There is a tangible mystery hidden in structure and geometry. The more you repeat it, the more it wants to show. Our journey starts with Ilsan. ‘Il’ stands for number one in Korean and ‘san’ is ‘three’ in Chinese. The first tile of the Travelling East Collection, made with three colours.

Every tile in this collection comes with an accompanying triangle (to give you the freedom to use your squares as diamonds in cushions or blankets). It also comes with a pattern to showcase the many possibilities we have to turn these squares into different types of objects. Some patterns will be small and simple, some will be larger and require some more time. The collection of patterns will give you different options and suggestions.

The first pattern accompanying this tile design is for a little biscornu. Biscornu is French for ‘quirky’ and that is exactly what it is! A biscornu is an eight-sided pillow. In embroidery, it is often turned in a small, ornamental pincushion. We will work this design in a pincushion or Tibetan bowl stand, but if you feel adventurous, you could make 8 tiles and enlarge your biscornu in an ornamental cushion for your living space.

Gauge:
Gauge is not crucial for this pattern, as long as your tile lies flat. However, different yarns give different gauges:
Crochet thread: 13sc x 12 rows = 5cm / 2”.
Fingering weight: 10sc x 9 rows = 5cm / 2”.
DK weight: 9sc x 8 rows = 5cm / 2”.
Aran weight: 8sc x 8 rows = 5cm / 2”.

Hooks:
√ Depending on yarn choice, 2.5mm/C, 3mm/D, 4mm/G-6 or 5mm/H-8 crochet hook (Adapt hook to yarn used).

Notions
√ Tapestry needle, stitch markers.
√ Optional: Stuffing and one or two buttons for the biscornu

Yarn:
√ A #0 lace (size 5 crochet thread), #2 fine (Fingering, 12wpi) or #3 lightweight (DK, 11wpi), or #4 medium (Aran, 8wpi) per tile:

• approx 20m/21yd (C1).
• approx 25m/27yd (C2).
• approx 20m/21yd (C3). √ The blue biscornu used DMC Petra crochet thread in 4 colours (aprprox 20/21yd per colour; see pattern notes for instructions). √ The purple biscornu sample used different fingering weight leftovers from stash in three matching colours. √ The green and yellow Aran weight sample tile used Katia Planet in colours 3978 (C1), 3980 (C2) and 3983 (C3).

Stitches:
The pattern comes with a special stitches section and lots of explanations on techniques
Sc – single crochet
Ss – slip stitch
Dc (dcRnd/dcR/dcCoCh) – double crochet (see special stitches
Tr (trRnd/trR/trCoCh) – treble crochet (see special stitches)
Fptr (fptrRnd/fptrR) – front post treble crochet (see special stitches)

Size:
depending on yarn and hook choices:
√ No 5 crochet thread & 2.5mm hk: 11x11cm / 4½x4½”
√ Fingering weight & 4mm hk: 15.5x15.5cm / 6x6”
√ DK weight & 4mm hk: 17.5x17.5cm / 6¾x6¾”
√ Aran weight & 5mm hk: 18.5x18.5cm / 7¼x7¼”

Pattern includes:
Written pattern, charts, special stitches explanations, pattern notes and technique explanations and photo tutorials and colour and blanket schemes and suggestions.

Difficulty:
Intermediate

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