Wednesday 22 July 2020

Mosaic Crochet A Quick Guide

I have written this post about Mosaic crochet for those of you who are thinking of giving it a try, or for anyone who has tried it and would like links to other resources. I will include lots of links to patterns and tutorials.
If you are looking for Christmas mosaic patterns click on my A Mosaic Christmas Post here

I just want to quickly add here that I am in no way an expert in this form of crochet but I have done a bit of research and have learnt a few things myself while doing so. I won't be explaining how to do this technique but will provide links to expert designers who can do that much better than I can

I have discovered that there is more than one type of Mosaic technique the two most common I have found are Overlay Mosaic and Inset Mosaic.  You can see the differentiation of the two here along with a link to a written tutorial. There is also a link to a new mosaic crochet group on Facebook of which I have become a member, there is lots of information on there and you can be inspired by other members makes.

Overlay Mosaic Crochet


Quick facts

  • Change colour on each row. 
  • Worked in dc and tr stitches (English Terms)
  • You work from the right side of your work and each row is worked from right to left.
  • You always work in the back loop when working the dc sts and in the front loop one row down when working the tr sts.
  • You work from a chart and there is usually but not always written instructions.
  • You are left with lots of ends which can be...
  1. Enclosed in a double border.
  2. Woven in.
  3. Left as a fringe.
  4. Made into a twisted fringe.
  5. Yarn can be added to make tassels.
This video by Tinna Thorudottir Thorvaldaris is a great beginners guide 


I have used Overlay Mosaic for these blankets...




Queen Blanket


The designer for all of these patterns is Tinna Thorudottir Thorvaldar, she has some excellent tutorials on YouTube you can find her channel here
All her patterns can be found here on Ravelry.

This is the Hope square which Tinna designed during Lockdown and is a free pattern.




I have found that most overlay crochet patterns are paid which is quite understandable  when you realise the amount of work that must go into both the written instructions and the charts that go along with them, however while writing this  I did find this free pattern for this beautiful blanket below, The designer is Moira Douglas from daisyknots the blanket was introduced as a CAL but unfortunately the links for each week are no longer available and the pattern is no longer free, but you can purchase the pattern on Ravelry see below.


on stool - 1.jpg

Her Ravelry profile with all her patterns can be found here

Another stunning design - Northern Tyles by Mark Roseboom



This is a paid design and the pattern can be found on Ravelry here

This blanket designed by the craftsteacher was first introduced as interlocked crochet and is still available as such, I really wanted to make this but the technique seemed beyond me, happily the designer converted the pattern to mosaic during lockdown and offered it for free for a short while. I'm happy to say that I managed to download it before it became a paid pattern.



It's been named the HAL CAL and you can find it here
See my version now completed here

More Patterns below

Bubbles Baby Blanket

Dancing Squares

by BebaBlanket

Designer Cyndie Birdsong




Inset Mosaic

This type of mosaic crochet is uncharted waters for me and as such I can't wait to try it, because I haven't tried it I can't say which technique is easier or which produces the best result, this type does have less ends so that is in it's favour I would say but I will reserve judgement until I have tried it.

NB - I have now tried this technique and although the results are lovely I much prefer the overlay form of mosaic crochet, I find it much easier and there are a bigger variety of patterns available.

Quick Facts..
  • You change yarn every second row.
  • You turn your work at each row.
  • You work in dc, chains and trebles. (English Terms)
  • You work from written instructions and there is usually a chart.
  • You can carry your yarn up the sides so there are less ends.
There are lots of  free patterns and video tutorials for this type of Mosaic crochet, here are just a few that I have come across. These can all be found here on The Crochet Crowd website

Crochet Heart Mosaic Baby BlanketCrochet Nordic Stripes BlanketJOANN Spring Stitch Along Crochet Mosaic Blanket

They all have video tutorials by Mikey.

i
Heart of Gold  - designer -  Rosina Plane a Paid pattern on Ravelry 
Also published in..

I will add more as and when I find them and I will pin this post to the top of my blog so that it is always accessible.

Click below for some great Christmas Patterns.....


If anyone has found any great mosaic patterns that they would like me to include on this page please let me know. Also if anyone has information about any other type of mosaic crochet I will add that too.


Featured at the Wednesday Link Party 2017

19 comments:

  1. Absolutely brilliant Linda!! A very interesting and practical post which you have presented very well indeed. I am going to start as from today to read about this. Loads of details!!! thank you Linda Amanda x

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  2. Many thanks Linda for taking the time to explain this lovely crochet technique. I've seen some beautiful blankets made with this stitch. I appreciate your taking the time to outline and give us the links to learn more. Many thanks, Pat đŸ§¶

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  3. I think I'd have to get a little more proficient in normal crochet before I attempted this. I'm much more comfortable with knitting than I am crochet.

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  4. Interesting, I've almost finished a Tunisia lap blanket and I'm looking for my next project.

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  5. It looks amazing but I'm afraid it would be far too complicated for me. I will just enjoy seeing your beautiful work instead. X

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  6. They are all so very lovely. I'm such a lazy crocheter and my brain really shuts down when there's lengthy instructions to just about anything. :/ I have a few craft friends who say I should challenge myself more, but you know what, if I could only make granny squares forever and a day, I would be perfectly content. :)

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  7. Those blankets you made are just beautiful. They have so much detail going on and the stitching is so pretty and colorful. Have a nice weekend Linda.

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  8. Hello, Linda. I'm just catching up on your blog posts. I'm another who has never heard of mosaic crochet. It's gorgeous and beats the usual granny squares. I like your rock art especially the planets. You are a great painter. I've been trying to think of what your grandson might be interested. How about famous people or different animals?

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  9. Thank you, I've pinned this post for later as right now I'm spending more time outside than inside. I also subscribed to her youtube channel and will pop over to Ravelry to check her out there too. Right now I'm just finishing up some painted cactus rocks.

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  10. Such wonderful information Linda, that you so much. Stay safe.

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  11. There are some beautiful mosaic blankets showcased here, Linda. I must say they looking amazingly intricate. I just wished I could crochet. =)

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  12. wow your designs are beautiful, you have a real talent X #thatfridaylinky

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  13. Hi Linda, Thank you for the Quick Guide to Mosaic Crochet and for the links to free patterns for people to try in these 2 different techniques. You are being featured tomorrow at Wednesday Link Party 358. Here's the post link in case you'd like to share your feature: https://oombawkadesigncrochet.com/2020/07/featured-free-pattern-through-the-window-square.html Thank you for visiting and linking up :) Have a lovely week, Rhondda

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  14. I found this through the Wednesday Link Party. Thank you! These designs are really pretty.

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  15. You've got me hooked. I've spent the day searching patterns, save a few free ones, but can't decide which one to purchase from Tinna's Ravelry, tempted by the Indiana. Need to learn a bit more about colour changes and combinations. I've also been practicing a few little swatches from her youtube channel. Thank goodness for the current lockdown so I can work on this some more. It is my lockdown challenge.

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  16. Hello Linda, I'm new to mosaic and up to this point I have only tried overlay but have found many in the other type of mosaic so I would like to try. I have a few questions though; is the type of mosaic your work is done called insert mosaic or ? Do you know which uses more yarn, overlay or insert? Also, can insert patterns be converted to overlay?
    Thank you ever so much!

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  17. Hi Leilla my work at the top of the post is all overlay but I have now tried inset I made a Christmas cushion you can see it here https://lindacraftycorner.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-mosaic-christmas.html
    I prefer the overlay method and find it easier, I would say you use about the same amount of yarn for each type. No you can't convert overlay to inset as you use two rows of the same colour in inset and it would knock the pattern out of sync. I hope this helps and you enjoy your mosaic journey.

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  18. Thank you Linda. I wasn't sure if you could convert by omitting the 2nd or returning row.
    Thanks again!

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Thank you for your visit, I will always answer any questions but due to time constraints I'm not always able to reply to your comments, please keep them coming I read and appreciate each and every one. xx