Showing Off

The Melbourne Show started today, which means the results are in for the Art and Craft competition. This year I entered two classes/categories: Doiley in Cotten or Linen Thread and Original Design.

For the Original Design I entered my Dino Bug. For the Doiley I tried something different - colour.



The pattern is the Water Lily Doiley from the Paragon Crochet Book number 122. I chose it because it had the little 3D flowers on it. They do make it completely useless as a doiley, but they do look lovely. The thread is Guttermans 100% cotton and I used my favorite 0.5mm crochet hook.

Here's a close up of the flowers, just so you can appreciate how much work went into them. Each petal is joined and crocheted separately, which means I had to sew in over 80 ends. Just for the record, I will not be making another one of these.



I thought the flowers were looking a little messy, so I tried sugar starching. I went wrong somewhere and the whole piece ended up covered in white powder. It did starch nicely though, I could have used it as a frisbee.




Fortunately sugar washes out fairly easily, and a little spray starch was all that I needed in the end. Even better the judges at the Show must have liked it. It won First Prize! Now I just have to go in and see what beat the Dino Bug.

My Brother's Wedding

My little brother's wedding was last night. It was a nice relaxed event, with only a few close family and friends. Even so there were plenty of things to get organised. Between finding an outfit and folding 120 paper cranes, there hasn't been much time for crochet. However I did have time for a few small projects.

First of all I needed a Hens gift for the Bride. I thought a lacy hanky with a custom edge would fit the bill. If you look closely you can see the bride and grooms initials. The "A" for the bride is fairly obvious, but there are also little T's around the edge too.


The Bride was far to happy to need a hankie on the day, I don't think she stopped smiling once. However the Mother-of-the-Bride did get a little teary, so it's a good thing I made a hankie for her too.



And what wedding would be complete without a Bride and Groom for the top of the cake.



Or in this case the side of the cake. Next time I must remember that crochet and butter icing do not go well together.



And finally the happy couple.