Cat Mad Crochet

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

I’m done at last! From my original inspiration of Paul Klee’s The Messenger of Autumn to a finished wrap this has been a fun creative journey! Though I scraped my plans for a marled moss stitch point to side wrap with inset flowers pretty quickly, I kept the idea of shades of teal, blue, and purple with shots of orangy yellow throughout. There’s just something about that color combination that really appeals to me. I am so happy with the final project. 

I enjoyed the process of taking a high art piece (especially a work by Klee who is one of my favorites) and using his idea of blocks of color and a contrast color pop to forge my own project. I am really happy I went with motifs instead of blocks of color because I think it makes better use of crochet as a craft than flat blocks would have. I am still not sold on all of the colors (That’s right Bobby Blue. I never did like you and you are not going to find yourself used again anytime soon.), but I think the overall effect works well. It makes me think of a peaceful pond with little koi fish swimming around.

And that idea makes me very happy because then I can argue that this is a work of abstraction. It’s not non-objective blocks of color aesthetically arranged. Nope. This is a work of abstraction, albeit an abstraction of an image that lives only in my head. Whatever. I’m going to play happily with the term in the sandbox of my mind, and it will bring me joy, the term and the sandbox.  

I’ve been reading about and watching documentaries and lectures detailing the Abstract Design in American Quilts exhibition that took place at the Whitney in the 1970s and the retrospective that toured in 2020. I think it’s high time crochet had a space in this conversation. There are lots of people out there working in abstract (though I would really argue for non-objective) ways that are of a family with quilt top design. From Sophie Digard to Amanda Perkins to lots of others, the intricate play of color and design elevates crochet from “that craft with the granny squares” to a fascinating opportunity to create our own abstract works of color using various stitch patterns and motifs. I enjoyed dipping my toes in!

If you would like to try this project for yourself, I have attached my notes, which include thoughts on how to make the project your own using my basic motif pattern. If you give it a try, drop me a picture. I would love to see how your project turns out. If you have questions, get in touch and I will do my best to answer them!

If you would like to read more about my creative process and the process of making this wrap, you can read the whole series of blog posts under the Charlotte Wrap heading.