I have released a new crochet blanket kit via the Janie Crow web site. The project is called Persian Tiles and the design is based on my 2013 Crochet Club project, which in turn was based on Persian and Moroccan architecture, ceramics and textile design.
The pattern for the 2013 Crochet Club is no longer available as it was an exclusive design for club members only. We are asked for the pattern and kit all the time, but will not be releasing it as this would be unfair to club members who committed to the exclusivity of the project, however, because of the demand for the kit, I decided it would be a good idea to revisit the design theme and so set about designing a new blanket.
Following the success of The Lily Pond Blanket I decided to use the Stylecraft Life DK in order to get the right mix of shades at a really attractive retail price. I used elements from the central star of the Crochet Club project to design an octagonal shaped piece as the starting point for the project. The step by step images I took along the way are all in the 12 page printed pattern which comes as part of the kit.
Following the success of The Lily Pond Blanket I decided to use the Stylecraft Life DK in order to get the right mix of shades at a really attractive retail price. I used elements from the central star of the Crochet Club project to design an octagonal shaped piece as the starting point for the project. The step by step images I took along the way are all in the 12 page printed pattern which comes as part of the kit.
Once I had designed the octagonal piece I wanted to make a square tile to complete the design. I tried designing a load of square motifs, but nothing seemed to fit the design, so in the end I resorted to making a Granny Square in order to look at colours and to get a break from designing squares from scratch. Very quickly I found that with a bit of a twist I could make the traditional square fit this design really well and I am incredibly pleased with the effect that the crossed stitches have on the Granny Square motif.
Some of you may already know that I try my very hardest not to use existing crochet motifs within my work and that I always try to design my projects from scratch. To be honest, one of my 'crochet hates' is anything made from Granny Squares, despite the fact that I find them incredibly satisfying to make, so it was a real surprise fro me to find that the square fitted perfectly into this design.
Another one of my pet hates (in most cases) is crochet designs which let the shape of the crochet piece dictate the design. Many crochet motifs are hexagonal or octagonal and, whilst the tessellation that these shapes can produce always has me so excited, I think it is a real cop out when patterns do not provide half or quarter shapes in order to make a completed project square or rectangular and therefore logical in terms of shapes fit for purpose. This pet hate has a major downside for me, as designing half or quarter motifs is never very easy, but in the end I managed to come up with pieces which make the design square!
Having just said that about fill in shapes I have to say that my lovely friend Jo Smith would totally disagree with me! Jo really loves the edges that tessellated shapes leave you with and she uses her edges in a really lovely way! You can find a link to her Etsy shop here and the image below is of one of her beautiful blankets.
If you like the look of Jo's design, keep your eye on the Janie Crow web site in the autumn as we are very excited to be able to tell you that we have just commissioned her to create a design for us!
The new Persian Tiles blanket is available in 2 colour ways - the original one, which is pictured directly below and in all the step by step images and we have just put together a kit in a light blue colour way.
We have the choice of kits in Life DK at £38.50 and Special DK at £26.50 and can find more information about the kit on our web site.
The demand for the kit has already been incredible and we are doing our best to update stock as often as we can, so if you look and the kit is showing out of stock, do check back every couple of days to see if we have had new stock in.
Please note that the design is not currently available as a pattern only option.
We have a lot of exciting things to look forward to over the next few weeks (despite the fact that we seem to be fast tracking it into the autumn!) so please keep an eye on what we are doing. You can sign up to our weekly/fortnightly newsletters by submitting your details via our web site home page, or by following the link via Facebook.
Hope you have a lovely weekend! I think I have a ton of housework on the horizon as I have neglected my little home for far too long and now that the spiders appear to be creeping in, I think I need to take action!
Jx