Miniature Dragon Egg Dice Bags

These little wonders were created specifically for a challenge over on Lettuce Craft.  My friend PerfectlyBohemian, who mods the Art Board, challenged us all to miniaturize our favorite crafts.  Are you kidding?  You want me to Miniaturize My Craft?  Well buckle up Buttercup.  I've got a teeny tiny craft just for you!

 

When I saw this challenge, I was so intrigued with the idea, but I had no idea what to make.  After kicking around some ideas with crafty friends, I realized one of the things I'm known for crocheting is dragon egg dice bags.  And in my jewelry making stash, I just happened to have some itty bitty aluminum scales.

I whipped out my smallest crochet hook, and some lace weight silk yarn and got to experimenting.  My normal sized dice bags are made with 144 'small' sized scales, that each measure 14mm x 22mm (or 9/16" x 7/8"), and use #4 or Medium weight yarn and a 5mm crochet hook, and are finished with glass pony beads, about 1cm wide.  The finished full size bags measure 12cm tall (or 4.5").

The miniature bags were made with 27 'tiny' sized scales that measure 7mm x 11mm (or 1/4" x 7/16"), and used a #0 or Lace weight yarn and a 2.25mm crochet hook, and are finished with 4mm Swarovski crystal beads.  The finished bag measures 3cm tall and 2.5cm wide (or 1.5" x 1").

One of the only problems I encountered was that the hook didn't fit through the hole in the tiny scales.  The pattern I use for the full size bags calls for you to crochet through the scales, to attach them to the bag.  Since that wasn't an option here, I sewed them on.  I crocheted 2 rows beyond the row I wanted to add the scales to, then went back and stitched them, so that the thread wouldn't accidentally catch the yarn, or I wouldn't accidentally sew a stitch closed, that I needed to get a hook back into.

Each finished bag is about the size of a standard D20, though one doesn't really comfortably inside.  I knew that in order to display the tiny bags, they would need tiny dice.  But I was just not up for making itty bitty polyhedral shapes.  I felt sure that way madness lies.  So I picked up some 5mm micro dice from a maker on Etsy.  I adore how cute they are with my bags!