It's been way too long since I've posted (a whole week) because it's been way too long since I've had time to do any knitting or crochet! Last weekend I finished this bookmark for my grandmother, and I had to wait to post it until it arrived so it would be a surprise! She was thrilled, though I'm sure she would have been even more thrilled if it had been on time. She taught me to crochet and knit when I was a child, so getting handmade presents has some additional meaning.
I didn't create a pattern because I had to improvise a little, but maybe someday I'll recreate it and write up what I did.
I used DMC's Cordonnet in No 40, with a size 11 steel hook.
I started with a base chain that formed the shape of the cross. When I had just started the second round it looked like this:
That is, it looked hilariously bad!
So after I finished the second round, I went ahead and blocked it to give it more shape and help me correctly assess the number of stitches I needed.
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| Before Blocking |
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| After Blocking |
The next 2 rounds created this:
And with one more round of blocking, a flower for the center (from the Go-To Book for Irish Crochet), and the addition of a tassel, I finally arrived at my cross bookmark! I can not stress enough the importance of using padding cord in the second and last rounds. It helped me create the cross shape when the yarn wasn't stiff enough to do it by itself.
It was a very fulfilling design process because I had such a clear idea of what I wanted, but I had never made a bookmark. Unlike my flower motifs, which are the product of moderate experience with making flowers, the cross had its beginnings in my imagination.
