On Display

Well today I finally got my bookmark display at the library set up. Above is the picture I took after we closed and locked the case. Now let me backtrack to Sunday morning:

below is the top half of the bath towel I pinned the naked bookmarks to for blocking. Once pinned I misted with water and let dry for several hours.


And the bottom half:



Here I had begun to dress them up with ribbons and beads and buttons and tassels:




Ever since I started making these last April, I have taken a picture of each one after it was dressed. I had to forego that practice and after taking this one group pic I stopped turning to the camera as I was so pressed for time. I'll get their pics after I get them home again in a couple of weeks. I decked out nearly thirty yesterday and another five or six since then. I put the tassel on this one this morning:



That was the last bookmark i crochet before I started prepping Sunday night. That is also the first one I've made by following a pattern in a book. I learned to crochet from my Mom teaching me the stitches by demonstrating them. I still don't really know how to read patterns but I'm starting to get it--like being a beginning reader again sounding out words one letter at a time. And since I never did learn to read that way in the first place reading these patterns is an extra strange sensation for me. I learned to read whole words by watching my Mom point at the words as she read to me.

Anyway. This pattern used a new stitch as well. They called it the cross stitch. You do a double crochet and then a single chain and cross backwards across the front of the double crochet and do another double crochet (de) two spaces to the right. Spaces that were empty because you skipped them in preparation for this move. When you move to the left again, you skip two spaces before beginning the first dc for the next cross stitch. This makes a pretty lacy pattern. I can't wait to incorporate it into a design of my own. It would lend itself well to spaces for ribbons and braids. but this one called for a tassel which I'd never made before so I've now learned another new technique.

I can't wait for my order of new crochet thread to arrive with the eight new colors as I am envisioning this pattern done in black plus five bright colors. I found this pattern last summer but was unable to do it without duplicating colors for the stripes as I didn't have five different pastels. I needed two more which I finally acquired about three weeks ago. I now need two more brights before I can put together a black and bright version of this.

I can picture this being pretty as two-toned too with any two colors that go well together.

Below is the left half of the display case after all the bookmarks were laid out:



And the right half:


This red and black one did not show up well in either of the above and I was especially pleased with it. I designed the crochet pattern for it using vertical rows of double crochet with strategically placed spaces for weaving in the ribbons, with options for either a single ribbon through the center or a doubled over ribbon laced like a pair of sneakers. These can be made in a single color or either two or three colors. Or, if you're not wanting symmetrical rows I suppose you could make each row a different color--as in a rainbow. Each color change generates two tails that need to be tucked. I've mention the tail tucking here often as I'm notorious for procrastinating that task. All the pattern books I've looked at emphasis tucking the tails as you proceed. I leave them not only until I've completed the crocheting step of the project but often until I've accumulated a dozen or so of the naked bookmarks. This last time I'd accumulated over thrity and over half of those had 6 to 22 tails each. So the tail-tucking task Monday morning took hours--over five.


This is a close up of the music box shaped like a leather-bound copy of Dr Zhivago which i icorporated into the display:


OK I've off catch up on my sleep. Been getting it rather hit and miss for three weeks now with the Book Drum and the bookmark display deadlines looming. And as soon as I've got a good long sleep I'm going to indulge myself with story--reading novels and watching DVD.