Crochet a Lacy Medallion

The Anatomy of Openwork

Where solid medallions are about filling space, openwork medallions are about creating it. The two primary tools in your design kit for this are simple stitches and chain spaces.

• Structural Stitches (the "Spokes"): These are typically simple, tall stitches like the double crochet (dc) or treble crochet (tc). They form the radial structure of your medallion, like spokes on a wheel.
• Chain Spaces (the "Gaps"): These are the chains worked between the structural stitches. They are what create the open, lacy effect. The length of your chain spaces is a major design lever.

To get a feel for these foundational tools, especially in the context of retro patterns, let's turn to a wonderful resource from the early 20th century.

The Geometry of Openwork Expansion

Just like with the solid medallion, our primary technical challenge is keeping the work flat. The circumference of the circle must increase with each round. In openwork, we achieve this by manipulating our spokes and gaps.

You have three primary methods to ensure your openwork medallion expands correctly:

1. Increase the Number of Spokes: You can double the number of structural stitches from one round to the next.
2. Increase the Length of the Gaps: You can add more chains to the spaces between your spokes.
3. Use a Combination: Employ both strategies across different rounds for more complex effects.

Let's illustrate with a basic "spoke and wheel" design, starting with a chain loop foundation:

• Round 1: Ch 4 (counts as 1 tc, 1 ch-1 sp), [1 tc, ch 1] 7 times into the ring. Join to 3rd ch of starting ch-4.
  • Result: 8 spokes (tc) and 8 gaps (ch-1).
• Round 2 (Increase Spokes): Sl st into first ch-1 sp. Ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), [1 dc, ch 2] in same space. [2 dc, ch 2] in each ch-1 sp around. Join.
  • Result: We've doubled our spokes to 16, separated by ch-2 gaps.
• Round 3 (Increase Gaps): Sl st to first ch-2 sp. Ch 3 (counts as 1 dc). [1 dc, ch 3] in same space. [2 dc, ch 3] in each ch-2 sp around. Join.
  • Result: We've kept the same number of spoke-groups (8 groups of 2 dc) but increased the gap length to ch-3, creating a more open web.

The mathematical principles you learned in the last lesson still apply: the total length of all stitches and chains in a round must approximate the circumference ($C=\pi \times d$). However, with openwork, it's often more practical to rely on visual confirmation. After each round, lay your work flat. If it cups, you need more stitches or longer chains. If it ruffles, you have too many.

Case Study: Deconstructing Vintage Motifs

Now let's apply this thinking to analyze some authentic vintage designs. The variety in openwork is vast, and seeing it in practice is the best way to learn.

The Priscilla book offers fantastic, bite-sized motifs that demonstrate different approaches to openwork centers.

Let's break down what the designer did in these examples:

• Figure 19: This motif creates an 8-pointed star using chain loops.

  • Round 1: (ch 5, p, ch 4, miss 1, 1 dc) repeated 8 times. This round doesn't create spokes, but rather 8 large, decorative loops.
  • Round 2: (ch 5, p, ch 4, 1 dc in next loop). The second round builds upon the first, working into the loops created previously. This is a common technique for creating very lacy, net-like fabrics.

• Figure 24: This is a classic "spoke and wheel" design, very similar to our earlier example.

  • Round 1: ch 5, 9 tc each separated by 2 ch. This creates 10 spokes (the initial ch-3 of the ch-5 counts as the first tc) separated by ch-2 gaps. A very clear and geometric start.
  • Round 2: work 4 dc under each 2 ch. Instead of more openwork, this round fills in the gaps. This is a brilliant design choice to create a solid band of stitches, providing a stable foundation for the next section of the doily (which, in this case, are picot loops).

These examples show that there isn't one single way to design an openwork center. You can create spokes, loops, or a combination of techniques to achieve different visual effects.

Charting the Void: Representing Openwork

Your preference for hand-charting is perfectly suited to these designs. An openwork chart is often less cluttered than a solid one, but it requires precision in depicting the chain stitches.

Let's look at a modern chart for a doily with an openwork center.

In this chart, you can clearly see the design choices:

• Round 1: A "spoke and wheel" with 12 spokes (tc) and 12 gaps (ch-2).
• Round 2: The designer adds complexity by working front-post stitches around the spokes of Round 1, with chains in between. This adds texture while maintaining the open feel.
• Round 3: A "shell" of (2 tc, ch 1, 2 tc) is worked into the chain spaces from the previous round, dramatically increasing the stitch count to prepare for the next phase of the design.

When you draft your own charts, remember:

• Use your radial grid lines for the main structural stitches (the spokes).
• Drape the chain stitch symbols (○ or •) gracefully between the spokes. The number of chain symbols must be correct.
• The beauty of an openwork chart is in its clarity and the rhythm of its positive and negative space.

Conclusion

Today, you've learned to approach doily design from a new perspective, focusing on creating elegance and lightness through openwork. By mastering the interplay of simple stitches and chain spaces, you've unlocked a core component of retro doily architecture.

Key Takeaways:

• Openwork medallions are built from structural "spoke" stitches (like dc or tc) and "gap" stitches (chains).
• Flatness is maintained by systematically increasing the circumference, either by adding more spokes or by lengthening the chain gaps.
• Vintage patterns demonstrate a wide variety of openwork techniques, from simple spoke-and-wheel designs to complex netting and loop structures.
• Effectively charting an openwork design requires accurately representing both the stitches and the negative space created by the chains.

In our next and final lesson of this module, we will bring everything together. You will chart a complete center medallion of about 5 rounds, making deliberate choices about the foundation, stitch style (solid or openwork), and increase strategy to create a finished, ready-to-test component of your doily design.