Welcome to Part 8 of the Peacock Plumes Afghan CAL!
This week we will create the most beautiful and wondrous part of the peacock – the Ocelli, or Eyespots. The Eyespot feathers are definitely the pinnacle of the entire afghan. These feathers are what make a peacock a peacock.
Years ago, I had a co-worker who raised peacocks on his property. He always brought us those beautiful, long Eyespot plumes that the birds would shed. I have to say, I never got tired of receiving them, and I sure do miss my work buddy and his peacock feathers.
The Eyespots that we stitch up will have a very similar shape to the real thing. However, I did take some creative license with my interpretation. I also have instructions to leave a long ending yarn tail on the last round for joining the Eyespots to the body of the afghan. I have seen many of you join the Rectrices from Part 7 with a continuous single crochet join, which added some lovely texture. I don’t think this will work with the Eyespots, as this join is a little more involved. You’ll discover all that in Part 9, when we join the Eyespots to the afghan body and then add the Border.
So for now, I hope you enjoy making these beautiful Eyespots. I played around with my Eyespots, arranged them in various ways, and admired their beauty. Once you’ve completed all 33 of your Eyespots – why don’t you do the same?
PART 8 – OCELLI (EYESPOTS)
The peacock tail contains spectacular beauty because of the large feathers, bright, iridescent colors and intricate patterns. The colors in the tail feathers are produced by an optical effect called thin-film interference. The eye pattern has a high degree of brightness and precision because the color-producing mechanisms contain an extremely high level of optimum design.
When a peacock displays his tail feathers during courtship, a magnificent ‘fan formation’ of feathers forms a beautiful backdrop to the body of the peacock. An adult peacock has an average of 200 tail feathers and these are shed and re-grown annually. Of the 200 or so feathers, about 170 are ‘eye’ feathers and 30 are ‘T’ feathers. The ‘eyes’ are sometimes referred to as ocellations.
One reason for the beauty of the displayed feathers is that they form a semi-circular fan over an angle of more than 180 degrees. The fan formation is very even because the axis of every feather can be projected back to an approximately common geometrical center. The radial alignment of feathers requires the root of each feather to be pointed with a remarkable degree of accuracy. Another remarkable feature of the displayed feathers is that they are ‘deployed’ into position by muscles in the peacock’s tail. Not only can the peacock deploy the feathers, but he can also make them vibrate and produce a characteristic hum.
Another beautiful feature of the displayed feathers is the uniform spacing of the eyes. Even though the display contains around 170 eye feathers, they are all visible and all spaced apart with a remarkable degree of uniformity. All the eyes are visible because the feathers are layered with the short feathers at the front and the longer feathers at the back. The eyes have an even spacing because each feather has the right length.
There are several beautiful features to the feather:
- Bright colors
- Intricate eye pattern
- Loose barbs below the eye pattern
- Absence of stem in the top half of eye pattern
- Narrow stem in the bottom half of eye pattern
- Brown coating of the stem near the eye pattern
The last three features in the list above are usually only noticed by very careful observers. However they represent ‘finishing touches’ which make an important contribution to the beauty of the feather. The absence of a stem in the top half of the eye is an important detail because it prevents the pattern from being divided into two sections. The stem is not needed because the barbs fan out around the top of the feather. The narrowness of the stem in the bottom half of the eye pattern is important because this makes the stem fairly obscure. The stem can be narrow because it has a deep section in the area of the eye pattern. The brown coating of the stem in the area of the eye pattern is very important because the stem is a natural white color and this would be too conspicuous for the eye pattern. It is interesting to note that the stem is white everywhere except local to the eye pattern. This strongly indicates that the brown coating near the eye pattern is a deliberate feature.
The colors in the peacock tail are particularly beautiful because they are bright and iridescent. An iridescent color is a color that changes with the angle of view. The colors are not produced by pigments but by an optical effect called thin-film interference that takes place in the barbules. In technical terms, the peacock has ‘structural colors’.
The particular beauty of the eye pattern comes from the rounded shapes that have a high degree of resolution. The ‘pupil’ of the eye is formed by a dark purple cardioid and the ‘iris’ is formed by a blue ellipsoid. These shapes are located within a pointed bronze ellipsoid that is surrounded by one or two green fringes.
Do you need yarn for this project, or to replenish your stash? Yarn kits are still available, as well as many other fine yarns for all your crochet needs.
- BeWoolen – Champlin, MN – Elysian
- Jimmy Beans Wool – Reno, NV – 220 Superwash®
- Michigan Fine Yarns – Livonia, MI – Anthem DK, 220 Superwash®, Pacific Sport®
- Simply Socks Yarn Company – Fort Wayne, IN – 220 Superwash®
- Webs – Northhampton, MA – 220 Superwash®, Pacific Sport®
- Wood & Knit Be Nice Music Studio – Papillion, NE – Anthem DK
- Wool & Company – South Elgin, IL – 220 Superwash®
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Written in US terms.
ABBREVIATIONS:
Beg = beginning
Ch/s = chain/s
Dc = double crochet
Hdc = half double crochet
Hk = hook
Lp/s = loop/s
Rem = remains
Sc = single crochet
Sk = skip/skipped
Sl st = slip stitch
Sp/s = space/s
St/s = stitch/es
Tr = treble crochet
Yo = yarn over
HOOK: Crochet hook size H / 5.0mm
FINISHED SIZE: 59” Diameter
SPECIAL STITCHES:
BegTrCl (beginning treble cluster): Ch 3, tr in same sp/st.
DcCl (double crochet cluster): Work 2 dc in same sp/st until last lp of each st rem on hk (3 lps on hk), yo and draw through all 3 lps.
Dc2tog (double crochet 2 stitches together): Yo, insert hk in st indicated, yo and pull up lp, yo and draw through 2 lps, (2 lps on hk), rep into next st indicated until 3 lps on hk, yo and draw through all lps on hk. Counts as 1 dc.
HdcCl (half double crochet cluster): Yo, insert hk into sp/st indicated, yo, pull up a lp (3 lps on hk), yo, insert hk into same sp/st, yo, pull up a lp (5 lps on hk), yo, pull through all 5 lps.
Picot2: Ch 2, sl st into sc just made.
TrCl (treble cluster): Work 2 tr in same sp/st until last lp of each st rem on hk (3 lps on hk), yo and draw through all 3 lps.
INSTRUCTIONS
Make 33 Eyespots.
Rnd 78: With B ch 5, join with sl st to form a ring, OR make a magic ring, BegTrCl in ring, ch 3, (TrCl, ch 3 in ring) 7 times, join with sl st to top of BegTrCl. Finish off. (8 TrCl, 8 ch-3)
Rnd 79: Join A with sl st to any ch-3 sp, (BegTrCl, ch 2, TrCl) in same sp, ch 2, (TrCl, ch 2, DcCl) in next ch-3 sp, ch 2, (DcCl, ch 2, DcCl) in next ch-3 sp, ch 2, (HdcCl, ch 2, HdcCl) in next ch-3 sp, 4 sc in next ch-3 sp, (HdcCl, ch 2, HdcCl) in next ch-3 sp, ch 2, (DcCl, ch 2, DcCl) in next ch-3 sp, ch 2, (DcCl, ch 2, TrCl) in next ch-3 sp, ch 2, join with sl st to top of BegTrCl. Finish off. (4 TrCl, 6 DcCl, 4 HdcCl, 4 sc, 13 ch-2)
Rnd 80: Join G with sl st to the first ch-2 sp after BegTrCl, ch 3 (count as dc), 2 dc in same sp, (3 dc in next ch-2 sp) 4 times, (4 dc in next ch-2 sp) twice, sk next HdcCl, dc in next 4 sc, dc2tog placing 1st leg in top of next HdcCl and 2nd leg in next ch-2 sp, 3 dc in same ch-2 sp, 4 dc in next ch-2 sp, (3 dc in next ch-2 sp) 4 times, (3 dc, tr) in first ch-2 sp, join with sl st to top of beg ch-3. Finish off. (50 dc, 1 tr)
Rnd 81: Join H with sl st in tr just made, ch 1, (hdc, dc, hdc) in same st, hdc in next 16 sts, (dc, ch 1, dc) in next st, hdc in next 7 sts, 2 dc in next st, ch 1, 2 dc in next st, hdc in next 7 sts, (dc, ch 1, dc) in next st, hdc in next 16 sts, join with sl st to first hdc. Finish off. (57 sts, 3 ch-1)
Rnd 82: Join C with sl st to first ch-1 sp before join (last ch-1 made), ch 1, (hdc, ch 1, hdc) in same sp (side point), hdc in next 18 sts, (hdc, dc, hdc) in next dc (top point), hdc in next 18 sts, (hdc, ch 1, hdc) in next ch-1 sp (side point), hdc in next 10 sts, (sc, picot2) in next ch-1 sp (bottom point), hdc in next 10 sts, join with sl st to first hdc. Finish off leaving a long tail for sewing – about 24″. (1 dc, 62 hdc, 2 ch-1, 1 sc, 1 picot2)
To make the surface crochet easier, weave in all ends except the long tail that will be used for joining.
Surface Crochet: Working on RS (top of piece) with D, sl st around the top of Rnd 80.
Set aside the Eyespots for Part 9. No joining this week.
I hope you are enjoying crocheting your Peacock Plumes Afghan. I would love for you to join me and crochet along with like-minded crafty folk. Here are links where you can find me:
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