CROCHET QUILTS – no guilt

I used to be a quilter. Occasionally, I still get the ‘itch’ to pull out my fabric, scissors, and needle and whip one up. Last time I did that, I spent the entire day at it and ended up with a small wall hanging that found a home with a friend. I just went out to my front yard, gathered leaves from several different trees to use as templates for appliques, cut my fabric and hand stitched the whole works together. It was so satisfying.

Now that I’m a dedicated, dyed in the wool crocheter, I have discovered that I can combine my l0ve of quilting with my love of crochet. All it takes is your crochet skills and some knowledge of geometry – or at least the ability to crochet squares, triangles, etc and join them. There are a number of free patterns for this technique, but this is one you can certainly try on your own with no pattern. Great for using up scraps too.

Here are a few ideas.

Nine Patch is one of the most basic and commonly made quilts. Here’s how you can crochet one:

http://happyyellowhouse.com/htm/baby9patch.html

Another ever-popular design, especially this time of year, is the Wedding Ring. Here it is in crochet:

http://www.coatsandclark.com/NR/rdonlyres/A645C5B1-1501-46EE-9B8A-3C65C6650015/71959/WT1648.pdf

And, here’s another classic, especially designed for those among us who actually ENJOY joining motifs!!

http://www.happyyellowhouse.com/htm/swmed.html

These are just some ideas. Of course, there are other resources online and in books and magazines. But, try one on your own. Find a quilt pattern you like, grab your yarn scraps, and make one for yourself or another.

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Knitwear designers can get inspiration from almost anything when it comes to re-creating a color scheme, an image or a texture in stitches. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t always obvious in the finished project, but sometimes it’s more literal.

That’s the way it is with the Tin Ceiling Blanket from Purl Soho. Not just because the inspiration is in the name, but if you’ve ever seen one of these old ceilings you can see that the design of the blanket is quite similar to the pattern of the tin tiles.

This is also a good example of the idea that you don’t have to use fancy stitch patterns or lots of color to make a big impact with your knits. This single-color blanket (designed by Gianna Mueller and inspired by a washcloth and towel set designed by Sandi Rosner) is made completely with knits and purls, other than slipped stitches at the beginning of rows to make neater edges.

The pattern is written out row by row, but there’s also a chart, which means this project is a great opportunity to practice reading a chart where you can check your work against the written pattern if you need to.

It comes in two sizes, a crib blanket and a throw. The yarn used in the sample is an organic cotton sold by the cone, which is a great way to get a large quantity of yarn and have fewer ends to weave in. In fact, you can knit either size of the blanket with just one cone of yarn, which isn’t inexpensive but makes you a great, sturdy, heirloom quality but still washable blanket you’ll use for years to come. (Of course you can use any sport weight yarn you like to make this blanket.)

Check out all the details and grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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