Since it's been quiet on the list, I'll make some comments on the butterfly I've been making the past three weeks. It's 18 inches wide. Originally, it came from a Bayeaux pattern that's four inches wide. This is the working diagram for the tiny butterfly. To deal with the large size, I'm using size 20 crochet thread with perle cotton gimp.
I'm heartily glad that I'm not trying to make the tiny pattern from this diagram. I haven't counted, but I'm guessing I have about 60 pairs going at one time and 6-10 gimp. Even with every thread pathway drawn out, it's slow going in places. Plus I've found a few mistakes -- such as a 3 pair crossing that had 3 pairs coming in but only two going out. Some gimp lines are drawn in such a way that's it's impossible to work the way it's marked. I've become very good at adding a pair when one was needed, and throwing out extras. I have one Bayeaux book that I read through before starting since it's been probably 15 years since I did a Bayeaux project. But the author of this pattern never read this book. <G> The butterfly is full of three-pair crossings but the book has none listed. I had to guess on how that stitch was made. (Hey... maybe I invented a new crossing!!) I'm 2/3 done at the moment. I've spent a lot of hours on this since Christmas since my DH has been under the weather, so I stayed home with him, and then our weather turned very cold -- below freezing for several days. Good lacemaking weather. By the time DH was feeling better and the weather had warmed up, he had kindly shared his bug with me, so now I'm staying home for myself. I figured this was a good way to spend the next several days. Who knows.... By the time I've got rid of the bug, the butterfly might be finished. If you want to see my butterfly, you'll have to come to the June18-21 Lace Conference in Oregon. After all this work, I'll be showing it off there. (Check the webpage portlandlacesociety.com for details and info on the conference.) Alice in Oregon -- under very foggy skies but no rain. - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
