

It's a star, or a flower, done in popcorns on a lattice background. Thread, unlabeled stash find: approx. 20/2 cotton. The hook I used is labeled "8" but I have no idea how that translates into mm. The octagon is 9.25 inches from point to point and 8 inches from side to side. In theory, one makes a lot of these motifs and joins them together into a bedspread. I doubt very much that I'll ever get that far, but I enjoy this one lonely star. A little bit glisteny, slightly delicate, heavy under its own weight, and happily, brightly yellow. Doodles don't really need justification.

Comments

[June]

I tell ya, crochet is going to be the next big thing. The new knitting. The new yoga. The new black. (ha ha ha...)

I've been crocheting more snowflakes and joining them together. I'll post an update of that soon!

[grumperina]

That fiber doodle is exceptional!

[diana]

Lovely doodle that is the color of summer. Gorgeous!

[Cathy]

" Did anyone ever really have this kind of existence?"

Yes. My ex's family. ALL the freaking time. We had to be appropriately dressed and prepared to chitchat and serve. Oh, lovely day when the ex's father died and the ex-MIL moved. Linen napkins - what a PIA to wash and iron.

Love the fiber doodle. A woman after my own heart. Nice to meet you.

[Emily]

My mother still uses the linen tablecloths and napkins that she inherited from my great grandmother. My great grandmother made many of them herself when she lived in Germany. We all think that they are too nice to stay folded up in a closet forever, and family and friends are special enough to deserve the good stuff. My mother still has ladies over for lunch, but I don't think you can work and have that kind of lifestyle at the same time.

[bobbie anderson]

Please help me with a pattern for a knitted bedspread