NatCroMo 2016, March 25: Tatsiana Kupryianchyk

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The Crochet Express National Crochet Month Blog Tour

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Welcome to Crochetville’s fourth annual National Crochet Month (NatCroMo) blog tour, taking place each day of March 2016. Join us as we take a virtual tour on our passenger steam train, The Crochet Express, visiting crochet designers, crochet-friendly local yarn stores, and yarn companies, and offer some fun giveaways.

Want to Chat about the Tour?

Part of the fun of taking a passenger steam train trip is talking with your fellow passengers. This year, we’re providing two locations where our passengers can get to know each other. We’d love to hear about your favorite things you’ve discovered on the tour and see photos of your current crochet projects. You’re invited to join us daily for virtual cocktails/appetizers and dinner. (We’ll be sharing links to some fabulous recipes!)

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Tatsiana Kupryianchyk, Lilla Björn Crochet

Crochetville is very proud to have designer Tatsiana Kupryianchyk with us today as one of the featured designers on our 2016 Designer Blog Tour in honor of National Crochet Month (NatCroMo).

About Tatsiana:

Hello! My name is Tatsiana. I am Belarusian by origin but have been living in the Czech Republic for last 8 years. I am not an educated designer. I studied journalism and opera singing, I edited a magazine and sang in a choir. But crocheting and knitting has always been the greatest passion of mine. A nice red-haired woman Raisa taught me to crochet in a kindergarten when I was 5-years-old girl. I regret so much that I did not find her when I grew up, and didn’t thank her. But I still keep my kid’s handmade things as a memory about her… I like to create decorations for interior and I can spend long hours learning new techniques (overlay crochet is my favourite at the moment), combining colors and seeing to where the whole process is leading me. And I can also talk about that for hours!

Tell us about your favorite travel destination.

Unfortunately I don’t travel very much though I would love to. Maybe in some 10 years (when my kid is grown up enough) I will visit all the places I want to see. I have been to Sweden several times and this country took my heart. I like everything about it: natural landscapes with gray wooden beaches and red houses, Swedish design… and the sea of course. I am a little bit addicted to the sea, you know. But not to bright blue and warm one. I like pale gray and yellow colors of Northern Sea. I like cold and salty wind, and grayish wet sand.

Tell us about a “dream” travel location that you’d like to visit one day.

I dream to visit Iceland one day. I read a lot about this country and browsed hundreds of pictures. I would love to see Northern Lights, and how people live in this part of the world. I wonder how the houses look like, what are the traditional interiors… I would love to see what people crochet in Iceland. And which yarns they use.

Packing: Tell us about any crochet clothing or accessories you pack when traveling. Do you have any really cool packing tips to share?

Surprisingly I don’t have many crocheted clothes made by me… I am too inspired by the process of crochet. And when for example a sweater is almost finished I lose my interest, put it aside and start another project at once. Probably that is the reason why I decided to choose interior design (and small accessories for home decoration) as my main stream. It doesn’t take long to finish a potholder or a pillow. And when you are creating a new pattern you just must finish what you’ve started. Though I would probably prefer if someone else would write my patterns down and test them. And I would be only busy with designing… but anyway. I have a few crocheted shawls and I take them with me when I travel somewhere. I prefer “to carry” them on myself of course, but if I need to pack them, then I try to put them on the very top inside a suitcase. I don’t really have any packing tips, as I am not very well organized person in general. (You would be surprised if you saw my apartment: I have wips, and yarns, and crochet hooks literally everywhere. Mixed up with my son’s toys! If only I had a studio, or a small craft room…)

Do you have any stories or anything else travel-related that you’d like to share with our blog tour readers?

Last summer I and my husband went to Belgium for a week. I don’t normally take crochet hooks or yarns with me (mostly because I am afraid the hooks will not be allowed on the plane). But this time I felt very strong I want to crochet! I found a local yarn shop in Gent and bought a new crochet hook and two skeins of cotton yarn. I took it to the beach and surprisingly a new mandala design was born in two hours. I called it North Sea Mandala and it was purely inspired by the sea sight and the music of the waves. This pattern is free and you can find it on my blog.

Visit Tatsiana’s Site: NatCroMo Specials

lilla-bjorn-african-mandala

I am offering a free pattern for an African Mandala Necklace and a coupon code for 25% discount for 1 entire purchase in my Ravelry store valid through the end of March. Visit her website to get the pattern and the coupon code.

A Few of Tatsiana’s Designs:

Dandelion Mandala, $5.50

Dandelion Mandala was named the Best Hanging/Wall Ornament Design of 2015 by The Crochet Awards.

This mandala is ideal as a decoration for a table or as a decor for a pillow cover. It can be also used for meditation or wall hanging. And it can become a nice center of a rug of your own design. It is worked in overlay crochet technique with lots of overlaid and front post stitches which give it a very nice structure.

Kaleidoscope Mandala Bag, $5.00

Kaleidoscope Mandala Bag is of a practical size with a bit of depth and enough space for a mobile phone, wallet, keys, lipstick and even a small book. I used faux leather adjustable strap for this bag but it is also possible to make a crocheted strap for it. This bag has crocheted lining.

Sunflower Pillowcase, $3.50

Sunflower Pillowcase was named the Best Pillow Design of 2015 by The Crochet Awards.

In autumn while walking with my dog in the fields I saw many sunflowers, still beautiful in spite of coming rains and cold. I was inspired by them and decided to design a square motif which could look like a small sunflower.

Sunflower Pillowcase consists of 9 square motifs crocheted in overlay crochet technique. If you use other color palette for this pattern, your pillow cover will look completely different, and unique. You can also use this square motif to make a blanket or a bag, or just use it as an appliqué for clothes.