Cat Mad Crochet

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I bought my copy of Edie Eckman’s Connect the Shapes Crochet Motifs over a decade ago. Crochet books have come and gone in my collection, but this one has stayed. I’m not at all surprised because Edie Eckman is a crochet master. If you read my post about crochet calculators, you’ve seen her work before. She has a really good crochet calculator that actually takes into account stitches beyond single and double crochet. So let’s look at her motif book and see why it’s still in print.

Despite being full of really fun and interesting motifs, the most valuable part of the book for those new to motifs is the 37 page guide at the beginning of the book. Eckman takes you through standard motif issues like working in the round, reading charts, joining, and weaving ends. Then she goes beyond what most crochet motif books discuss and addresses choosing yarns, why variegated yarns are tricky, center pull balls (and how to hand wind them), how to work with color even if you don’t want to learn color theory, how to continue adding rounds to the motifs presented so you have larger motifs to work with, how to combine different motifs in one project, how to use filler motifs, how to adjust motifs to make sure they join correctly, and continuous motifs. There’s even a tiny bit on freeform crochet and Irish Crochet. That first chapter is a quick workshop on motifs. Especially if you are new to motifs or looking to take your first attempts farther, the first chapter of Eckman’s book is worth the price of the book.

Then there are the 101 motifs themselves. There are some really unique and interesting motifs in this book. It starts with classic grannies, but it expands that out from granny squares to triangles to circles to hexagons, a shape theme repeated throughout the book. Eckman’s range of shapes is another real plus for this book. Squares are only the beginning.  

Each motif is presented in traditional written crochet notation and as a diagram with color changes from black to blue for each successive row. More colors would have been nicer, but too much color can be distracting, so I think this color change will work well for most people to keep the rounds clear. 

The motif contents fall out this way:

Granny Motifs – 8

Double crochet motifs – 8

Gathered chain motifs – 6

Lacy links (very open motifs composed of mostly chains) – 6

Layered mesh motifs – 7

Single and double crochet motifs – 6

All clustered (motifs with a cluster or many in them) – 7

Triple petal motifs (motifs with flower petals made from chains and double crochets) – 6

Flower center motifs – 8 (This is my favorite section)

3-D motifs – 6

Swirled motifs – 6

Radiants (star-like motifs) – 6

Picot motifs – 7

Wheel and shell based motifs – 6

Motifs created by joining smaller motifs within the framework of a larger 

motif – 8

Each of the various motif chapters also includes at least one diagram of joining one of the presented motifs that can guide you through various issues with joining motifs in that section, which also serves to present alternative ways to join motifs. Even if you don’t use her suggestions for how to arrange your motifs, the ideas she presents will definitely get you thinking about alternative ways to arrange motifs in a project.

The last section of the book is patterns. There are 11 patterns ranging from placemats and afghans to a garland and even a vest and skirt. It’s a nice place to start if you are just getting into motifs and would like to work on some tested patterns before you jump into a project of your own. 

I have nothing about this book that I would change or improve. Eckman really knows her stuff, which is why, in a world in which crochet books float out of publication rather quickly, her book is still in print and available for a reasonable price. If you can afford to buy it new, it’s a great way to support the artist. If not, used copies are out there for a little less. It’s likely available at your public library, so you can always check it out there and see if it is right for you.