I should be writing this morning (I am way behind in NaNoWriMo due to traveling earlier this month), but I have had this blog post on my mind far too long and it is time to get it down on paper and posted so you all can see it!
Last summer I was on a crochet thread kick and made this Winter Garden Runner for a homeschooling friend in Missouri. And then I made a variation of it for myself in slightly different colors. This looks great in our new guest bedroom on top of the black dresser with a couple of Santas on it, which you can see in the first picture on my Decluttering Progress post from late August.
Since I was on a roll, I decided to make another large runner for my cousin Roberta for her birthday. Unfortunately, by the time I thought of it, her birthday was looming large. But I had the project underway by then and finally finished it in late September.
First I sent Roberta several possible patterns and then asked for color and size guidance, since she knew where she wanted to use the runner. The pattern she chose was beautiful, but unfortunately I was unable to figure out a crucial stitch – although now I think I know how it should go, after working on this project, which turned out to have a similar stitch!
In the end, I chose something a bit different that I thought Roberta would like and that I felt would be fun to work up. I took an afghan pattern, Dierdra, from Crochet Celtic Afghans
and adapted it to make it into a runner of the proper size.
And then I began crocheting! 33 leaf layers (green), 33 flower centers (17 white, 16 burgundy), and 33 flower petal layers (16 white, 17 burgundy).
Next step is to intertwine all the layers.
Color combination one:
Color combination two:
The two color combinations interwoven.
Now that all the layers are interwoven, it is time to crochet them together into strips.
An edging goes around the first square.
Then when you make the edging around each successive square, you join it as you go to the previous square.
Alternating each color motif, you end up with three separate strips that have edging around them.
Then you put join two strips together with an edging down the center, doing that twice until all three strips are joined.
A final edging around the whole piece and voila! It is done!
Ooooooh I was loving it before I saw how much work went into it. Gorgeous 🙂
What a cool block! I had no idea you made each element separately and then put them together. Interesting concept – and lovely completed project.
That looks a lot more complicated than I ever imagined. Beautiful work as always.
The one I made for you, Cee Gee, was a lot simpler, no layering involved, which is why I also made one for myself. I’m not sure I would make another thread one like the Dierdra one, although an afghan made that way would be beautiful and very warm!
Thank you so much for posting this. I am going to print it our and keep it with the runner. It is so cool to see how it went together.
That’s so pretty. I just started on this and have all 3 colors of flowers done. I tried starting on the leaves but the pattern isn’t making sense to me. Can you give me any pointers?
Hey Jess, Sorry for the delay in my response. My blogs have been undergoing some construction. I do hope you figured out what your issue was. Its been so long since I looked at that pattern.