Starry, Starry Night; Arabic Peace Table runner

(Please click on the photos to enlarge them).

This project started out by my seeing a vintage filet crocheted chair back cover of palm trees and camels.
I saw it for sale on etsy and I thought it looked really cool. (I didn't buy it though).

Well, then one day I was looking for old filet crochet patterns on e-bay and I came across an old pattern book from The Spool Cotton Co., Copyright 1938, called Decorative Ensembles to Crochet. Book # 125. It had the graph pattern to crochet the chair back cover and two palm tree arm rests as well.

Well, of course I had to get it.

So then I thought, instead of just having the two camels looking one way, I could take a picture of the pattern, upload it to my computer, flip the image, and have the two camels facing the other way too. This way I could make a nifty table runner. So that's what I did.

But as I was planning this I thought, gee, look at all the space in the middle where the sky will be. Wouldn't it be nice to put something in there. So, I googled around for something meaningful that would fit.
Well, lo and behold, right on Ravelry, a fellow crocheter had already posted a free pattern that was just what I was looking for!

Maria Merlino has designed this Salaam Peace in Arabic Script filet crochet pattern.

I had to ditch the butterfly which would have been way out of proportion with the camels and trees, (can we say Mothra?) LOL!

So, I copied the pattern, flipped it and copied that, then I had to glue the two patterns together with my trusty glue stick,
Then I penciled in the Arabic script, (which as Maria explains is abjad for the word Salaam, which translates to Peace).



This first photo is without the flash. The second one is with the flash.

I used all Omega cotton Sinfonia yarn. I really love this yarn and have used it in many of my projects. But I will tell you that I was so frustrated with the blue. Warning! With the blue color; DYE LOTS MATTER! LOL!

I started crocheting from the bottom. As you can see that is a lighter blue.
Well, when I ran out and had to buy more, I noticed right away that it was darker.
So I thought, that's ok. It's the sky.
Well, right near the end, I ran out again and had to go back to Hobby Lobby for one more skein. (Thank goodness that's all I needed because it was the last one!)
So, then I noticed that it was the lighter color again. Aaaaahhhh!.
Plus in the middle when I was trying to use up the lighter blue and switch to the darker it made a streak of lighter blue across the sky.
Clouds, haze, mist, whatever. It's crocheted in there forever.

I used variegated brown yarn for the camels and so they look all stripe-y. I think the Variegated citrus color worked great on the palm tree trunks and script.

And if all this wasn't enough, I decided to use a whole package of sequin stars to dress up the sky. I used a needle and thread and just beaded each one to attach them all.



This photo shows the back. You can see how I had to tack down all the white thread that I used to attach the sequins. I don't want anything to snag on any of the thread.

Let's see. The size of the runner is about 44 inches by 21 inches.
I used a size H cabled afghan hook. I usually use a size J hook for tunisian stitching but this yarn is much thinner and so I used the smaller H hook.

Filet Crochet Baby Animals Carriage Crib Cover 2

Back in June of 2011 I posted my Filet Crochet Carriage Crib Cover.
Well, someone posted that there was another pattern out there which was similar only it had more animals or different designs of the baby animals.

Well, I did track that pattern down and decided to make another afghan with it.
It's another Laura Wheeler / Alice Brooks type pattern. (Although there is no mention of their names on this pattern either).
The pattern is simply called Design 7577.

So, on the most awesome of Leap Days, I went outside and snapped lots of photos of the new blanket.
(Click on the photos to enlarge them).




This is the front.



And this is the back. There really is no difference except for the single crochet stitch where I joined the blocks. It kind of looks like a seam. A bit raised.

I used the same DMC Cebelia thread size 10 that I used in the first afghan. I only had to buy one of each color since I already had enough from what was left over before because you still need two skeins for each block.

I wanted the lamb to be white so I used the purple to border the squares this time.



Here are the two afghans side by side. This second one is slightly smaller because the squares were a different size. If you wanted to make all of them on one afghan you'd need to add an extra row along the top or bottom of each square as well as one along a side of each square from the second patterns animals.




Here's a couple more shots. I had to stand on a chair to fit them both in the picture.



As you can see I made both the dogs blue, both the cats pink, and the rabbits in both afghans are a peach color.
The lamb's in white.
I love the deer in yellow!

I still have no idea what the animal is in green in this second afghan.
It's not a squirrel like in the first afghan. It doesn't have a bushy tail.
Is it a chipmunk? A baby bear? A gopher?
What the heck is that animal??! LOL!