All Wrapped Up in Circles and Squares is the name of my latest pattern, but it also feels a bit like my mental state, at least the "all wrapped up" part. With one child in grad school and the other starting under grad, I have achieved a level-up of sorts. I'm greeting my newfound autonomy with over-eagerness, jumping into all of the projects that I have been promising myself I would do if I had a little more time. I have wrapped myself up in all of them.
Of these myriad projects, was the goal to design and publish more patterns. For starters, I had an idea to design a mandala, only to find out that they have been all the rage for at least a couple years. How did I get so out of touch? Oh well, I designed my mandala anyway. I call this the Tulip Mandala. There are subtle little flowers worked into the pattern.
After the mandala, I decided I wanted to create a lotus flower in profile. You see plenty of crocheted lotus flowers, but they are typically an overhead view. They start at the center and work their way out to the petals. Crocheting in the round lends itself to flowers made this way, but I have always loved that iconic lotus in profile, so I created an appliqué to be used as a centerpiece or embellishment. Here's my Lotus Flower Appliqué.
I guess after the lotus flower, I must have been on an applique kick, because that's when I designed my latest motif, All Wrapped Up in Circles and Squares. The inspiration for this design came from some old fashioned yarn play. I was stuck on a plane, so I pull out a hook and a skein of yarn (never leave home without the essentials) and just started to noodle or doodle or whatever it is we yarn people do. I ended up with a circle where the outer ring was a fully wrapped round of stitches. It was overlay and underlay. It had texture and what I think of as a stained glass effect, colors peeking out between lines. I did not know how I would use it, but I knew I had to turn it into something.
When I sat down to work with my new shape in earnest, I thought, "What if the circle becomes a square?" I turned my wrapped circle into a square and then I turned it back into another wrapped circle, and then again a square. It was a challenge to write, a brain teaser of sorts. It's easy to crochet in the round and it's easy to make a square, but going back and forth was something new, at least for me. In the end, I had a nice, big 10" square. Currently, I'm working on designs utilizing the All Wrapped Up in Circles and Squares motif. I'm giving the first tutorial away CAL style on Instagram. You can find all of the posts by searching #circlesandsquaresbag and you can find me on Insta @jennofwindrose
I have been crocheting my Tall Muk Luks for well over 13 years now, but making something, and writing a pattern for that same something, are two very different enterprises. I have gone through quite a few versions on my path to this final product. The Tall Muk Luks are so beloved to me that I could not bring myself to publish a pattern for them until I was truly happy with my work. The day is finally here and I am so pleased to be able to share this pattern with you! The Tall Muk Luks Pattern is available in my Etsy store and more details on the pattern can be found in the listing. It's a challenging crochet for intermediate to advanced skill levels, so if you are a beginner, find an experienced helper. I've included 27 pictures in this mammoth of a pattern to carry you through to success!
