MY HOOKY TREASURE

Sue Pinner’s treasured project is always her latest, and this summer it’s been all about North African inspiration.

As a rule, in my crochet life, I’m always looking to try a new technique or style, most of which I post to my blog to inspire others. Recently, I’d set myself the project of redecorating my new craft room and I chose a beautiful, blue Moroccan-style wallpaper. It coordinated with a Moroccan lantern I’d been given as a gift and I became really interested in North African and Islamic designs. I started to look around Pinterest to get an idea of the shapes and geometry of Arabic art and invested in two books that would inspire my crochet adventures: Islamic Geometric Patterns and Islamic Design Workbook, both by Eric Broug.

My chosen treasure to share is my Torus Scarf that I made recently and showed on my blog. A torus is an ancient geometric spiral shape that appears throughout Islamic art. The patterns are based on four, five or six (or multiples thereof) points around a circle. At first they seem complicated, but the pattern can be simplified to be used as the basis for a hexagon, circle or square. I felt like I was back at school with my geometric drawings and compass.

As my health has not been so good lately, I find it hard to crochet for long periods, so a lot of my designs are based on repeated motifs. My Torus Scarf repeats a square based around a twelve-point star or flower. Twelve squares of varying shades of blue to green make up the finished piece. I’d ordered a big bundle of blue yarn that worked perfectly for the project, as blue has been my preferred shade of late and I think the psychology of that links to my recent health issues. After a time of crocheting up to 16 hours a day, now I can only manage an hour at a time. I’m still keeping myself busy and I’ve promised my Facebook followers that I’ll share the pattern for this scarf as a thank you for their patience.

For inspiring ideas and free patterns visit Sue’s blog at shropshirescrappersuz.blogspot.com. For crochet chat and more patterns, join her Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/415936375263228