A Case for Lace: Behind the Design of the Mountain Blue Violet

Hello, Subscriber First Name,

It didn’t take me long after last week’s release of the Trinity Medley Scarf to dive back into the wildflower project. I’m very anxious to get all twenty flower designs sorted so I can crochet the squares and finally start building the blanket. But I’d better not get ahead of myself. Every week and every design gets me a little closer.

This week, I’m sharing the process behind the design of my next flower: the Mountain Blue Violet.

Working on the violet applique and motif has been one of the most pleasant design experiences I’ve had with this project. It was quick and easy compared to so many of the others, and that doesn’t happen very often. I’m relishing this moment!

I think one reason the violet design came together so effortlessly is that violets have such a distinctive shape. I admit I already had a bit of an idea about what I wanted to do going into this design, which was a blessing because, thanks to the way my schedule worked out, I only had one day to complete both the applique and the motif!

But the Mountain Blue Violet is a little different from your average garden-variety violet, so I spent some time researching and examining photos of the flower in real life. One of its most striking features is its dainty petals. I was especially intrigued by the top two petals on this five-petaled flower, which are rather elongated. In some photos, they almost look like bunny ears to me. The side petals are rounder, while the bottom petal is the largest of them all.

I also noted the colors. These violets are white in the center, and the side petals even have little white hairs where they meet. The rest of the petals range from lavender to periwinkle. I chose white, pale lavender, and dark purple for my crochet violets.

Designing the flower itself was pretty straightforward. My first attempt worked out about the way all my first attempts with these flower appliques go: it was a little wonky. The petals were a bit misshapen, indicating an excess of stitches. The white circle at the center and the dark purple accents were way too large and perfectly round. It all looked a little comical.

For my second attempt, I reduced the number of stitches in the petals. I succeeded for the most part, but the top two bunny-ear petals were still too large, while the side and bottom petals had become too small.

I also changed the white center to single crochet stitches separated by chain spaces. When you work into those chain spaces in the next round, it creates a little star shape, which is much more flower-like than a solid circle.

For my third attempt, I decided to incorporate V-stitches to give those top two petals the height they needed without the bulk. It worked so well that I used them in the side petals, too. I also liked how the V-stitches broke up the dark purple, making it look less round and more naturally shaped.

To add some dimension between the petals, I added spike stitches in the outer round, working over the dark purple. I love the effect this creates! The only thing that was still a little off was the size of the side and bottom petals in relation to those two bunny ears. Once I fixed that, the applique was complete!

So as you can see, there really wasn’t a wow moment with the applique design process. It all came together more or less smoothly. I wish they were all this effortless!

The real drama was yet to come when I started adding the background to turn the applique into a square.

As you may recall, the five-petaled flower shape has started to become my project nemesis. Ever since I had to toil over squaring off the pentagon-shaped rosette a few weeks ago, I’ve been bracing myself for the next five-petaled flower design. But this time, I was ready.

I decided to borrow a trick I learned from the rosette experience. I traced the shape of the violet onto a sheet of graph paper and then drew a 3-inch square around it.

Doing this helped me visualize the type of background stitch pattern that would work best with the violet’s shape. And almost immediately, I realized that lace mesh was the answer.

From the beginning of this project, I’ve been telling myself not to use lace in the backgrounds of these motifs, favoring the more solid backgrounds instead. This was partly an attempt to keep the blanket visually balanced, but if you’ve been here for a while, you also know that I have a pretty serious penchant for lace. Left to my own devices, I would probably put lace on everything, including this blanket!

So I’ve been trying to practice a little restraint. I didn’t want my love of lace to take over the whole project.

As I looked at the violet, though, I couldn’t deny that lace was the absolute best option for this particular design. The open mesh gives the flower room to breathe and follows its delicate shape in a way that a solid background simply wouldn’t.

And that made me rethink my rule a little. Maybe I don’t need to avoid lace altogether. Maybe it just needs to earn its place.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of adding a lace mesh background to the mix. Used selectively, I think it could be a really lovely complement to the more solid backgrounds I’m using throughout the blanket. The trick will be remembering that not every flower needs it!

With full permission to use lace, I set to work deciding where to begin: how many stitches, how many chains, and where to put them.

I opted for ten single crochet stitches and ten chain-4 spaces placed evenly around the flower. This worked okay, but it left a gap between the top two petals. On the one hand, I appreciated the gap because it didn’t crowd those petals I had worked so hard to achieve. On the other hand, I couldn’t deny that it looked a little awkward. I suspected I would need to remedy that at some point. I also tried working three clusters in each corner. I loved the way it looked, but it made the motif larger than three inches, so I’d have to save that design idea for another motif.

For my next attempt, I did pretty much the same thing, but switched out the corner clusters for two sets of three double crochet groups separated by a chain-3 space. It worked, but it had lost all of the flair of the previous motif.

Before starting my third attempt, I questioned the number of stitches I was using. Wouldn’t 12 stitches and 12 chain spaces be easier to divide by 4, since we’re making this into a square?

Of course!

I had been so preoccupied with the idea of placing two stitches in each of the five petals that I had overlooked the obvious answer. Using twelve stitches would give me the same number of stitches and spaces on all four sides, which goes a long way toward making a lace motif like this one look balanced. And it’s just plain easier to work with.

I ended up placing two stitches in each of the bottom two petals and three stitches in each of the top two petals, which neatly took care of the awkward spacing I’d been having in that part of the motif.

I also added a single cluster in each corner, as a bit of a compromise.

If I can’t have three, maybe I can fit in one, right?

All in all, I’m really pleased with how the motif turned out. And I’m already looking forward to the next one.

Thanks so much for following along on this wildflower journey. I can’t wait to see you again next week, when I’ll share a behind-the-scenes peek at the next flower: the Pasque Flower!

Until next time, happy crocheting,

If you’d like to learn more about the Crochet Wildflower Field Guide and see how these individual flowers will come together in the finished blanket, you can find all the details here.

Know someone who would enjoy this mailing? Forward it to them!
They can subscribe right here.