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Wallflowers: The Tale of a Mystery Crochet Blanket

In November 2018 I’d just finished working on my first real life Homage course. It had been great fun. The results were beautiful and the inevitable question was;

“So what’s next?”

I had no idea, but I knew that there had to be a next project- another blanket, bigger, more ambitious and…..and what? I didn’t know.

“Great! It’s mystery blanket then!  I’m in” came the collective response.

 Hooray!

And Oh No!  

What have I just agreed to?

I gave myself a couple of months to prepare. I wanted it to be dramatic, complex, 3 dimensional and floral. I wanted to capture the drama and beauty of moody Dutch Masters still life paintings. At the time, in 2018, I had a fascination with the work of Rachel Ruysch – whose still life flower paintings have recently become hugely popular on Instagram.

Image credits: The National Gallery

It’s always the contrasts that attract me to an image. The incongruous pairings of opposites. Light and dark/ masculine and feminine/ hard and soft; and I felt excited at the idea of combining the strict geometry of hexagon shapes with the softer, prettier forms of flowers in a new design. This was a challenge I wanted to rise to.

I began playing with photographs of conventional still life painting, exploring mirror repeats and became absorbed in the strange otherworldly patterns that were generated.

Later, as I started to explore crochet motifs I continued to experiment with this playful approach to creating pattern ideas.

There’s something about pattern repetition that I find completely absorbing. The human brain seeks out pattern everywhere – in behaviour and habit, in the visual, in music; we’re preprogramed to look for meaning in repetition and the familiar. Looking for, and interpreting pattern is integral to how humans learn and experience to the world.

Two weeks before I was due to start teaching my new ‘mystery blanket’ course I had a vague plan and a rough sketch, and somehow I managed to complete the first step and write up the pattern in time for my first class.

My lovely group of ‘pioneers’ (aka ‘the guineapigs’) looked a little puzzled by the odd shaped hexagonal bits of crochet I presented as STEP 1. But- being lovely people, and very polite, and having committed to the project, there was no going back. They accepted the challenge with good grace, chose their colours in a joyful bun fight and left to make a start on their own odd shaped hexagonal bits of crochet.

After which, I had exactly 4 weeks to plan, sample, make and write the pattern for step 2, which I managed to do. In the next workshop the developments were received graciously again, and with growing intrigue and enthusiasm as the motifs began to take on more 3 dimensional shapes.

Step 3 was the biggest challenge as the motifs grew in scale and became more complex and this next step was met with enthusiasm and excitement. I began to feel the project was gaining momentum and I was allowing myself to believe that this might actually work.

And so the project continued like this each month for six months. Each time we met we all celebrated everyone’s progress and I revealed the next step – which was always the result of a hair raising month of experimentation, inspiration, procrastination and panic.

Each month the volume of crochet increased in direct relation to my enthusiasm and joy and by the end of the project I was referring to my beautiful blanket as The Beast.

One year after this epic project began we displayed the fabulous finished blankets at The Norfolk Makers Festival in Norwich and for the first time I was able to view these blankets from a distance and could see them as  works of art – like the paintings that had originally inspired them.

Eventually I renamed the blanket WALLFLOWERS, a reference to how I think they deserve to be displayed and enjoyed, but I always refer to them as blankets. There’s something about this humble, almost self deprecating label that’s in direct opposition to, and rubs against, those grand old Dutch Masters.

So that’s the story of Wallflowers and this October I’ll be relaunching this as an online course.

I think one of the most exciting aspects of this course is choosing your own, unique, colour palette. This is an integral part of the course and is covered in detail at the start. I won’t tell you what to use, or provide you with a list of required colours, I’ll give you a ‘formula’ for choosing your own colours and support and guide you through this process.

Everyone who’s made their own  Wallflowers blanket has spent a great deal of time thinking about and planning their colour choices and I don’t give out details of other people’s colours – that’s part of the process and what makes each blanket so unique.

But…….there’s no reason why you shouldn’t start thinking about colours now and this is the perfect excuse to buy yourself a huge bunch of flowers.

Working from images is helpful and a great way to start thinking about the colours you like – but you simply can’t beat working from real life if you really want to study colour and ensure your results are exciting, dramatic and innovative.

So here’s a suggestion;

Step One

Buy yourself, or persuade your partner, bestie, son, daughter, dog etc to buy you the biggest and most glorious bunch of flowers you’ve ever had in your life.

Order them online from one of your lovely local independent florists who will prepare them with love.

Like these from: The Wild Folk Florist in Norfolk


Step Two

Smell them, gaze at them, touch them, enjoy them and photograph them with different coloured backgrounds.

Step Three

Identify the most important colours in the arrangements. Look for groups of colours and record them in any way you can. Paint them, make a collage, work digitally – whatever works for you and helps you to generate some exciting groups of colours.

All flower photos are by The Wild Folk Florist

Could this be  the start of your next crochet love affair?

This Post Has 25 Comments

  1. Oh how I loved those workshops, as the blanket started to reveal itself in all its glory! My absolute favourite make ever. And now working on number 2! Didn’t take much persuasion did I? x

  2. Beautiful and inspirational Sue. Thank you for the peek into your creative process for these beauties. I am looking forward to exploring Wallflowers in the course. The sheer amount of crochet is a bit daunting, but I am sure I will find calm in the repetitions and much learning!

  3. Crikey Sue, talk about ‘crocheting by the seat of your pants’!! What a brilliant development story this is, I hadn’t realised you used mirrors for so many of your pictures, Wallflowers has always reminded me of the colours and shapes of a kaleidoscope I had as a child. Roll on April…

  4. Dearest Sue,
    You write as well as you crochet, invent, create … Thank you a thousand times for bringing us into your artistic, dreamlike, magical universe. Your creative process is so inspiring. I am currently finishing the retro crojo with which and thanks to you, I have learned so much.
    The Wallflowers is an ambitious and extraordinary project, so much the better. There is always a bit of suffering to be expected for beauty to express itself.
    But as the song says: “to suffer for you is not to suffer”
    Roll on April 1st!
    With love.
    Corinne

    1. Corinne, thank you so much for your comments, this really is wonderful to hear. Looking forward to April!

  5. Magnifique , je ne sais pas encore quelles couleurs choisir, j’imagine beige, crème, rose pale gris argent, des bleus très clairs….
    J’ai hâte.

  6. Dear Sue, I have had so much loved being part of Homage to the Granny Square, so didn’t need much persuading to join you for Wallflowers, having seen all those amazing creations at The Forum in Norwich. It was so interesting to read how Wallflowers evolved and your inspiration and development of your ideas. Thank you for sharing! I’m off to order myself a big bunch of flowers to get my creative juices flowing – roll on 1st April!!
    Love and hugs
    Bernie x

    1. Oh Bernie how exciting! Looking forward to the 1st April! Thank you for the wonderful feedback, always appreciated.

  7. Dear Sue,
    I’m really looking forward to starting the project.
    The wallflowers blankets look fabulous.
    Terryle

  8. Hi so is this something I can make through Patreon access or an upcoming tutorial? Thank you.
    (I’m making my 4 adult children blankets and I think my youngest would adore this)

  9. That’s the most innovative and inspirational post on planning for the next crochet project that I have ever come across. Though I sadly missed the course starting this October I’m eagerly waiting for the registration of 2022 to begin. To tell the truth I’m actually stalking your website thesedays. Something keeps pulling me back to the wallflower blanket again n again.

    1. The wallflowers blanket is beautiful isn’t it! Keep in touch and you’ll hear when the course opens next year!

  10. Your Wallflower blanket is beautiful.
    I have searched in vain to find where I can purchase the pattern. Could you please tell me where I can buy it.
    Thank you.
    Merrilyn Reid from Australia

  11. Wow, blown away by this gorgeous pattern. I have never seen your work before sadly but always up for a challenge . I want to make it. Is that pattern for sale?? It how do I get involved. . currently hooking a temperature blanket, various childrens hats, a Janie Crowe blanket and a very large link flamingo , so time to get another project underway. I love your creative process , and as an Upholsterer and Soft Furnisher amongst other things I get the way you work.

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