Out web-walking again, I've stumbled across a treasure trove of books on spinning, weaving, and other textile arts. It includes historical and recent works on lacemaking, embroidery, tatting, knitting, crochet and some other less practiced crafts, as well as ethnographic material, periodicals, and academic papers. I'm sure I'm the last to find out about it, but I share the reference all the same.

This textile-related archive is maintained by the University of Arizona. Its collections are available on-line, with the individual works so distributed either aged out of copyright, or presented with the authors' permission. There are thousands of items - mostly geared to industry and manufacture, but with a healthy smattering of works detailing hand production. Scans are available as PDFs, with the larger books broken out into smaller segments of under 15MB. Not all are in English.

Among the works I found that are of greatest interest to me in specific are:

Whiting, Olive. Khaki Knitting Book, Allies Special Aid, 1917, 58 pages. PDF

This compendium of knitting patterns presents sweaters, wristlets, socks, scarves, mittens, hats, caps, and baby clothes intended in part for troops overseas during WWI, and for the comfort of refugee families displaced by the war. Patterns for knitting and crochet are both included. The socks shown mostly knit top-down, some have a gradually decreased instead of grafted toe. Some of the socks are worked on two needles and seamed. One pair in particular (marked as a pattern from the American Red Cross, p. 13) seems to include a written description of a grafted toe, but it does not name the technique. Directions are a bit more detailed than is usual for pre 1940 knitting booklets. Fewer than a quarter of the patterns are illustrated with finished item photos. Aside from a list of abbreviations in the front, there are no how-to or technique illustrations.

Nicoll, Maud Churchill. Knitting and Sewing. How to Make Seventy Useful Articles for Men in the Army and Navy, George H. Doran Company, New York, 1918, 209 pages. PDF

This book is a bit more detailed than the previous one. It also contains a rundown of standard troop knitting patterns - hats, mufflers, balaclavas (called helmets), mittens, socks and the like. Every project is illustrated either with a photo or a line drawing of the finished product. Instructions are written out in a fuller format than in the Khaki Knitting Book. It also has some valuable bits of instruction including a list of yarn substitutions, plus two full size color plates showing the wools used, identified by name; a small stitch dictionary section,

Of special note are some unusual mittens (including a mitten with truncated thumbs and index fingers - p.68), half-mittens - p. 77, "doddies" or mittens with an open thumb, p. 80, and double heavy mittens intended for seamen or mine sweepers hauling cables - p. 94). The grafting method of closing up sock toes is clearly described AND illustrated, but it is called "Swiss darning" (p.131). I've heard that term used for duplicate stitch embroidery on knitting, especially when the decorative stitches are sewn in rows mimicking actual knitting, rather than being stitched vertically, but I have never before seen it applied to actual grafting. The entire section on socks and stockings is particularly clear and useful. There are even a couple of crocheted and knit mens' ties in the sewing section.

Finally, the sewing section (about a quarter of the book) might be useful to people doing historical costuming or regimental re-creators who are looking to augment their kit. The one drawback is that most of the sewing patterns are predicated on Butterick printed patterns, and the schematics are not provided in the book. Among the offerings are money belts, a chamois leather body protector and waistcoat, various types of shirts and undergarments, pajamas made from heavy blanket fabric, and a book bag (like a messenger's bag).

Egenolf, Christian. Modelbuch aller art Nehewercks un Strickens, George Gilbers, 1880, 75 pages. Note: Reprint of 1527 book. PDF

Ostaus, Giovanni. La Vera Perfezione del Disegno [True Perfection in Design], 1561, 92 pages. Note: 1909 facsimile. PDF

These are two modelbooks of the 1500s. There are several others in the collection, but they are mostly books of needle lace designs. Ostaus also offers up mostly patterns for the various forms of needle lace, plus some patterns that can be adapted to free-hand (as opposed to counted) embroidery, plus a large section of allegorical plates to inspire stitched medallions, slips, and cabinets. One thing I've always liked are some of his negative/positive patterns. These are designs that if laid out on a strip of thin leather or paper and cut can be separated longitudinally into two identical pieces. There are several of these scattered around the middle of the book.

Starting around page 73 or so there is a section of graphed patterns, a number of which landed in my New Carolingian Modelbook collection.

The Egenolf book also is mostly line drawing suitable for freehand embroidery. Some are pretty cluttered, but some are very graceful. The oak border on p. 32 has always been one of my favorites. There's one plate with a counted pattern, on p. 72.

---. Priscilla Cotton Knitting Book, Priscilla Publishing Co., 51 pages. PDF1, PDF2, PDF3, PDF4, PDF5, PDF6.

This books is obviously a seminal source behind many of today's reference books on knitting technique and patterns. Notation is sparse and "antique" with n (narrow) being used for k2tog, and o for yarn over, and other oddities. There's a fair bit of circular doily knitting, but it is of the knit radially and seamed variety seen also in Abbey's Knitting Lace. In fact many of the doilies appearing in Abbey appear to have been adapted directly from this work. You'll also recognize many Walker treasury edging patterns in these pages.

In addition to the stitch texture and lacy knitting sections, there's a bit on "cameo knitting" which appears to be another name for stranding (in PDF2). The section on filet knitting (in PDF3) is relatively extensive, and clearly shows both the strengths and weaknesses of this rarely described style.

---. Priscilla Irish Crochet Book No. 2, Priscilla Publishing Co., 52 pages. PDF1, PDF2, PDF3, PDF4, PDF5, PDF6, PDF7, PDF8.

This has got to be the single most complete and eye-popping source I've ever seen on Irish crochet. Not only does this contain an amazing amount of eye candy, it also gives directions on how to create it, offering up pattern descriptions for the individual motifs, the joining brides and grounds, and the working method of fastening the motifs to a temporary backing while the grounds are being worked.

---. Egyptisch Vlechtwerk [Sprang], Holkema & Warendorf, 36 pages.PDF1, PDF2

As an example of the depth of the collection, here's a work on Sprang, one of the lesser known fiber manipulation crafts sometimes mistaken for early knitting. It is in Dutch and appears to be from before WWI, but it is illustrated with photos of finished pieces and works in progress.

These are just a small sample of the hundreds of works available at the University's website. Again, most are on the industrial aspects of the textile arts, from fiber acquisition (including sericulture and sheep raising) through spinning, and weaving, but a goodly number are of direct interest to hand-crafters. Topic lists exist for knitting, crochet, embroidery, cross stitch, lace, tatting, and a multitude of other subjects. Support this valuable resource by visiting and using it. I know I'll be combing through here for years...

Technorati : crochet, embroidery, knitting, lace

Yes, it's true. I made this:



My excuses:

• It was 1970
  
• Limited yarn budget, using whatever I could find in the 25-cent bin, or beg or borrow from friends, relations and people with a grudge against me
• Unlimited time
• Not yet knowing how to knit
• Hating the seaming and end-darning common to standard issue granny square blankets
  
• Having no concept whatsoever of what a useful size might be
• Being 14 years old at the time

I came across it on Saturday, at the bottom of a box of first apartment leftovers I rescued from a narrowly averted basement flood. I did actually use the thing. I did most of my Junior High School and High School homework while wrapped in it. It also accompanied me off to college, where it kept other people from sitting on my bed, or provided a modicum of insulation when hung up against a very cold cinderblock wall.

I will say the haphazard design and awful colors sort of grow on you after a while. Kind of like fungus, or a particularly gruesome looking pet. My kids want to use it as our TV room sofa throw. Maybe you have to be pre-adult to appreciate it. Plus it's absolute proof that Acrylic Is Forever.

Thank you to everyone who posted or sent notes about yesterday's blanket. I haven't kept up with Aran style crochet, but I do have two pattern leaflets about it published in the early 1980s. The first is the one I already mentioned:



It's written for worsted weight yarn yarn and sizes H, J and K hooks. It includes patterns for a stole (which turns out to be the thing I enlarged), a poncho, a pieced lap robe, a vest, a pullover and a cardigan. Styles are rather unisex (button placement on the cardigan and vest would vary, of course). Sizes range from a kid-size extra small (24-26" to a large 38"-40". The best of the lot are the stole (as lap blanket, as it's too heavy in my opinion to be worn as a wrap), and the poncho. The pullover is less lumpen looking than the other designs, but it's a strange combo of extremely heavy work and loose hole-y areas, making it too hot to wear indoors, but too ventilated for many to wear as an outdoor outer layer.

The other booklet I have is this one:



It's an American School of Needlework leaflet, listing Mary Thomas as the author. It's also written for worsted weight yarn and size G, J and K hooks. It offers up two basic designs - the bathrobe style wrap sweater and a pullover, written separately for both men and women. Of the two leaflets the designs in the book by Ough are better - worked tighter with less of that stitch out of size crochet at home look, with more stitch variety, and better fit.

In terms of technical details, the two do vary a bit. The designs in the Ough leaflet are worked vertically, with the crocheted rows running the north-south length of the pieces. The Thomas designs are worked in the more conventional east-west direction, across the pieces. I think this helps improve the drape and texture of the Ough designs. Still both share the same weaknesses - heavy, heavy, heavy final products, unstretchy imitation ribbing at cuffs and hem, and a general boxy/slightly odd fit due to the different elasticity factors of the various stitches employed.

Now I note that my familiarity with the style pretty much stalled out in the early '80s. I haven't touched it since, and have given more recent books and leaflets only a passing glance. I've seen a couple of books on "Fisherman Design Crochet" by Ann Pomeroy, but I haven't looked at them closely or worked anything from them. Other crochet books also delve into this specialty, mostly as single projects. I hope that the style has evolved somewhat. That stitches and textures are better expressed, that the "ground fabric" is more wearable, that lighter weight yarns are used, and that fit/finish has evolved, too.

It was this:



I crocheted this from the American School of Needlework pattern leaflet Original Fisherman Crochet for the Family by Anne Rabun Ough (LA #151):



Well, sort of. Actually I took the poncho pattern in this booklet, expanded it a bit in both length and width, adding extra panels of texture stitches, and edged it with a two-knot macrame fringe. (I tinkered with patterns even before I started knitting).   It ate yarn.  Crochet uses more yardage than knitting to make an equivalent sized piece.  The finished blanket weighs a ton.  Even though crochet is usually faster than knitting, it took a long time to make.  See those fake cables?  Those were done as little semi-detached bits, anchored at the tip several stitches away.  The solid parts were panels of slip stitch or single crochet.   The narrow, wandering cable was applied slip stitch worked after the piece was finished.  The bobble section took forever and a half to finish.  I can safely say that I haven't crocheted a bobble since.

I made this piece as a thank-you gift for my mother, for all that she did in handling our wedding preparations. That was roughly 27 years ago but the thing has aged well, surviving washings and daily sofa or bed-throw use for all these years without pilling, discoloring, shrinking, or snagging.  I'm not quite sure which 100% wool yarn I used, but I do remember it had an Irish-inspired name (possibly Plymouth Galway). In any case, here's yet another example of the lasting power of quality materials.

Why did it inspire me to finally learn to knit? Lots of reasons. For one, bobble exhaustion.  Plus at the time there were (and still are) comparatively few attractive, interesting, wearable crochet patterns compared to the wealth of knitting patterns out there. The crocheted faux Aran imitators were certainly interesting to make, but like the ones on the cover of the leaflet, cursed by that "loving hands at home" look. I wanted to make more than just fine lace, fancy tablecloths, and heavy blankets. I envied the style and wearability of knitting. Yes, I know that crochet can be used for far more, and that it can be wildly attractive, but especially at the time it was pretty much limited to tablecloths, blankets, baby things, odd lumpen pullovers done in yarns far to thick for comfortable wear, and granny square ponchos.

So I was primed for learning how to knit. From a book even. But that's another story.

Grrr.

As of yesterday, I'd finished the top edging, run the solid two-row strip down the left hand side, chained out to establish the bottom edge, and was three rows into the charted part of the remaining border strip.

Today I had to rip out everything done after Saturday. I had made the only absolutely fatal error there is on this piece. I forgot to work the last double-width eyelet hole on the top edge, so there was no way of putting the last inch of my curtain onto its curtain rod.

As of today I've finished the ripping back, have created the missing hanging hole, and am in the forever bands of solid double crochet at the leftmost edge. As a result I don't have the nifty-looking progress shot I'd hoped to share today. Instead, in response to some requests for a closer look at the join between the old and new work (and provided my photog skills cooperate), I present a detail shot of the edging join area:

Remember - you're looking at the piece sideways compared to the working direction. (Also as it turns out, from the wrong side, but that doesn't matter). My working direction proceeds from the right edge of the photo to the left edge. There's a schematic of the stitch logic for this join in a previous post.

One thing that may or may not be seen in the resolution-stripped photo above - the J&P Coats Royale brand name size 30 cotton thread I'm using has a nice sheen to it compared to most crochet cottons. I have to say I really like the stuff. It does appear to have limited distribution though. Even the Coats website doesn't? list it. So far the only retailer I've found that mentions Royale crochet cottons?is the big-box crafts store, Michaels, and I'm loathe to shop there on principle, much preferring to patronize smaller needlework specialty shops.

As bad as the knitting stitch?name problem is, crocheters have it much worse. Not only are there no crochet pattern books as authoritative and comprehensive as the Walker series on knitting (the Harmony series of paperbacks is nice, but doesn't have Walker's cachet), the basic vocabulary of written? crochet patterns is different depending on their place of origin.

Anyone in the US who has tried to crochet from a British Sirdar pattern has run into this problem; as have?UK/European?residents?who have picked up patterns issued in North America. Still, it's amazing how many crocheters run afoul of the term problem, even though it's widely known. Here's the challenge. Terms that differ are shown in red below:

US/Canadian Term	UK?Term
Chain	Chain
Slip Stitch	Single Crochet
Single Crochet	Double Crochet
Double Crochet	Treble Crochet
Half-Double Crochet	Half Treble Crochet
Treble/Triple Crochet	Double Treble Crochet
Double Treble/Triple Crochet	Triple Treble Crochet
Triple Treble/Triple Crochet	Quadruble Treble Crochet
Quadruple Treble/Triple Crochet	Quintuple Crochet
Quintuple Treble/Triple Crochet	Sextuple Treble Crochet
Yarn Over	Yarn On/Over Hook

Now. How can you tell which system of terms a pattern is using?

Clues abound. Aside from the obvious - looking for a copyright statement or publisher's address, or just plain knowing that Sirdar uses UK notation, and Classic Elite uses US terms - you can look for these things:

• Metric vs. Imperial units. If sizing and measurements?throughout?are given in Imperial only, unless the pattern dates from the '50s, chances are that it's using the US system of notation. If it's metric only, it's worth looking closer to make your determination because it well may be using the UK system. If both systems of measerement are used - it's a toss-up. I'd suspect most likely it's using the US system, but I'd look closer anyway.
• Telltale terms:? The terms "tension," "fasten off," and "miss" are UK usage. The equivalent US terms are "gauge"? "cast or bind off," and "skip."??
• Very few US patterns use the term "treble crochet."? Those that do tend to be pre 1970s. If I see the word "treble" and not "triple" and those monster long double triple and above variants aren't used, I suspect UK notation and check deeper.
• General spelling. The "u" in "Colour" isn't a dead give-away for UK origin, but it is a clue that should make you look more closely. The pattern might be Canadian, in which case it might use North American/US notation.
• Yarn weights. Most US-origin patterns use the yarn weight descriptors "fingering, sport, worsted," etc. Most UK,?Australian,?and Euro patterns use terms like "3-ply, 4-ply,?Jumper weight, 8-ply."? Be careful however of double knitting (DK). That can go either way.
• Hook size descriptors. If it uses a letter only to describe hook size (A-N), you've got a US pattern. However hook sizes themselves are far from standard among makers, and most contemporary patterns include a metric size in addition to the letter. (Side hint:? ALWAYS go by the metric size, not the arbitrary letter or number size name.)
• Visual inspection. LOOK at any photos or illustrations that accompany the pattern. Look at your standard?single or double crochet. Does the photo make sense?

I don't have very many crochet pattens on my shelves, otherwise I'd make a table of what makers use which notation. Sirdar I've already mentioned. I suspect Rowan uses UK notation, but I don't know if they print up separate editions using US/Canadian notation for distribution in North America. Patons is a problem because notation in Patons North America patterns may be different from that in Patons Australia patterns.

If you've used a crochet pattern recently and have determined which of the two nomenclatures it uses, please feel free to report on that fact by leaving a comment to this note. I'll compile the responses and post a follow-up table here in the future.

More progress on Dragon.

I had hoped I'd have finished off the entire top border by today, but I'm three rows away from finishing.

A couple of people have written to ask for a more detailed explanation of how I'm managing the vertical join between the old and new parts. I'd posted some thoughts on this before, but then contradicted myself and said I was doing it another way. To top it off, I neglected to describe exactly how.

If I've got an two empty meshes stacked one on top of each other at the end of my row just before the join, I'm working my penultimate square as usual, then I'm working a horizontal half double crochet to connect the new work to the old. Then I chain up two, and work another horiztonal half double crochet. Finally I flip my work over and proceed back in the direction I came.

If I've got two solid meshes stacked on on top of each other at the end of my row just before the join, I work my penultimate square as usual, then work two DCs into either the stitches or the space of the row below. Then I join the last of these DCs to the established edge with a slip stitch. The existing edge of the old work makes the fourth stitch to complete the new square. To make the next row a bit more even, I do a backwards slip stitch into the stitch one before the stitch on my needle; chain up two, and work another slip stitch into the next attachment point. Then I do another backwards slip stitch as before. Finally I flip over my work and work two more double crochets to finish out the filled square that commences the new row.

Here's a schematic. More or less. Apologies for the lousy picture quality. I'm wrestling with Visio right now. I installed Office XP Service Pack 2 (the big security update) and it messed with Visio. I then installed several layers of Visio upgrades to get it working, but the export to JPG feature isn't quite fine tuned yet.

Mindless Kvelling over Gen III

The kidlets are captivated by knitting!? Who would have thought it, because before the Knit-Out neither one showed much interest. I myself never could sit still long enough to learn from my mom (Knitting Goddess, mostly retired). I'm amazed that they have come so far, so fast.

The Larger One sprang right from her initial "learn how" bit of garter in livid green acrylic to a garter stitch scarf done in a fuzzy yarn. She polished it off in two days, then went out and got more fuzzy yarn to do another for her friend. The Smaller One found a thick yarn and big needles easier to manage than worsted weight and size #7s. She knit a?6-stitch wide strip from a superbulky yarn, then asked me to end it off into an earwarmer. She began it Friday, and wore it to school this morning. Now that they're comfortable with the knit stitch, this week's lesson will be purling and casting off.

I may have created two monsters though. Both are now eyeing my stash and asking what they can make next. The Larger One is searching the web because she wants to do "a bag from that yarn that shrinks."? The little one wants to do a blanket for her favorite stuffed animal, and appears to have an affinity for hand-dyed variegateds. I'll offer up pix of the proud knitters?once they're home from school. Now off for a new experience:? Hiding Yarn From Children.

I've been having discussions with folks on other blogs, and in eMail about crochet and its strengths and weaknesses. I'd posted about this before.

My objection to most contemporary crochet patterns is that they try to take advantage of crochet's strengths but ignore it's shortcomings. For example, they try to present easy to make/quick to finish projects. That plays on two of crochet's strengths - namely how easy it is to learn, and how quickly it can be worked. But in doing so, they scale up textures and stitches to use with DK and heavier weight yarns. That leads to the lumpen, potato-bag, refugee-from-grandma's-sofa look, a good example of which is the skirt on the cover of IK Crochet:

This same texture pattern would be exquisite in a much thinner yarn, done up in panels in a sweater or blouse. You may disagree with me and say that I've got no taste, but to me this skirt is heavy and unattractive, there's nothing about it - not drape, not fit, not texture that flatters the wearer.

Now crochet in heavier yarns can be quite attractive. Crocheted fabrics are thick and warm, and resist stretch better than some knitted ones. A dense crochet in a heavier yarn is perfect for a coat or outdoor jacket. Even a hat or bag will benefit from the body and thickness. But not an indoor/outdoor or indoor garment.

What do I like in crochet?? Here's an example.

The thread size/texture pattern are graceful and in proportion to the garment. I also l ike the style. Sleeves are fitted, and there's some evidence of a bit of body shaping, even though this cropped pullover is boxy in general shape. Please don't write to ask for the pattern or provenance. A friend eMailed me this photo, and other than her say-so that it's from a French-language crochet magazine, I haven't a clue as to when/where it's from.

Even the usually dreadful granny square motif can be attractive if it's scaled in relation to its usage. Here's a nifty example from the UK's Knitting and Crochet Guild on-line collection pages:

The caption page attributes this piece to the 1950s. It's done in 3-ply - a yarn that's would be considerd light fingering in the US, and would probably knit up at between 8 and 9 stitches per inch on US #1s. The sweater's multicolor?motifs are crocheted, but?the rest of the sweater is knitting. Be sure to go to the caption page to visit the sweater's detail shot, so you can see the fineness of both the knitted and crocheted sections, and how the gauge of the two compare. (Also if you want to support this nifty collection, there are notecards illustrating some of their most spectacular pieces for sale at the end of the collection.)? [/End shameless plug of worthy cause.]

Grrr. Apparently no effort of woman nor beast can nail down an exact reference to an item in the V&A database because linking is dynamic and is recalculated for each new session. Therefore if you really want to dig through and find the items I mentioned yesterday, you'll have to search on their accession numbers yourself. Open any V&A search page, and enter these numbers:

CT55633 - to see the crocheted purse
CT59053 - to see the knitted purses
CT57667 - to see the sampler

Apologies for all wild goose chases that ensued.

Filet of Dragon

Progress on Dragon is both positive and retrograde:

?The good news is that thanks to advice so graciously shared by Vaire and Kathryn, attaching the side strips as I work them looks much better and more even than I hoped. I'm not using the exact method I posited in my last post. Instead, I'm doing a scrumbly combo of techniques. If the joining mesh is empty, I'm doing Vaire's method of horizontal DC as bride. If the joining mesh is solid, I'm doing a combo of a technique Kathryn sent plus more advice from Vaire. I'm working that join mesh up to the point of the join (first leg, plus first "inside" dc), then on the second "inside" dc, I'm doing a slip stitch to mate it to the mesh leg of the existing work. After that I'm chaining up three, doing another slip stitch to mate the little chain to the old work, then working one "inside" dc plus another as the next mesh leg. The little chain up serves as the first dc of the "inside" pair. And there's more good news in that the double-height empty blocks I am leaving for the curtain rods fit well and work great.

But all news is not good. See that little strip sticking up in today's photo?? It's gone. I've ripped it completely back and started again. It turns out that the original pattern I had selected for the horizontal strips is too wide (again the gauge problem). I am going to use an entirely different strip pattern, plus finish the entire thing around with two rows of solid DC to ensure a stable edge.

So there you have it. Dramatic progress, and dramatic failure. All in one day.

Remember two days ago I said I'd be delighted to show off any projects that other people did either from or inspired by my designs?  I've started the blog category "Gallery" for just this purpose.  First off, here's a nifty example of a piece adapted from a stitching design in my book:

This hat is part of an Elizabethan costume made by a fellow participant in greater Boston, MA area SCA activiites.  The stitcher's SCA name is Lady Lakshmi Amman, and the recipient (and model) is Mistress Morwenna Westerne.  Click on the photo for more detail shots of Lakshmi's work, including graphs for her adaptations of my winged undine from Plate 75:1 of The New Carolingian Modelbook.  (Lakshmi's photo appears here by permission.)  Because the piece was made to celebrate the artistic accomplishments of Mistress Morwenna, Lakshmi's undines each carry something associated with Morwenna's favorite pursuits.  There's an embroidering mermaid, a cooking mermaid, a performing mermaid, and several others.  Very clever!

More on Crochet

I've gotten some more feedback and help on ways to attach edging and borders to pre-existing filet pieces; and advice on how to better keep 1:1 true square proportionality when forming meshes.

First, advice from Vaire, the Innocent Abroad on making my squares square.  She says that try as she might, she was never able to achieve true squareness using the base-4 style mesh I'm using.  Instead she switched to base-3.  That's one double crochet between the legs of the mesh to form a filled square, and one chain stitch between the legs of the mesh to form an open one (I do two of each right now).  She said that this reduced the width spread of her squares.  Vaire went on to suggest another method of increasing mesh size:  using 3 ch betwen trebles, instead of 2 ch between doubles.  This makes a larger, more airy mesh, and opens opportunities for partially as opposed to solidly filled squares (tr, ch, tr, ch, tr).   Thank you, Vaire!  Both are intriguing ideas, well worth experimentation.

My pal Kathryn also continues to ply me with great ideas too numerous to all list here.  Several have been for methods of joining filet sections.  There's been a step-style join that makes a mitered corner.  I need to try that one out before I can explain it better.  At first I was afraid that my not-square squares would throw the miter off, but used in combo with Vaire's base-3 idea, it sounds like it would work quite well.   She's also sent me quotations from pre-1920 books that discuss methods like overhand basting to hold sections together; and picking up and working an edging in another style of crochet.

Finally Vaire also suggests using double crochets as horizontal "brides" (reseau) to attach the new bit to the old.  This is also a nifty idea, and one I considered, but I was doomed by a poorly planned design choice.  I want a two-mesh strip of empty meshes all the way around the piece.  I've already made that.  To do the bride method, I'd have to have done only one, as the row of attachment would provide the second.  Since I want most of the joining row to be solidly worked, were I to do it with horizontal double crochets I'd run afoul of the proportionality problem again.  Again, thank you!  A good idea for a future project, but I've pretty much painted myself into a corner on this one. 

Another in-absentia post. This one reports progress as of 1 July. Again sorry to be not here.

Crochet in General

Crochet is not a dirty word. I know there's an ongoing friendly rivalry between knitters and crocheters, but I think the two crafts aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, I teach a one-day workshop entitled "Crochet for Knitters" offered sporadically at my LYS and to local guilds (when scheduling allows). It covers basic crochet techniques, then veers off to cover techniques of special use:

• Crocheted chain cast-on, both free and done onto a knitting needle
• Crocheted buttons and button loops
• Simple crocheted edge treatments, including the dreaded Shrimp Stitch (reverse single crochet)

Crochet and knitting do produce fabrics with very different properties. Knitting by nature makes the thinnest, most flexible non-woven textile possible from a strand of yarn - loops are single-thickness, and lie as flat as possible. Given yarn and needles of equivalent size, crochet produces a much thicker, heavier, denser fabric - multiple loops drawn through each other form the basic stitch unit. Knitting has an elasticity and drape that no crochet can equal (again given equivalent weight yarn and needles).

On the other hand, crochet has its own set of advantages. For the most part, it lies flat compared to knitting - especially to stockinette knitting. It produces a very durable, stable fabric. It's also less constrained to "typewriter" row-based production (back and forth or round and round on a single plain of work). This makes things like relief work (think Irish Crocheted Lace), and 3-D freeform production possible. The learning curve for basic technique is also less steep. Crochet has only one basic movement - hooking a loop and pulling through another loop. Knitting has several?- forming knits, forming purls, and their several variants.

I learned to crochet long, long?before I learned how to knit. Like knitting, I taught myself from a book.I was around 7 when I?began making odd little squares with no particular use in mind, ?but I was a strange kid who read early and liked sitting quietly and making things.Knitting by contrast I didn't pick up seriously until after college graduation. ?One of the reasons I found Continental style knitting easy and natural was that I was already well schooled in holding and tensioning thread or?yarn with my left hand, an artifact of this previous experience. In fact, I believe that people having problems learning Continental style might benefit from a brief side-trip to crochet because doing so would acustom them to this skill.

Crochet has many forms. The ones I favor are the finer styles of cotton crochet, done with threads of various thicknesses. Although I did quite a bit of it before learning how to knit, I no longer do much large-gauge crochet with yarn heavier than fingering weight. I find the resulting fabric too thick and stiff for most uses. Afghans, hats and bags are the exception, although I much prefer the airy drape of knitted blankets to the heft of crocheted ones. Hats and bags however can benefit from the additional?weight and structure. Note that I do not recommend fulling or felting crochet. I've never had a good result doing so, probably because I've never hit upon the right ratio of working looseness that would give the yarn enough room to shrink evenly.

A final note on crochet - I get lots of questions at wiseNeedle on how to go about converting a knitted pattern to a crocheted one. Although books have been written on the subject, my answer is usually "with difficulty, and probably not successfully with the original yarn specified in the pattern."? This goes back to basic stitch structure. For a piece of crochet to have anything like the same drape as a piece of knitting, it has to be made from a much thinner yarn. A knitting pattern written for worsted weight yarn cannot be crocheted in worsted weight yarn with the same result. I'd use a fingering weight yarn, light sport at the absolute heaviest. Then I'd draft out a pattern schematic from the original design, do a crocheted swatch, and re-draft all of the required pieces based on the gauge of that swatch. There are no short-cuts or magic formulae, just plain old trial and error and calculation.

Filet of Dragon

For all of crochet's free-form possibilities, filet crochet is the most row-oriented form of the craft. Filet takes a graphed design, and interprets it in open mesh and worked mesh squares - sort of like net with some of the holes filled in. As I think I mentioned before, this is an aesthetic that dates back a long time, with several different crafts called into service to do it over the years. There are forms of darned netting and grounds, withdrawn thread work, and freeform needle lace that all produce roughly similar filled/unfilled box-based patterns. Crochet is the most recent, and (having tried most of the others), I can say?the fastest method developed so far.

Filet crochet production marches across a graph row by row. Reading charts for filet production is very much like reading a chart for stranded knitting done in the flat. You begin at the lower right hand corner, work across the first row right to left, then on the next row, return by reading across in the opposite direction. Filet crochet though exacting is a very easy technique. There are several excellent on-line tutorials. This one is my favorite. There are also quite a few filet pattens on line, but any design that can be graphed up on a grid using two values (open and filled squares) can be used.

All this being said, here's the progress on my filet curtain panel:

The 4.3 rows shown represent about three hours of work. I'm a much slower crocheter than I am a knitter, as unlike knitting, I have to actually watch my fingers to ensure the stitches are formed correctly and are in the right spot. The piece is about 17 inches across. The dragon panel will happen in the center, with mirrored strips of a vine-like edging at top and bottom. The safety pins mark the transition point between the dragon panel and the framing vines.

I'm getting?a bit more than 5?meshes per inch using a 1.15mm Bates hook and Size 30 thread (thicker than sewing thread, but not as thick as perle cotton or bakery string). Each open mesh is formed by a double crochet followed by two chains (the next mesh forms the other leg of the box); each filled mesh is formed by three double crochets (again the first DC of the next mesh completes the box). For UK visitors, read treble instead of double crochet here, as for some reason terminology differs on the two sides of the pond.

My intent during this blogging hiatus is to keep plugging away on this thing. My curtain panel is about 30 inches wide x 17 inches tall. I'm working across the shorter dimension to save sanity. Once the panel is done, I need to go back and add another couple of rows top and bottom with larger holes through which the curtain rods will be inserted. I want to block out the piece before I do so, as the width between my curtain rods is fixed. Adding on these strips after the main motifs are completed will allow me to do any late course corrections to ensure a snug and proper final fit.

A final word - as I was starting out on this project I received some very valuable advice on filet crochet from a good friend and needlework buddy?of long acquaintence. Kathryn Goodwyn may or may not be reading this blog, but if she is - ten thousand thanks!? My dragon would not be crawling out from under his rock without you. (Kathryn is an exacting?researcher and needlework/historical clothing?re-creator. Her?favorite sig line "Too many centuries, too little time," which says?quite a bit?about the breadth of her interests and expertise.)