oh! how I love a dragonfly

If I had to pick a favorite bug -- it would be the dragonfly.
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Every time I behold the sheer, translucent, shimmering beauty of the dragonfly's wing -- I am stunned into silence.

 

And guess what?  There is a crochet pattern that involves a dragonfly.   So to speak.

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It is Dragonfly Shawl, designed by Lisa Naskrent and is described as being a

'symphony of elegance with a dance in flight.'

Everything about this pattern is a 'symphony of elegance'!  The pattern can be found here:

interweave CROCHET winter 2008

Now, given the alternative of written directions vs. a diagram -- hands down, I will always pick the diagram.

I mean -- honestly!  I could not wrap my head around any of this:

... s-ch 5 in each ch-5 sp

to first SMK,

[BP-sh-seq, s-ch-5 in next ch-5 sp]

through first ch-5 sp after last

SMK on this side...

What does that mean?!!?
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So, thank goodness for a drawn diagram and probably the most delectable yarn ----  Shadow Tonal Lace Yarn in Blue Violet from KnitPicks  in the most gorgeous shade of periwinkle (read ---> my favorite color!)
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Being a laceweight, I had a super hard time getting used to using a D hook with a size 0 yarn.  And yes, I did have to frog my first 20 attempts at getting this started.  Getting those first 3 rows going was the most difficult for me.
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But, duh! -- after studying the diagram, I realized that the pattern is very, very easy to memorize and now that I can actually see a completely magnificent shawl starting to appear --- I am stealing away as much time as possible to get this done so it can be draped around my shoulders.



sunflower

Sunflowers.  I just love their heavy heads of golden brown goodness.

Ah, sunflower, weary of time,


Who countest the steps of the sun;


Seeking after that sweet golden clime


Where the traveller's journey is done.
-William Blake

So when I can combine the lovely art of irish crochet with the making of a sunflower doily....well that just gets my fancy like you can not believe.

And wouldn't you know it?!  There's a book with just that pattern. 

I love, love, lOvE this book.  The author, Judy Crow has hit upon some gorgeous, out-of-the-ordinary patterns and stitch configurations that just seem to jump right off of the page...

...and onto my hook.

The petals did seem to take forever, but because the pattern for them was easily memorized I could almost do them while standing in line at the grocery store.  (Notice I said almost -- my kids seem to give me the hairy eyeball if I pull out my crochet projects while the cashier is ringing up our corn flakes.)

I would have never thought that I could take one of my most favorite techniques (irish crochet) and use deep, vibrant thread colors...

 
...to make a sunflower doily.