The Kelpies: From Inspiration to Crochet Pattern
Well, it's finally here! After months of designing, crocheting, testing, planning and a fair bit of running about, I'm absolutely delighted to finally release The Kelpies, my latest overlay mosaic crochet pattern.
This one has been a long time coming, and it's a wee bit special to me.
The pattern is now available on Ravelry, Etsy, and Wool Warehouse, plus five specially selected yarn packs.
The Inspiration
I've wanted to design a Kelpies blanket for years. Living in central Scotland, I'm lucky enough to have these magnificent sculptures practically on my doorstep, and every time I see them, I'm just as impressed as the first time.
Standing 30 metres high at The Helix in Falkirk, The Kelpies were created by Scottish sculptor Andy Scott and are inspired by both Scottish folklore and the working horses that played such an important part in our industrial history.
In Scottish folklore, kelpies are powerful water spirits, usually appearing as horses and associated with our lochs and waterways. They're not particularly friendly creatures either! Legend says they lure unsuspecting people onto their backs before dragging them into the water.
The sculptures also celebrate the strength of the Clydesdale horses that worked the land and hauled barges along Scotland's canals. In fact, the two heads were modelled on real Clydesdales called Duke and Baron.
I love that these two incredible sculptures wrap up so much Scottish history, folklore, and art.
But I needed to do something before I could start turning them into a crochet pattern.
Getting Permission
The Kelpies are works of art in their own right, and as an artist myself, I know how important it is to respect another artist's work.
I wasn't comfortable simply taking someone else's creation and turning it into a pattern without asking.
So I contacted Andy Scott.
I had some lovely conversations with Andy and his wife, Hanneke, about the sculptures, my work, and what I hoped to create.
And they gave me their permission!
I was absolutely delighted, and I'm incredibly grateful to them both for their kindness, encouragement and support.
It's something I feel quite strongly about. Inspiration is everywhere, but there's a difference between being inspired by another artist's work and reproducing it. Getting permission was important to me, and it made this project even more meaningful.
Turning The Kelpies into Crochet
Designing something as recognisable as The Kelpies was never straightforward.
I wanted to capture not just the sculptures themselves, but the whole scene around them.
The design features both Kelpies standing tall and proud, with their heads rising above the water and seagulls flying around them. Below, the horses are reflected in the water, which I think is one of my favourite parts of the whole design.
I wanted the blanket to have a real sense of place, rather than simply being a picture of the two horses. The water, the reflections and the birds all help bring the scene together, and of course, there's that connection to the Scottish folklore behind The Kelpies themselves.
Getting all of that into an overlay mosaic crochet design was quite a challenge!
As usual, I designed the charts myself, working everything out stitch by stitch. I tweaked a fair bit along the way, especially the horses' faces, the reflections, and all those finer details. With mosaic crochet, you work on a grid, so every little square matters!
The finished blanket has 229 rows, a three-round double border, and measures about 104 cm by 134 cm when made with DK yarn.
The pattern includes charts and written instructions in both UK and US crochet terms, with left and right-handed versions. There's also a separate full-chart PDF for anyone who prefers using Knit Companion.
The Yarn
For this project, I've used Yarnsmiths yarn from Wool Warehouse, particularly their Pebble Haze DK Prints and Create DK ranges.
I've become a huge fan of Pebble Haze. The colour changes are gorgeous, and I think they work particularly well with mosaic crochet.
My own blanket uses three colours, with the background changing partway through the design. I love how this creates a completely different atmosphere in the blanket's upper and lower sections.
One thing I love about mosaic crochet is how much the yarn choice can change a design's appearance. You can keep it simple with two colours or use three for more variation.
Thanks to Wool Warehouse, five specially selected yarn packs are now available for the pattern!
The Colourways
This is where the testers really shone. I love seeing how others interpret my designs, and the different colour combinations give each blanket its own personality.
Helix Dusk
I crocheted this using Yarnsmiths Pebble Haze DK Prints in Chesil and Marloes Sands, with Create DK in Anthracite Grey.
This is my original version, with pinks, purples and blues against the dark grey horses. I wanted something colourful without losing the sculptures' definition, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.
Water Horse
Crocheted by Lizzie Lynes, using Pebble Haze DK Prints in Birling and Create DK in Black.
This two-colour version is a cracker. The Birling colour change creates a beautiful effect behind the horses, while the black really makes the design stand out. It shows you don't need three colours to make an impact.
Canal Mist
Crocheted by Janneke Zaat, using Pebble Haze DK Prints in Peppercombe and Elgol, with Create DK in Pale Silver.
This one feels much softer, with the pale silver horses giving the whole blanket a completely different look. I love how Janneke's colour choices have changed the atmosphere of the design.
Falkirk Skies
Crocheted by AnnMarie Connolly, using Pebble Haze DK Prints in Lulworth and Marloes Sands, with Create DK in Anthracite Grey.
The printed yarns paired with the darker horses work beautifully, another example of how much difference your colour choices can make.
Myth & Magic
Crocheted by Lizzie Lynes, using Pebble Haze DK Prints in Blakeney and Birling, with Create DK in Black.
Lizzie crocheted two versions of The Kelpies, which is some commitment! This one uses two different printed yarns with black for the horses, creating a completely different effect from Water Horse.
Wool Warehouse sells all five colourways as yarn packs, so you don't need to spend ages figuring out which colours to buy or how many balls you need.
Of course, you can use whatever yarn and colours you fancy. Just remember that a good contrast between the horses and the background will help the design stand out.
My Brilliant Testers
I couldn't have done this without my lovely testers.
Testing a blanket of this size is no small undertaking. It's a lot of crocheting, checking charts, following written instructions and keeping an eye out for anything I've missed.
And they do all of this while making some absolutely beautiful blankets.
A huge thank you to Lizzie, Janneke, AnnMarie, Lynne, Bob, Michelle, and everyone who helped me get this pattern ready.
They've not only helped make sure the pattern is ready for release, but they've also shown just how versatile the design can be.
I really appreciate the time, effort and care that goes into testing my patterns. You're all stars!
The Photoshoot at The Kelpies
Now, I couldn't design a Kelpies blanket and not take it to The Kelpies for a photoshoot, could I?
So off we went to Falkirk with the finished blankets.
There's something quite surreal about standing in front of these enormous sculptures holding a crochet version of them. After spending so long looking at them on a computer screen and counting stitches, it was brilliant to see everything come together in the place that inspired the design.
We were lucky to have David from Scotdrone involved, capturing fantastic photographs and footage of the blankets alongside the sculptures.
We even got to photograph the blankets inside Duke, which was so cool!
It was such a brilliant experience, and I'm really grateful to everyone who helped make it happen. Having photographs of the blankets alongside the actual sculptures makes all those months of work feel even more worthwhile.
I can't wait to share more photos and videos in the coming weeks.
What's Next?
Although the pattern is finally being released, I'm not quite finished with The Kelpies yet!
I'm currently crocheting a smaller wall hanging version using Yarnsmiths Support Act yarn.
This one is destined for The Kelpies Visitor Centre, where it'll be displayed for visitors to see. I'm absolutely thrilled about that. I never imagined that my crochet design would be displayed at the home of the sculptures that inspired it when I first started planning this pattern.
I'm also looking at a yarn pack for the wall hanging, so keep an eye out for more information.
And I've got another wee plan for the spring!
I'm hoping to organise a Kelpies crochet meet-up, where we can all bring our finished blankets, have a cuppa and a blether, and get some cracking photos of everyone together in front of the sculptures.
How lovely would it be to see everyone's Kelpies blankets together in one place?
I'll share more details nearer the time, but I'd love to see as many of you there as possible!
In the meantime, I'll share more from the photoshoot, the different colourways, and hopefully lots of your finished Kelpies blankets over the coming weeks and months.
Ready to Crochet Your Own Kelpies?
The Kelpies overlay mosaic crochet pattern is now available from Ravelry, Etsy, and Wool Warehouse,
You can also find all five colourway yarn packs at Wool Warehouse.
Whether you choose one of our colour combinations or come up with something completely different, I can't wait to see what you create.
Please do share your progress and finished blankets in the Get Yer Hook On Facebook group, or tag @getyerhookon and use #kelpiescrochet on social media.
And if you're ever visiting central Scotland, please go and see The Kelpies for yourself. Photographs really don't do them justice. They're absolutely magnificent.
Huge thanks again to Andy and Hanneke Scott, Paulina and the team at The Kelpies Visitor Centre, my wonderful friends and testers, Wool Warehouse, David at Scotdrone, and everyone who's followed along with this project and patiently waited for the pattern.
Happy crocheting!
Abi x
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