In 2019 I saw pictures posted across some of my FB feeds of mosaic crochet. I had never heard of mosaic crochet before and decided to investigate this new technique that produced a piece with a picture, just like tapestry crochet. I soon came across the Floral Elegance Throw that was being released as a CAL in August 2019 and which would be free for the duration of the CAL. I was immediately drawn to the design which featured a single tulip motif as the central element of the design, and, being a lover of all things floral, I just had to attempt it, even though I had no clue how to do mosaic crochet. At that stage (2019) mosaic crochet was not the rave that it is currently and there was not the help available that there is now. Since then I have found so many videos and patterns springing up everywhere.
The mosaic technique is also complicated by the fact that there are different ways of doing mosaic crochet as I only found out later. Some ways are:
Overlay or single row mosaic - one row per colour, only ever working from right to left (if you're right-handed) and cutting the yarn at the end of each row. This leaves you with a huge amount of tails which you can either braid, work in or hide in a double border. Designers I have come across who use this technique are Tinna Thorudottir, Lissa Conley and Ashlee Brotzell. Martin of martinupnorth has also started designing overlay patterns.
Inset or double row mosaic - two rows per colour (so you are turning your work) and carrying the yarn up the sides, therefore, very few tails (a crocheter's nemesis) to work in. Designers I have seen who use this technique are Martin Up North, Mikey from The Crochet Crowd, Tatsiana Kuprianchyk and Yarnspirations.
Mosaic in the round - mosaic done starting off as a circle. Annemarie Joubert-Esterhuizen, one of our local South African designers often uses this technique. I am hoping to make either her Halime Mosaic Throw or Harmony Tablecloth using this method.
Before attempting the throw, it was suggested to do the practice piece which I duly completed in April 2019. As you can see, there are many tails, even with such a small piece - imagine the tails when you have a piece of over 200 rows!
When I subsequently started the CAL, I just picked up some quite cheap yarn we get in South Africa called Elle Charity, a #3 weight yarn (DK), in the solid colours peacock and white. How glad I was when I saw how beautifully it worked up and how well it worked having the tulip motif in the peacock against the white backdrop.
I had finished it on the June 4 2020, having taken a long break from working on it. I had been suffering from numb and tingling fingers (thought I had carpal tunnel syndrome from crocheting too much and therefore resting my hand) and I had also noticed a mistake about 17 rows down - horrors! This really put me off from picking it up again, but it just kept winking at me from where I had thrown it over the back of a sofa. Eventually during lockdown, I decided enough was enough, and started the task of sorting out the mistake first. Fortunately my mistake was close to the end of the row which meant that I could undo each of the 17 or so rows about 20 stitches in and correct the mistake, then redo the subsequent rows. This is one of the beauties of overlay mosaic. This only works, though, if the mistake is not too far in from the end of the row, otherwise it is not really worth it.
I also decided to enclose the tails in Tinna's double border as I did not like the idea of just leaving the tails as a fringe or even braiding them. The double border certainly challenged my patience - working all the slip stitches was not fun! I am very pleased, though, that I chose to do this, as I think it makes the throw look really professional. The double border provides a good frame to the design.
I have not yet attempted to do any another mosaic design, but would really like to make something using the two row/inset method as well. Perhaps one way would be to make the Spice Market blanket by Mark Roseboom as there are a few rows of inset mosaic incorporated into the design - what a beautiful design it is!