HOOKY TREASURE
The British seaside has always been a favourite place for Zoë Potrac, but it also inspired a crucial crochet design
This cushion is called White Horses, and is my treasured project. It was designed with a lovely colour gradient to resemble the white peaks of waves (the ‘white horses’) crashing to shore. This was the first pattern I ever had published and it gave me confidence to build a small business designing crochet patterns.
I first tried crochet when I was very small with my grandma. She taught me how to do a chain stitch and I spent many happy hours making doilies, which on reflection looked a bit more like tangled spaghetti, but I was having a great time!
Like many people, there was a big gap between these first experiences and the next time I picked up a hook as an adult, with my mother-in-law ably teaching me how to make a granny square for the first time. My interest grew as I kept discovering more new stitches and ways to use crochet, and soon I was making up my own projects as I went along. I wouldn’t particularly call myself a rule breaker, but my ability to follow a pattern to the letter was always overwhelmed by a desire to just add a bit here or change something there. As my confidence grew, I realised I could actually write the patterns myself, but it wasn’t until a chance encounter with someone who worked in the magazine industry that it occurred to me I could turn my hobby into a job. Over the last five years or so I’ve been one of those lucky people who gets to do their hobby for a living. I’ll always be so thankful for being given that first chance to follow my dream.
As well as being special because it’s my first design, this cushion pattern also reflects my love of the seaside. I am so fortunate in to live in the UK as here we are never more than a couple of hours from the coast, and it is important that I never leave it too long between visits (I really missed my trips during lockdown). For me, nothing beats a leisurely walk along the sea front in the fresh breeze with an ice cream in my hand, or sitting in a café with proper fish and chips watching the waves roll in. All this whilst being inspired for my next crochet project, of course! The pattern for this cushion is on Zoë’s Etsy shop, ZoePotrac. Find her on Instagram at @zoepotrac and www.zoepotrac.com