Down on the Filet Crochet Farm....

 Way back in 1992 I think it was I got into designing Filet Crochet patterns.  We were still milking cows and I couldn't find any farm theme patterns much so I thought why not make my own!! So I got out some graph paper and gave it a try.  

At the time we were into dairy farming so I went with that kind of theme.  Tractors, cows, silage wagons, combining..... we have always been into combining!!  (please excuse the poor photography on this one...)

On a whim I sent it in to Crochet World and they published it!!  It was in the August 2007 issue if you would like to look up the pattern and try it for yourself sometime.

So from that pattern I started to branch out and pull out different designs from it to do other things.  

I made this valance in two different lengths.  One for a regular window and one for a 6' wide doorway.  I am using this smaller one now over our closed up fireplace.  Kinda like it there!!

Then I made some with just one object on  each end.... a cow, a tractor, a truck, combine...Some like this, some with one item in each corner.... lots of possibilities!! (and I can't find the pictures of the others right now.....

Then I put in a few other elements as our farm life changed...

A sprayer and a spray nurse tractor trailer.

I also made some little strips of some of the items and added to the front of my toaster and tea maker machines. 

Then a few years ago a friend asked me to make her son a runner for his new house.  She liked the original one I made but I didn't think that was a good fit with the things he liked.  He had just come off a summer of working with a custom combine crew in the mid-west and also loves to hunt so I pulled up the filet crochet computer program and started playing with ideas.  Needless to say it was a big hit!!  Has been very popular on my Ravelry and Etsy pages as well!!  I made myself one to hang over the edge of a shelf on our TV.  

Then a few years ago the idea popped into my head to incorporate all these things and a few more into a large wall hanging.  It took me 3 months.... (size 60 thread and size 13 hook) counting ripping out mistakes.... to get it done!!  I'm pretty happy with the results, tho!!  I added into this one also a drill and called it Fall on the Farm.  I tried to incorporate all the things that happen in the fall of the year.  I don't have a pattern available for this particular design, it was a job enough just making it the first time!!  So if I ever do make it up for sale I'll post the info but for right now it's just mine.  

So as you can see there are many possibilities of things you can make using the filet crochet technique with a little graph paper or a nice easy computer program that actually shows you what the finished item will look like!!  Don't know what I ever did without it!!