When I was big into polymer clay, Marie Segal stayed with us before and after the SCPCG retreats. She gave me one of the first ripple blades when she was introducing them and I got totally obsessed with making patterned sheets of clay. It was a wonderful way to learn about color. Each new slice was a discovery and at the same time, a soothing meditation. The African Flower crochet motif is my current version of that zen experience. I'm using my thrifted stash of persian tapestry/crewel yarn, a single strand with a #8 steel hook. I don't have an end project in mind. This my handwork meditation, plus, the more I use, the less I'll have to sort through and untangle when I'm done. I might use them as the yoke on a sweater, or even as the top of some socks. I'll knit the foot. It just depends on how many I eventually make. Check out Flicker if you want to see more pictures, there's a group dedicated to African flower projects. The pattern is posted there too. http://www.flickr.com/groups/africanflowers/
I'm in love with the work of Kaffee Fassett and Sophie Digard and see them as kindred spirits when it comes to pattern and color. Sure, Kaffee's color is more intense and they work at different scales, but they both hit my design sweet tooth the same way. Small gauge crochet is wonderful, just look at Irish crochet. Sophie takes that scale and makes it work in sophisticated colorways.
I would love to own a Digard scarf but it isn't going to fit in my budget and I enjoy crocheting laceweight wool so I'm starting on my own version. I expect that my colorway will be a bit closer to Kaffee's. I'm going to try to harmonize the colors with smaller joining motifs and a border as Sophie does. I'm using a single strand of Persian needlepoint wool and a #7 steel hook. Persian wool comes in so many subtle colors and if you want to, you can felt it. When I get a decent sample done I'll post pictures.
