I'd like to start work on a bonsai dwarf crabapple. Do any of you have an
idea of which variety to use?

Some of the specially bred dwarf crabapples may not be suitable for bonsai. I
tried 'Camelot.' What makes it a dwarf is very close internodes. However, the
leaves are huge. Also, you want to avoid a graft if possible.
I have a Malus 'Indian Summer,' grown on its own roots and purchased from
Bonsai West in Massachusetts.. It is disease resistant and has beautiful
lavender flowers.
I bought it in 1999. I had it in the ground for a year and a half. I had to
thread graft a branch. Last year it started looking good. This year it bloomed
but did not set fruit.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)