WEEK 2: Sundial

My original plan for my sundial was to use color-changing nail polish to create a sundial that would change colors throughout the day. Sadly, there was no sun all weekend and I wasn’t able to test the polish (to see if it even worked), so I bailed on that idea. 

The idea I went with was to use a medium I love - crochet - to make a soft sundial. Typically, sundials are full of sharp edges and exact points, and I liked the idea of using soft, squishy materials to make one. 

First, I downloaded a template that I hung on my window, and started to think about how I could recreate this shape with crochet.


I made myself a pattern in Google Sheets, where one square represents one single crocht stitch. I made two of the yellow blocks and two of the green triangles.





I tried two methods of making the lines for each hour. On the left, I did a backstitch, which ended up looking a little messy. On the right I just did one line across from the origin to the outside for each line. While the one on the left is more secure, I like the look of the one on the right more. I ended up redoing the first one. I kind of eyeballed it for where the lines should be. 



I sewed the 2 triangles together and then sewed all of the pieces together.


I addded a scalloped border to clean it up. It was at this point I realized it kind of looks like a butterfly, and I wonder what it would look like if I leaned into that more. Maybe another time. I added a wooden dowel and hung it using a long chain of stitches. 


I wasn’t able to test how well it works because it’s been cloudy and rainy all weekend. I am curious to see how much light gets through it. I used cotton yarn, and acrylic might have been a better option for light diffusion, but it’s not as sturdy as cotton. Guess we’ll see!

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Bonus


This is a diagram drawn by my friend Libby - this is how she pictures the days of the week and the calendar year in her mind. She says this is how she has pictured it her whole life.