2023: A Year of Celtic Knots
Surprise! I have been teasing you all with guessing games and photos that show absolutely nothing, and the secret is finally out: next year’s series of monthly squares will be Celtic knots! Read on for pre-sale details and some important notes!
We just finished up 2022: A Year of Cats, and before that we had A Year of Gnomes. I hadn’t planned on doing this every year so I didn’t include the date when I did the gnomes. But it was very popular (as were the cats) so I foresee this being a continual thing now.
This series of knot squares will be done in a similar manner as the cats and gnomes had been. They are still oversized squares that are meant to be joined together for a blanket but I absolutely loved seeing wall hangings, pillows, and bags last year too!
There is nothing that really distinguishes one month from the other (they are all knots, but with the gnomes, for example, you could look at it and guess it was for December or October) so I suggest pinning a label to your squares as you go.
I use worsted weight yarn in my gauge measurements but you can use any weight yarn and an appropriately sized hook! With worsted weight yarn your squares will be about 20″ / 51cm or 19″ / 48cm (interlocking versus mosaic).
Each month I will publish a new square (titled January Knot, February Knot, March Knot, etc). Each design will have the full written pattern and charts for both interlocking crochet and overlay mosaic crochet.
Interlocking Crochet
The interlocking crochet squares will be on a chart size of 81 x 81. This is a 40-window square. The “40” means it starts with 40 windows in the foundation row and should finish to about 20″ / 52cm square.
I have quite a few squares of this size! I also refer to them as large or oversized squares.
These squares are worked from the bottom-up, back and forth. I only mention this because the mosaic squares are worked from the center-out. The interlocking technique doesn’t have the same reward with center-out and can be a bit more tricky for those crocheting and a LOT more tricky for me writing the pattern, so I decided to stick with our regular bottom-up technique for this series.
Overlay Mosaic Crochet
One of the most exciting things about this year’s series is that the mosaic crochet squares are all worked from the center-out!
This means we do not need to add any envelope borders. We do not have any cut tails to worry about! There will be no fringe to hide and that makes joining the squares easier!
Every square starts with the contrasting color (CC) in the center. For me that is the light brown background color. Some squares don’t start using the main color (MC) until a few rounds in (see December’s example below) and there are options that allow you to skip those rounds altogether (saves on time and yarn).
The interlocking charts are 81 x 81 but the mosaic charts are only 77 x 77 because the unnecessary locked border lines have been removed. There are also no interlocking mesh dots in the solid areas of the mosaic versions. The final squares will be slightly smaller with this technique (19″ / 48cm for mosaic versus 20″ / 52cm for interlocking) but as long as you stick with one technique for all the squares they should all match up nicely.
The charts show one side of the square in an inverted triangle. The dropped double crochets are marked with X’s. The charts go from round 1 – 38. This makes these squares slightly smaller than my typical oversized square (see the full list of large squares linked a few paragraphs above).
You can choose to use the chart alone, or the written alone, or refer back and forth between both options. I also hope to have some video support for at least the beginning of each square but that’s not a guarantee yet.
I do have videos on how to do the basic overlay mosaic crochet technique, and how to do it from the center-out, and how to read the charts, etc. We have a month before the first square will be published so you do have time to go learn it!
Final Notes
Just like the past two years, each square will be listed on Ravelry and Etsy individually and the eBook will be updated monthly.
The eBook is a great value because you pay once at the beginning and then you’re all set for the year! It will save you 40% compared to buying each square individually. You’ll still have to wait for the beginning of each month to get each month’s square though.
Pre-sale available until December 31, 2022 – save 20% on the eBook! Offer expired.
Last year I offered 3 ways to get the monthly updates (Ravelry, Etsy, or Direct Purchase from me). I’ve dropped that down to just two options this year (Ravelry and Etsy).
I’ve got a whole team of testers helping me out with these squares. A huge thank you to Anonymous, Anonymous Squirrel, Crochetcarob, cyncitycrochets, Heather Passmore, MadeByMrsJones, Maja Serec, Margaret Maillet, Marijke Laenen, Mona Rae Hill, Nessa Miller, Pleva, ScorpiosHook, and Wolsalon.
I plan on using the flat braid join for my squares again. Click here to view the YouTube tutorial I created on joining squares. Each square ends with a round of the Main Color (MC) and you can use that same color to join “invisibly” or pick a contrasting color for a bit of extra pop!
Get the Patterns
Each monthly square will be published on the 1st of the month and the eBook will be updated at the same time.
The eBook represents a 40% savings versus buying each square individually.
The eBooks will not be available until January 1, 2023 when the first square is published. Pre-sales of the eBook at a 20% discount are available until December 31, 2022! Click here for more details. Pre-sale offer expired.
The eBooks will continually be updated throughout the year.
Ravelry makes updating easy: I simply upload the pattern and click the “update” button and it sends an email to everyone. You can access your files immediately or wait until months later and they will all be there.
Etsy doesn’t actually work well for this process. I have to manually email each buyer and last year we did have some problems with my messages going to spam. But I want to try making my patterns accessible to everyone so I’m making the option available again.
Each square will be published individually on Etsy and Ravelry as well. This list below will be updated throughout the year.
You can plan your yarn usage for this series; I’ve listed yardage here.
And I’ve got a support video for the colors and foundations and those mosaic corners: https://youtu.be/0wynnBpYH3k
2023: A Year of Celtic Knots (ongoing updates)
eBook (Ravelry) (Etsy)
January (Ravelry) (Etsy)
February (Ravelry) (Etsy)
March (Ravelry) (Etsy)
April (Ravelry) (Etsy)
May (Ravelry) (Etsy)
June (Ravelry) (Etsy)
July (Ravelry) (Etsy)
August (Ravelry) (Etsy)
September (Ravelry) (Etsy)
October (Ravelry) (Etsy)
November (Ravelry) (Etsy)
December (Ravelry) (Etsy)
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