Mosaic crochet chart

Next for my mosaic crochet experiments is to attempt a chart of an image rather than a repeating pattern. I used the knitting chart app to plot out an owl, with the goal of making a small bag. I used a smaller hook to produce a dense fabric, and made the base as a long oval with increases on the ends in each row.

Photo description: Densely crocheted long oval in the foreground with calico cat and iPad in the background. The oval has been started with a chain, then four rounds added with increases on the ends only.

To make the walls of the bag, I worked in rounds of back loop single crochet, alternating colors, and dipping down with double crochet to block out color in the previous row. My original chart was close, but I had to make some adjustments as I went due to technical aspects. Here is the final chart.

Photo description: 25×28 grid with purple and white owl graphic.

And here is one side of the bag.

Photo description: Mosaic crochet bag on its side showing an elongated owl pattern with pink and purple stripes on the side.

It is still recognizable as an owl, but does have a different look since the mosaic crochet does not produce perfectly square color blocks, at least at my current level of understanding. This phenomenon occurs in charted knitting too. I found the reverse side of the crochet intriguing, as it was almost a negative of the front.

Photo description: Inside out bag with the light pink predominant rather than the purple, and the color blocks are split by row.

Since I worked in the round, I didn’t cut my ends, but took them up to the next row as I circled. This way I had less yarn ends to weave in (yay!)