A new design
Coming up with and making a new design, very nice but where do you start?! Now I don't often wonder that lately. I'm in a creative flow and I've been popping up with all kinds of ideas lately. If you are looking for inspiration for something to make or perhaps also for your own design, first think about who you would like to make something for. Something nice for yourself or a present for someone else? Do you want something you can always use or is it seasonal? I get inspiration from different things. This can be from nature, for example from the colours, shapes, structures of flowers, leaves and insects. I also regularly view fashion and interior images, for example on Pinterest, Instagram and Google. There you will come across all sorts of designs and mood pictures. I also love images from the past with retro prints. Sometimes I see nice color combinations or beautiful shapes passing by and I get ideas in my head, which I then get to work with. What can also help is to occasionally browse through the crochet bible (s), there are so many beautiful stitches in it, which can also inspire you. The most important thing is that you stay close to yourself and make something that you like, of course, or that you put your own spin on things and create your own style.
pillow
This time I didn't have to think long about what I want to make. I got a text from my uncle that he was cleaning up. He had a rattan chair in the house that belonged to his parents (my grandparents) and he asked if I had any interest in it. Yes super fun! Those rattan chairs are totally hip again and so nice that the chair was still in my grandpa and grandma's house. It will have a nice spot in the hobby room! We want to make a work / hobby room, where we can also chill with a book or crochet. You can do that in the rattan chair. I knew right away that I wanted to make a cushion for the chair. And how nice is it to design it yourself?!
I didn't have to think long about the look, how the pillow should look like. We have an (old) valve sofa in the living room with lots of cushions on it, including a cushion with blocks, a bit of a retro look, in my favorite colours. I bought this a few years ago and I'm still happy with it (the photo shows the rattan chair with the cube cushion). I do like graphic prints with a touch of retro. Could I make something like that too? In the previous blog I wrote that I like to challenge myself and try out new stitches/techniques. The cube cushion gave me the idea to try mosaic crocheting, I have never done this before. This technique is very suitable for graphic patterns. Lately I've seen a lot of nice creations with the mosaic technique, I got curious about this. I first started searching on Google and started reading about it, I also watched some videos on Youtube. It seems harder than it is, so I must be able to do it, I thought. You mainly use basic stitches with which you can make beautiful patterns. I found out that there are different ways to crochet mosaic. Inset mosaic and overlay mosaic. If you like it, Google these techniques to read and see the difference between them. Wolplein has also written an interesting blog about this.
Sketch
Now that I've become a bit wiser about the Mosaic technique, I first started making some sketches in my notebook, playing with shapes and puzzling with the order. First in the colors of the cube cushion and then in a different color combination. In any case, I want to use a different color combination for my own design, something with a cheerful, fresh look. I started on the right page, then the left and on the next page the other color combination. The sketches may look jumbled to an outsider. By making these sketches, I came up with an idea every time and kept going until I was satisfied. And what I came up with must also be possible, of course. I am curious how the idea I sketched will look like in a crocheted version.
In the meantime I was already thinking about what kind of yarn I would like to use. Yarn that doesn't fluff and/or split easily, a somewhat thicker thread that is a bit firm and preferably something that you can also put in the washing machine. I still had some leftovers from Durable cozy fine, I had already worked with that and that seems suitable for the pillow. I went to see what colors there are of this yarn, plenty of choice! I chose the colors Ivory, Peach and Deep Fuchsia, I thought that was a sparkling combination, beautiful for a contemporary retro cushion. To be on the safe side, I added a scoop of Brick. Nice for the border, for example. And I already had in mind that I want to make two different sides for the pillow, probably not twice the mosaic technique, but something that goes well with it. I'll have to experiment with this for a while, more on that next time. Now that I have the yarn at home, I can first make test pieces and try out the different mosaic techniques. Let's see what the effect is. Are you also curious? I'll write about it in the next blog!
Creative greetings,
Eline