I took my two mosaic crochet experiments and joined them together to make a pillow, because why not? I used a single crochet stitch to join the sides, then stuffed it with poly fill.
I put a stitch in the center of the pillow to hold the stuffing in place and give it an even more retro look. It worked well because both sides have a defined center of the pattern.
I took some green time and walked through the woods. I can still see the results of the heavy rain we had, the path I cleared years ago had been swept clean by the water, making a path about two feet wide through the leaves.
I saw some nice mushrooms too, another sign we’ve actually received significant moisture.
I have what I believe is a mulberry tree in the back woods. It is growing under the canopy, so is spindly but keeps making a go of it each year. I was sad to see that something, probably deer, have stripped the bark on one side of the tree.
And of course there were cats. I was able to get a picture of Mr Tom in his glorious winter coat before he wandered off.
Thor the tabby cat is fascinated with all things yarn. We are working on what is appropriate and what is not. The ribbon on the stick is fair game, the ball of yarn leading to my hands is not. He jumped up on my chair to watch some yarn unroll, was being very polite, and fell asleep.
I’m experimenting with the overlay mosaic technique, but as a way to introduce texture. By using one color of yarn, and stitching in the round, I produced quite a nice basket weave type structure. I am also using a size G (4.0mm) hook with worsted weight acrylic yarn, which is smaller than recommended to make a stiffer fabric. This pattern uses two single crochets in the back loop then one double crochet in front loop of the previous row. The ruler is to assess the gauge.
Thor slept through the whole swatching process, and Izzy the calico never noticed he was within an inch of her.
Another hen passed. She was looking quite ragged and tired, but didn’t seem distressed. She was with the flock eating and drinking, until she couldn’t. I gave her access to one last grubbly treat, and helped her access water, then let her lay in the coop where she grew up, surrounded by her sister hens. It is a hard call, letting go or assisting. Since she wasn’t in obvious pain, I chose to let her slip away on her own time. I’ve done the final scramble before, with force feeding and medicines and stress, both for me and the hen, and it really isn’t dignified, and completely unnecessary to put her through that in her last days. Hatchery quality hens only have a life span of about 4-7 years, and she was there. May her next life be as peaceful.
After experimenting with mosaic crochet in rows, I decided to try a pattern in the “round”. These are built in a similar manner to granny squares, working from the inside out and producing a flat fabric. I followed a terrazzo pattern from a YouTube video.
I have to admit that although I really like this pattern, it makes my eyes vibrate. I finished off the square with a solid round of pink, then a wider band of purple to offset the trippy. The neat part of mosaic crochet this way is that you don’t have to cut the ends of the yarn for each round. I switched colors, but didn’t cut, so it worked up without dealing with multiple ends.
Critters and Craft 