I have a delightful new book to share with you today – Crochet A-B-Sea – An Extraordinary Underwater Alphabet by the fun and fabulous Pony McTate.

It’s not often that you come across a truly unique crochet book but this is one of those exceptions.  Pony has a fun quirky sense of humour which really shines through her designs.

It was fun following this project develop over on Pony’s instagram feed earlier in the year and I was excited to see that it has turned into a book so that we can all have a go at making our own unique and educational blanket.

So let’s have a look inside ….

The chapters

 

Preliminary stuff

This chapter includes all the things you need to know before getting started, including:

• abbreviations used and a conversion chart from UK terms to US terms (the book is written in UK terms). 
• a page of ideas for other uses of the motifs – such as clothing appliques, fridge magnets and any other kind of decorative purpose you can think of
• Yarn, gauge and hook size information

Techniques

This is a great chapter with lots of tips and tricks to help you produce beautiful work, such as:

• How to make a magic loop
• How to make neater seams working in the round
• Invisible joins
• Changing colour
• Embroidery tips

The patterns

In addition to the instructions for the plain background squares, here you will find:

• 26 patterns for all the weird and wonderful sea creatures from A to Z
• Each pattern includes a difficulty rating and is written with clear instructions, hints and tips and photo tutorials for the tricky bits
• Fun facts about the creatures

Finishing off

Another great chapter with more tips on creating a beautiful finished blanket, including

• Blocking your squares
• Attaching your creatures
• Attaching a fabric backing
• Joining your squares
• Making the border

And finally there is a comprehensive list of all the yarn used with details of colours and amounts used.

Of course, I couldn’t resist making a couple of squares myself but choosing just a couple of faves was hard – there are so many cute, quirky creatures to choose from!  I finally settled on the Clown Fish and Jellyfish for now but I’ll definitely have to make a few more in the future I think!

!!  Giveaway !!

Pony has very generously given me a book to giveaway to one lucky reader.  To go in the draw to win a copy, simply leave a comment telling me what your favourite sea creature is.

Entry is for Australian residents only (sorry to my international readers – but postage is a killer). 

Entries will be drawn at random on 4th October 4:00 pm AEST

Where to buy Crochet A-B-Sea

Head over to Pony’s website for links to order either a print or digital copy.

Until next time

Michelle xx