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Bullions & Beyond
by Prudence Mapstone Prudence just bubbles over with creativity and we are fortunate to enjoy the results. Prudence has already published an exciting book, Freeform: Serendipitous Design Techniques for Knitting & Crochet, and now you can add gorgeous bullion stitches to your repertoire. Bullions & Beyond will make your mouth water when you look at the colorful shawls and samples throughout these pages. You will learn how to make bullions that are short and others long, in circles and in spirals, plus for flower patterns. There are instructions for making whole pieces with bullion stitches and how to incorporate them with other crochet stitches or at the edge of a crocheted or knitted piece. Prudence includes a variety of samples, showing you how these stitches look worked in with other stitches and within a grouping of harmonious fibers. Oblong, oval, heart and leaf shapes can easily be created using bullion stitches. You can combine these little motifs to make larger pieces or use only one in very thin fibers for jewelry such as earrings. You will need a crochet hook that does not have a bump along the center like most crochet hooks do. It is very difficult to make the bullions with the additional width in the way. Many of the crochet hooks made for Tunisian stitch and those having a hook on each end do not have that bulging center piece and will be more appropriate for bullion stitch. I took some of my steel crochet hooks to a local welder and had the center edges sanded down for working these type stitches. The shawl on page 6 is to die for in purples, pinks and lavenders plus little bits of yellow for contrast. This book is more of an idea and sample book than project book, to explore new ideas and your own creativity. If you liked Prudence’s first book, you are going to love Bullions & Beyond. Review by Lydia F Borin |