Final Details – I hope!
First Attempt At a Bow Wave
My first attempt to tackle the bow wave was to shred some white silk ribbon and try to attach it to the bow. That seemed a bit too white and a bit too solid.
What it did do, however, was give me an inkling as to how tricky the attachment of the bow wave was going to be. “Fiddly” doesn’t come close! And remember, there are a lot of delicate little details already assembled, so I couldn’t be too heavy handed with the attachment, either.
FreeForm Crochet
Having decided something lighter was needed, I tried another experiment: freeform crochet. In this case I started by using one strand of a stranded silk, decided that even that was too heavy, and moved on to sewing cotton. I’ve done a sort of shell pattern, but varied the sizes of the shells slightly to give a bit more unevenness to the whole thing. I’ve also crocheted fairly loosely to give the right frothy effect of seafoam.
Last Few Tweaks
The last few tweaks here are: the addition of the bow wave, and then the addition of railings around the deck cargo on the bow, and finally the rigging. The railings are made using a paper covered wire painted silver and dirtied with inktense for the posts, and two lines of black and silver twist for the chains. They’ve been surprisingly effective in helping everything to sit at its right plane in the sequence from foreground to background.
There maybe isn’t enough rigging for an operational vessel, but the photo wasn’t clear, and there is enough to have point and purpose
Now all I have to do (all!!!) is assemble my Heart!
The shell pattern worked well!
Great frothy effect! And the railing looks good, too. So many small details–such impact!
Very nice.
Nice and frothy. xx
Clever girl! That bow wave looks perfect.
The railings are excellent! The bow wave looks suitably sploshy – its shape also ties in with the frothy green ribbon of the wreath. Nicely done. Good luck with the assembly – the part of a a project I always dread the most!
What a great idea for the sea foam! That has worked really well. It’s hard to imagine how one strand of silk is too heavy, it just goes to show how fine and delicate it is. Your finishing touches look brilliant and have really finished the piece off perfectly!
What a very good idea to experiment with freeform crochet and different thread types, the sea foam is perfect, as are all the tiny details. what wonderful work.
That bow wave is just right.
I adore the railings – how realistic they look! The bow wave was an interesting challenge, but like the rest, you’ve come up with a great solution for how to do it.
the crochet piece is exquisite…..