Cat Mad Crochet

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

This week we will be looking at Nigel Peake’s In the Wilds. I asked for this book for the holidays last year, and I am so glad I did. Peake has a very distinctive way of drawing and a warm and wonderful view of the rural parts of his world. I grew up in the suburbs of a small town, but I rode through the middle of nowhere parts of my state in order to get to my grandparents’ houses. Over the river and through the woods indeed. 

There really is something distinctly awe inspiring about truly rural areas where you have to wait quietly on a narrow, barely two lane road while the cows go home to their dinners. Sure you have a car and all the modern bits of life at home, but you are not home. You are in a space a bit outside of time, and it has no respect for the intricacies of modern life. Peake’s drawings represent that space in a creative and engaging way. The drawings are at once inspiring and nostalgic for me.

Of course, the drawings are happily nostalgic because I am looking with a child’s eyes. Adult me is aware that those cows might not have been treated well and then were eaten when they got too old for milking. (See, there’s the vegetarian content waiting to creep into my posts.) The people guiding them across the road might not have had good access to education or healthcare or opportunities beyond guiding cows across the road. So I’m just going to appreciate the art with a child’s whimsy and recognize that there is much more to the landscape I remember than cows and horses and the constant smell of poo.

Here are my favorite drawings:

How interesting would a triangular wrap worked in various sizes of circles and triangles look? It would be awesome! 

There is a quilt-like quality to Peake’s work. This really reminds me of a crazy quilt. 

I love triangles but often wonder how to arrange them. This layout could be very interesting to play with. Also, again with the quilt look.

This drawing fascinates me because of the squares. I struggle with using squares only in a design because I worry that it looks like some sort of tetris or lego creation. Peake uses squares of mostly the same size, but they just look interesting. Why? I think because the squares each have a different design.

Thus far in studying crocheted scarves and shawls made with an all over designs made out of squares, this is what I have learned about not making them look like tetris screens or lego builds.

1. Use different colors for each touching motif.
2. In motifs with more than one round, use a different color in the middle of each touching motif.
3. Attach the motifs with bands of a different color.
4. Don’t use squares. Yes, I know. But there it is. If you don’t use the shape that makes you unhappy with your design, it won’t make you unhappy. Enter the triangle or the hexagon. If you really want squares, couch them between octagons.

I’m going to add “use different square motifs of the same size” to my list. 

This book, and seemingly all of Peake’s others, are out of print, which is sad because his drawings are utterly enchanting. I did check my local library, but it’s not available. I mean the book is not available at the library. Musk doesn’t seem to have gotten to the library itself yet. There are copies online and likely in cute, little, used book stores. It’s worth finding one if you like his work. There’s more to see in each drawing the longer you look.