Large Leaf Earrings

Another crochet earring pattern I came up with

Large Leaf Earrings

Materials:

DMC Perle Cotton No. 5 (small amount, ¼ skein or so)

Crochet hook: 00, 1.75 mm

Small tapestry needle or crewel embroidery needle

Ear wires

stitches used:
ch: chain
sc: single crochet
dc: double crochet
tr: triple crochet
sl st: slip stitch
Pic3: Picot stitch - ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook.
Pic4: Picot stitch - ch 4, sl st in 4th ch from hook.

R 1: ch 10 loosely

R2: sc in 2^nd ch from hook, dc in next 3 ch,  tr in next 4 ch, 5 tr in last ch.

Now work up the other side of the chain. You can work over your starting tail to save having to weave the end later.

Tr in next 4 ch, dc in next 3 ch, sc and pic3 in last ch (this is the tip of the leaf) , join with sl st to first sc

R3: sl st in the next 3 sts, sc in next st, dc in next st, 2 tr in each of next 4 sts. (dc, pic4, DC) in next st (this is the stem of the leaf), 2tr in next 4 sts, dc in next st, sc in next st, sl in next 3 sts. End, leaving a long tail – a couple of feet.

Center vein: 

Thread the finishing tail onto a crewel embroidery needle. Weave down to the  tip of the leaf. Chain Stitch back up the center of the leaf (you can find tutorials for chain stich on You Tube), ending at the stem to create a center vein. 

Finish off and weave end.

Attach ear wire to stem.

You can stiffen your earrings with a bit with spray starch. Place earrings front side down on a towel. Spray back with Heavy spray starch and let dry.


Here is a link to a printable PDF version

Crocheted Leaf and Flower Earrings

Something else I love to do besides painting! Crochet and knit!

So these little earrings are my design and I wanted to share them with you

Leaf and Flower Earrings

3 colors DMC pearl cotton no. 5 (you will need only a small amount of each color. You could make 4 or 5 sets with one skein of each)

Size 00, 1.75 mm crochet hook

(pc3 stitch is a picot made my chaining 3 and sl st in the 3^rd chain from the hook)

gauge is not critical.

Flower

Start with Magic ring and color 1

R1:  5 sc in ring don’t join.

R2: working over starting tail.  2 sc in each of the 5 sc (10 sc) join with sl st to first sc. End

With color 2:

R3: working over end of last color. Join with a sl st and sc in same st as join.  ch 3, *sc in next 2 sc, ch 3. Repeat from * 3 more times (5 petals) sc in next sc. join with sl st in starting sc.

R4: working over this color tail. 5 sc in ch 3 loop, *sk 1 sc, sl st in next sc, 5 sc in ch 3 loop. Repeat from * 3 more times. join with sl st to beginning sl st.  End.

Weave in final tail.

Leaf (use either this larger leaf or the smaller one)

R1: Ch 7 loosely, sc in 2^rd ch from hook. Sc in next 4 ch, 3 sc in end ch, 

now work up other side of chain (working over starting tail) , sc in next 5 ch, 3 sc in last ch

R2: Dc and 2 tr in first sc. 2 tr in next sc, dc in next, sc in next 2sc, sc pc3 in next, sc in next 3 sc, dc in next sc, 2 tr in next sc, 2 tr and 1 dc in next sc, sk 1 of the 3 sc on the end, sl st in the next 2 sc.

Stem: Ch 12, sl st in 3^rd ch from hook, ch 3, join to flower with sl st between petals. End.

Weave end back through ch to leaf.

Smaller Leaf

Ch 5 loosely, sc in 2^nd ch from hook, dc and tr in same st, tr and dc in next ch, dc in next ch, 2 sc, 3pc and sc in end ch.

Working up other side of chain (and over tail) dc in next ch, dc and tr in next ch, tr, dc and sc in next ch. Join with sl st to first sc.

Stem: Chain 9, sl st in 3^rd ch from hook, ch 3. Join with a sl st between 2 petals on the flower. End.

Weave end back through ch to leaf.

You can stiffen your earrings with a bit with spray starch. Place earrings front side down on a towel. Spray back with Heavy spray starch and let dry.

Click here for a PDF file that you can download

Basic Color Schemes

Color Schemes

Sometimes giving yourself limitations when you paint can help to get your creative juices flowing.
One way to do that is to choose a Color Scheme.

Here are a few that I have used, there are more. I also use these as sides of a die in my Art Inspiration Game which you can read about here   

These first few have to do with the good old Color Wheel. 

As you know, the Primary Colors are Red, Yellow and Blue. All the other colors can be made by mixing these 3 colors together.

The Secondary Colors: Green, Orange and Purple, are made by mixing two primaries together.

I don't have them shown here, but Tertiary Colors are made by mixing two adjacent colors together. So yellow-green or red-orange for example.

A Complimentary Color scheme means choosing 2 main colors that are Complimentary, meaning directly across the color wheel: Examples are: Orange & Blue, Green & Red, Yellow & Purple. Here is an example:


This has a red/green
complimentary color scheme.








 

Another one is Split Complimentary That would be choosing a color, and then the two colors on either side of its complimentary color. You can do this with a color wheel of primary and secondary colors like the one shown above, or you can expand the color wheel to include the tertiary colors. So in this scheme you might choose Purple - Its compliment is Yellow, either side of that is orange and green. So your scheme would be Purple, Orange, and Green.
This painting is pretty close to that:


With all of these schemes, it doesn't mean you can only use only those colors, just that it should be your overall experience of viewing the painting.

Analogous: Those would be colors next to each other on the color wheel, either 2 or 3: green & blue, or green, blue and purple. yellow and orange, or red yellow and orange.
Here is a yellow/green/blue analogous painting








Moving away from the color wheel specifically, here are a few more schemes:

Saturated: 
You can find many examples of this in my work because I love color! Saturated just means a lot of pure, rich color. Often straight from the tube.












 

Neutrals: This would just be a painting that has primarily neutralized color. Nothing too bright or vivid.
Here is one like that:
Or at least as neutral as I usually get, :) I like color!












The last scheme you might choose would be any 3 tubes + white. So you would just choose any 3 tubes of paint, probably some type of yellow, red and blue so you could mix other colors. But it might be more fun to challenge yourself by choosing something more difficult ! The painting I used above as an example of Split Complimentaries - The Fall Color was actually done with just Hansa Yellow Medium, Napthal Red Light, Ultramarine Blue and White.

So, whether you are playing my Art Inspiration Game, or just looking to limit your options to spark your creativity. Try choosing a Color Scheme for your next painting!