Develop the idea
After making the sketches and choosing the yarn, I was curious how my idea would look in real life. Of course you can think of it very nicely in your head and on paper, but will it look like this when you start crocheting? That's why I started making some test pieces first. Patches of about 12 x 12 cm, so that I could see the effect of the different mosaic techniques and to practice with this technique right away.
I started with inset mosaic. With this method you work with single crochets, chain stitches and double crochets and you turn the work. In the back row you work the same stitches as in the forward row, in the same color. Because you always take the threads upwards, you have very few thread ends. That's why I preferred this method, you certainly get that, don't you?! When I finished sample 1, I was not satisfied. I thought the squares looked 'sharp'. I think this is because I use a slightly thicker yarn, so the stitches are a bit coarser. But what would happen if I started working in the back loops, instead of the whole stitch? I tried this out with test piece 2. The squares became a bit tighter, but it still looked a bit messy.
Let me try the overlay mosaic technique, I decided. You work with single crochets and double crochets, mainly in the back loop. You work the double crochets in the front loops, so that they lie on the work. With this technique you cut the thread after each row and start each time on the right side with a new color. This gives you a lot of thread ends. I had already seen on videos that you can nicely hide these thread ends by crocheting a double edge. So you don't have to fasten off all those threads, that makes a difference. I would have to find out how that works exactly with a double edge crochet. With test piece 3 I first wanted to see what that would look like. For that I picked up leftovers of the same yarn, in different colors. I thought it was a pity to use the yarn intended for the design for this. While I can still easily remove the inset test pieces and reuse them. I noticed that the squares looked a lot tighter with this method, only they looked more like rectangles than squares. I also found the color Ivory too present. Just make a fourth test piece, then. I'll keep going until I'm completely satisfied, haha. Instead of 1 double crochet, I have now crocheted 2 double crochets next to each other, so that the squares on the sides are a bit thicker. This is more like it, this is going to be it!
The design
Now I can get started with the final design. I want to make a cushion of 40 x 40 cm, so I first calculated how many stitches I need and how the pattern will work out nicely. I took all the balls and supplies with me on holiday and between the trips I started crocheting. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with all those wire ends. I could already think about that. Maybe it's nice to leave them on, like some sort of fringe. I can even think of that when I've made the back. After I had crocheted a few rows, I was more and more satisfied and the color combination also made me happy. The back of the work also looks funny and neat, you get a nice stripe pattern. I took my notebook with me on vacation, so I could make some notes for the pattern right away. Very handy if I want to work out the pattern later. I noticed that mosaic crochet is really addictive to do, after every row you feel like crocheting another row. I also got all kinds of ideas for other color combinations. So there is a good chance that I will make another cushion in other colors.
I already have an idea for the back of the pillow. I think it would be fun to make that look different from the front. So I'm not going to use the mosaic technique again for the back. This way I can turn the pillow around every now and then, for a slightly different look. But the back must of course match the style and appearance of the front. Because I think the front has something retro, I was thinking about granny squares. These squares were popular in the 1970s. Nowadays they are completely hip again and you see them popping up regularly in the fashion world. They have been popular in the crochet world for a long time; always fun to make granny squares, right?! It also fits nicely with my vintage rattan chair for which I want to make the cushion. I just made 2 grannys with different sizes of crochet hooks, to see how big they would be and if I would end up with the size of the pillow. I thought it would be nice to put them together with the color Brick, for the contrast. That gives a nice effect, I think.
I'm going to have a good time with it. Next time I'll tell you what I ended up doing with the border and the thread ends, and I'll show you the end result!
Until the next blog!
Eline