ribbon and crochet

A while back, I spent a year researching crochet .  I was totally inspired by Sophie Digard's scarves (I own two! Lucky me!) and thought it would be great to be able to take off from her wonderful color blends and ring motifs.

I first tried actually crocheting and got several very cool books on Japanaese motif crochet.  Etsy sellers carry these wonderful Japanese books with such a different take on crochet,  I often look at Pomadour24's shop. 

So I spent that winter crocheting by the fire and quickly realized that -- although I pour plenty of time into weaving -- I simply don't have the time to get expert at this for my own purposes.  I hired out some crochet sample making from a lovely lady named Rose who I found on etsy, and sent thread & patterns back and forth to try color experiments.  That was fun but not getting  me where I wanted to be in terms of using crochet as a basis for textile design.

Finally I did what I have always done with my art: I drew what I cannot otherwise have.  I began drawing crochet doilies, and they morphed into all sorts of lovely designs, such as my Teatime Bedding set for Land of Nod.

I also designed a number of great Spoonflower fabrics based on doilies.

Meanwhile I was also paying attention to designing ribbons which referenced crochet.  Long ago I did a print ribbon,  How to Crochet. I also designed  How to Knit, which took off, as knitting was craft queen then, and I still sew knitting needle cases for the shop at the Cooper Hewitt Museum with that ribbon as trim.  (they also sell loads of LFN Ribbons there, and LFN Ribbons are proudly in their permanent collection).

Then I did Doilies for Renaissance Ribbons, based on lacy crochet doilies. 

And Fun Squares, aka Granny Squares (we sometimes name the same pattern differently!) inpired by Sophie Digard's lovely use of granny squares (above). 

And now we have Lacy Flowers coming out, based on a loose drawing of crochet flowers from the Japanese motif days.