Mythbusting Mosaic (don't be scared of it)

Crochet đŸ§¶
, , ,
1

My fellow hookers :yarn:

You’ve seen the pictures. You’ve scrolled by the tester calls. You might have thought, “That’s way too complicated for me”.

You couldn’t be more wrong!! Amigurumi is way more difficult than mosaic. :wink: So are some base stitches! (Herringbone anyone?)

Here’s some facts about overlay mosaic crochet to allay your concerns:

  1. You NEVER turn your work with overlay mosaic crochet (you do with interlocking mosaic but that’s a different technique entirely).
  2. You only work ONE color per row and FO at the end of EVERY row with a border stitch (which is just a sc and ch, nothing fancy!)
  3. You only have to know THREE basic stitches - slst, sc (blo and regular) and dc
  4. Overlay mosaic and tapestry crochet are NOT the same thing. You won’t have to fight with twisted and tangling yarns ever!

So what might be keeping you? The charts looking confusing and daunting, or there being a chart at all? Think of the chart like the top of a puzzle box! It’s there to show you what the picture is going to work up to be! I promise, it won’t bite. It’s as simple as knowing that if a box has nothing in it you’re meant to do a sc. If a box has an “x” in it, you’re meant to do a dc. That’s it! Simple, right?

Yes, of course there are exceptions. Some designers use special stitches in their overlay mosaic designs. Some will implement more than one color in a single row. But these are the exceptions to the rule, not the general technique, and a good designer will always divulge if there are special instructions of any kind.

So if you’re the person out there looking at these designs saying, “I wish
” here’s your sign to stop wishing and take 15 minutes to learn how to do it. You’ll never regret it. You’ll have learned a new and amazing style and skill. You may even want to start designing your own overlay mosaic crochet!!

Ask any of my testers who have worked up my overlay mosaic crochet tests. I’m fairly sure 99.9% of them had never once touched overlay mosaic before, and they’re all amazing at it!

There is a reason I spent hours and hours creating the guide to mosaic crochet, inclusive of a mini chart you can work up with scrap yarn you have laying around. :heart: I invite you all to at least give it a look, and give it a try. You might surprise yourself.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

17 Likes
2

I applaud your TED talk! Alas, I tend to multitask when I crochet so I haven’t had the time to specifically learn anything lately. Hopefully soon.

4 Likes
3

Here for the TED talk :clap: I’m having SO much fun with the mosaic test! As a first timer with mosaic It really is so simple, and not a killer on the hands like amigurumi can be :sweat_smile:

3 Likes
4

Time is the number one reason I made the guide! I spent
 I don’t even know how many hours :sweat_smile: looking up YT video after video, and looking on blogs, at designs, etc. to learn Mosaic and then didn’t want others to have to do the same. I wanted to truncate everything into something simple, easy to follow, and available in one place.

There’s a lot of info in the guide, but it’s there as a resource not a book. Basically the idea is to be able to glance at it and succeed :smile: Or, for those who like to absorb everything they can, they can “word-for-word” it.

I hope you get to try it sometime soon! I know you’ll be amazed with how little it actually takes to understand it. :heart_hands:

Edit: I also massively multi-task. ADHD won’t allow me to singularly focus on anything 99% of the time :laughing:

4 Likes
5

I am so happy you’re enjoying it! Your piece is working up awesome! :jack_o_lantern: And you are so right about it not being a hand-killer :grin:

3 Likes
6

Cheers for the crochet TED talk! :clap::clap::clap:

I wholeheartedly recommend your guide! It was a great starting point for me, and so nice to have everything so gently explained. :blush: Thank you for making it and sharing it with everyone. You do such a beautiful job designing mosaic patterns, I’m glad even newbies like me get the chance to enjoy them! :smiling_face:

Your current tester calls are amazing, by the way! :star_struck:

3 Likes
7

I finished my first tapestry yesterday! probably should’ve started with that before I tried this lol I did try your guide a week or so ago, didn’t realize I was doing it completely wrong- read through the instructions very carefully and I understand more now! Definetly making the mosaic from the guide!!

2 Likes
8

Tapestry and mosaic work up completely differently. I did Tapestry pieces long before I ventured into mosaic, and I love mosaic way more. I feel like the image just comes out so much cleaner in mosaic.

They each have their perks though, by their own rights

2 Likes
9

I would LOVEE to try it, but the issue is I don’t have time for any big projects :face_holding_back_tears: It would take me around 40 hours since I’m the slowest crocheter on earth! My baby only gives me about 10-15 minutes to crochet a day :see_no_evil_monkey: I’m sure time is an issue for most people here, and since we also have tons of students, they probably struggle to find time too.

2 Likes
10

The guide isn’t big at all. The practice piece in it is the size of a mug rug, on purpose.

Most of my mosaic tests and patterns aren’t huge either. They certainly could be :laughing: but I would never be able to find testers in Ribblr willing to do a full size blanket (with the exception of @Stringsattached92 :grin: ). I wish that weren’t the case, but sadly it is.

But the point of this particular post is just to encourage people to try overlay mosaic, and not be daunted by it.

1 Like