Inspiration
This Roman Aqueduct project is perfect for anyone who is just learning to crochet and wants a lot of practice. I hate following patterns in crochet, and am actually very, very bad at making my loops even and uniform. To make the aqueduct the outside measurements have to be precise. However, the actual crochet loops represent the stones used in building the aqueduct, which are all different sizes and shapes. Because the Romans built the aqueduct using only stones, without using any sort of cement or glue to hold it together (!), I thought I should construct my aqueduct using only yarn, with no items to stabilize it or give it shape (!!). In the end, I did have to use some stabilizing structures, (there is a limit to what yarn can do, after all) but there is very little, and your aqueduct will end up being about 95 percent pure yarn.
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This Roman Aqueduct project is perfect for anyone who is just learning to crochet and wants a lot of practice. I hate following patterns in crochet, and am actually very, very bad at making my loops even and uniform. To make the aqueduct the outside measurements have to be precise. However, the actual crochet loops represent the stones used in building the aqueduct, which are all different sizes and shapes. Because the Romans built the aqueduct using only stones, without using any sort of cement or glue to hold it together (!), I thought I should construct my aqueduct using only yarn, with no items to stabilize it or give it shape (!!). In the end, I did have to use some stabilizing structures, (there is a limit to what yarn can do, after all) but there is very little, and your aqueduct will end up being about 95 percent pure yarn.
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Signing UpStep 1: Before You Start
Materials :
6 skeins of dark grey yarn
3 meters of very dark grey or black yarn
10 meters of a strong, sturdy and lightweight support material (will be explained in a later step)
crochet hook
a lot of old cardboard
1 large cardboard box
hot glue gun
straight pins
heavy-duty scissors
craft scissors
towel
wax paper
3 bottles of liquid starch
large tub
bowl
1 bottle of spray starch
bottles of liquor
heavy books
empty juice boxes
4 thin dowels that are at least 80 cm long
ruler
Things to remember throughout the whole project:
1. Don't worry about assembling all of the materials right away. All you need to begin is yarn. You can work on putting the rest of the things together as you progress through the project. Also, don't worry about using exacly the same materials as I did. You should be able to find things around your house or at the dollar store that will serve the same pupose, although they aren't exactly what I used. I tried my hardest to reuse things that I already had
2. The size of the crocheted pieces is very important. When the pieces are starched and stretched, they will lose their original dimensions. You can either crochet an extra 2 cm (aprox) before starching or after starching. I found that adding extra before starching was much less annoying. All of the dimensions provided are what you will need for the final size.
3. After achieving the perfect shape to your arches never , ever think, "Ok! Perfect! I'll just spray this down with liquid starch so that it's extra strong". All you will do is make the arch wet and cause it to completely lose its shape. Do, however, use the spray starch liberally while the pieces are still on their starching bases. Whenever I had something drying, I would periodically touch it, and when I felt that a piece was dry but not very hard, I would use the spray starch.
6 skeins of dark grey yarn
3 meters of very dark grey or black yarn
10 meters of a strong, sturdy and lightweight support material (will be explained in a later step)
crochet hook
a lot of old cardboard
1 large cardboard box
hot glue gun
straight pins
heavy-duty scissors
craft scissors
towel
wax paper
3 bottles of liquid starch
large tub
bowl
1 bottle of spray starch
bottles of liquor
heavy books
empty juice boxes
4 thin dowels that are at least 80 cm long
ruler
Things to remember throughout the whole project:
1. Don't worry about assembling all of the materials right away. All you need to begin is yarn. You can work on putting the rest of the things together as you progress through the project. Also, don't worry about using exacly the same materials as I did. You should be able to find things around your house or at the dollar store that will serve the same pupose, although they aren't exactly what I used. I tried my hardest to reuse things that I already had
2. The size of the crocheted pieces is very important. When the pieces are starched and stretched, they will lose their original dimensions. You can either crochet an extra 2 cm (aprox) before starching or after starching. I found that adding extra before starching was much less annoying. All of the dimensions provided are what you will need for the final size.
3. After achieving the perfect shape to your arches never , ever think, "Ok! Perfect! I'll just spray this down with liquid starch so that it's extra strong". All you will do is make the arch wet and cause it to completely lose its shape. Do, however, use the spray starch liberally while the pieces are still on their starching bases. Whenever I had something drying, I would periodically touch it, and when I felt that a piece was dry but not very hard, I would use the spray starch.
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The article will be a slideshow of photos of unusual craft projects, and it is to complement an article we have about guerrilla knitting.:
http://lifestyle.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8244625
If you could let me know by as soon as possible, that would be great.
Thanks and regards!
You can use my project in your article, no problem.
let me know when it is published and I'll check out this guerrilla knitting page in the meantime.
Why???
Ill be honest, I've never followed / learned crochet but the effort and uniqueness of the structure has made me sign up just to post saying: "WOW"
This is the page I used the first time I visited Segovia and the details on the aqueduct are interesting as the photo inside the arch gives a different perspective of the ever narrowing layers:
http://www.uniquespain.com/segovia-aqueduct.html
you now have five stars.
F V S A S
I E T R
★★★★★