(This post is part of my Year of Projects: Crochet Master Class series. You can read the other posts in this series here.)
I just have a quick update today, since I’m packing after celebrating Mother’s Day with my mom to get ready for my vacation. I finally finished my painted crochet trivet!
When you last saw my trivet, it looked like this:

I ended up choosing a relatively dark orange and a red from the collection of solid embroidery floss I had on hand.

Then I did another round with both strands of red.

I really wanted to end as I started, with rounds of double crochet instead of single. But I just didn’t have enough of the embroidery floss. At this point, I just said to myself, “This is a trivet, not a wearable. Just finish the thing already.”

I still have to weave in the ends and block it. (Yes, I am blocking a trivet. It’s for me and I want it to look right! With all the different threads, stitches, and tensions I combined as I tried to make a rainbow of color on this trivet, it ruffled quite a bit.)
So, what did I learn about painted crochet from this experience? Well, it is much easier to do than it looks. Basically it is just a matter of holding multiple strands of a thread, embroidery floss, or thin yarn to make slow color effects.
On the other hand, it requires a fair amount of planning, since the impact of the color changes is dependent on you have the right amounts for each color change. I don’t see myself using the technique frequently because I don’t really like buying a lot of supplies which are mostly unused. But I definitely will be making some more scrappy trivets with my embroidery floss – I have way too much and so rarely embroider.