Don't forget to poke the photos to enlarge!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

One Twelfth the Size.....

Twelve times as long to make.....That's my general rule of thumb for crocheting minis....

I start out thinking that I am going to whip the item out in no time and finish grumbling to myself and tearing my hair.

This morning Tessie kept nagging me about the big scarf that I showed you yesterday. She wanted a tiny one for herself.

"Make me a lacy scarf? Please?" she whined. Then she added, "You could just start it and then I could finish it. It would be faster that way."

I am not sure what kind of logic she was using, but I agreed to start it, just to shut her up.

The piece that you see her holding is the start that I made of Claudia's scarf.

She picked out the color from my stash of old mercerized cotton sewing thread. If you use that and a # 14 crochet hook, you get a close approximation of 1/12 scale wool work.

The hardest part is just getting the first few rows done. There is nothing to hold on to whilst crocheting.

The task is kind of like Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence.....Only in reverse. Instead of trying to talk me into doing it, she was trying to talk me into not stopping.

In the photo the the left, you can see how far I got before my eyes crossed and my fingers numbed.

This is going to take a while. Poke the photo if you want a closer view.

The other thing that I can't emphasize enough is a good, lighted magnifier. I like the one that you see here because I can adjust the light to one position and the lens to another. They are on separate stalks.

I would probably be blind by now, if not for this light and other ones of different design that I have worn out in the past twenty years or so.

Then I hit upon an alternative to all of the loss of eyesight. I tried to talk Tessie into thinking that a boa made of some of the wild fuzzy yarns that I had when that was the in thing....

With that, I just crocheted a chain to the length I wanted and then did a single crochet back to the beginning.....So much simpler.

I am now in the process of telling her how charming she looks and how this one is going to keep her ever so much warmer than the plain green one.

"It may be warmer, but it tickles and is making me sneeze! I will wear this for another twenty one minutes. After that, I will be back to nagging for the green one. Is that understood?"

Oh well...I tried.

See you tomorrow.

8 comments:

Lucille said...

The first pic of Tessie enlarged full screen and I was able to see her face close up. She is soooo cute! And, the pattern on that scarf is just so pretty. It's so lacy. Also, I love the small print on Tessie's apron. I wish I had access to such beautiful fabric.

Margriet said...

Of course you're trying to make it in miniature :-)
I can just feel the tickling of the other scarf! Can't blame Tessie she wants you to finish the green one ;-)

Marisa said...

oh its going to look so pretty

JDayMinis said...

LOL, I agree with Tessie, the green pattern is lovely and it probably will match her eyes. *Jean

Susan@minicrochetmad said...

Are you sure you want to finish a whole scarf in that design? I made a whole double bedspread using that design, a conservative (very) estimate was 125 hours. Don't show Tessie this comment or you'll be making something a bit bigger than a scarf ;)

Debbie said...

Casey your crocheting is beautiful. But I have to say its a wonder you haven't gone Boss Eyed.
I like Tessie's Fluffy Scarf, that should keep her warm.

Lady Jane said...

I cannot fathom crocheting on sewing thread!!! Mine would look like the yarn boa that Tessie is wearing.

Sans! said...

I will really love that lamp with the magnifying glass. The other day and for the 1st time in my life, I actually saw numbers swimming before my eyes. I think the strain is definitely from stitching.