gun running

"Standard Issue Smith & Wesson," 2006; fillet crochet panel, 8" x 11", framed


detail


even more detail

Before you start thinking i'm advocating for gun violence, puh-lease realize that this is loaded with irony. I mean, fillet crocheting and guns, right? Like grannies on the loose doing bad things, ha ha! This little piece is for an art auction called "State of the Nation" happening later this month at Intersection for the Arts. At first I was going to crochet some graffiti but it was looking sort of lame so I turned to this work. I downloaded an image of the "standard" army-issue Smith & Wesson gun and made a pattern to make a crochet panel that is supposed to be actual size. The gun itself is 7 1/2" long. I used Adobe Illustrator to make the grid (note that fillet crochet grids are *not* perfectly square, hence the rectangular-ish sqaures on my grid).

Want to make one? Download the jpg pattern here! (about 128k)

Some tips:
--Make a small swatch first! The pattern is 100% final size, so you can check against it to make sure it turns out "real" gun size. I made a 2" x 2" swatch before I did the whole thing.
--I used rather fine black crochet thread and a tiny hook. Experiment to get the right swatch and tension for yourself.
--If you've never fillet crocheted before, google around to get instructions--it's rather easy once you get the hang of it!
--The pattern has what looks like half-filled boxes, and these are single stitches inside a full square, rather than using two stitches--it creates a half-filled square for more nuance.
--This took me about 5 1/2 hours in one sitting while watching TV--whoo-hoo!
--I mounted mine into a shadowbox frame with glass in front. I used a very thin layer of white glue on the back to adhere it to the back frame panel. White glue is water-soluble and if you don't use too much of it you can technically remove the crochet work later
--Make sure you BLOCK your work before mounting it. Most fillet crochet comes out rather strange-shaped at first and you have to block it to give it a good even shape. Get it wet and lay it to dry on a flat towel, pushing it in place. You can even lightly iron it on the wrong side.

Does this mean I am a small-arms dealer now? Ha ha!