Rachele Carmona, a designer and creative mind behind Cypress Textiles, is a very well known personality in the world of crochet. For her unique style, fusion of geometric shapes, and eye for color. I’ve been following Rachele’s crochet work for a few years now. But only last year I got the chance to meet her for real. That happened at Scheepjes Bloggers Days where Rachele flew all way for the USA to meet other bloggers. Rachele is a very beautiful and charismatic lady. And so is her crochet art. I say “art” because her crochet blankets are unique and don’t remind anything else. When you talk to her, it feels like her brain is a never stopping machine of creativity. And that she can design a blanket out of the air. Boho Desert Blanket by Rachele Carmona. Image credit F+W Media When we met with Rachele, I was working on a new design (which will be revealed very soon, I hope). And I asked her to help me figure out a continuous join of motifs. In the introduction to her brand new book “The Art of Crochet Blankets” Rachele defines three phases of a journey of an artist: Phase 1: An Imitation. When you are directly copying existing examples within your craft. Phase 2: Ambition. When you are trying to create your own pieces but still draw inspiration from other artists in your craft. And Phase 3: Ascension. When you start working completely independently, and your creativity is fused with other art media. Sweet Spring blanket by Rachele Carmona. Image credit F+W Media And this is what Rachele’s book “The Art of Crochet Blankets” is about. It is not just about crochet. It showcases contemporary streams of art in different areas. The book consists of six chapters, each inspired by a wonderful artist in digital art, paper cutting, weaving, fabric design and other. And each chapter presents three stunning crochet blankets inspired by works of these artists. So 18 (!) blankets in total. You’ll find complete written instructions how to make every blanket, accompanied by detailed crochet charts and layout schematics. When I was browsing though this book I was thinking that these colorful charts look like small pieces of art themselves. If you have a peak at Rachele’s website and YouTube channel, you’ll see that her crochet work is all about different shapes, asymmetric forms, borders, different kinds of textured motifs and endless ways of their joining. Color Garden crochet blanket. Image credit Rachele Carmona And her book “The Art of Crochet Blankets” is not about making just particular blankets. It gives an introduction to several crochet techniques together with patterns for multiple motifs and layouts. And combining them in a different way you can create your own unique blankets. This book is one deep source of inspiration. Inside this one-of-a-kind crochet blanket guide you'll find: Details on how to translate art to hook with 18 bold and unique crochet afghan patterns influenced by the works of their feature artist. Modern quilts, fabric designs, tapestry weaving, digital art, and more become the source of one-of-a-kind projects for a more artful home. Biographies and beautiful photos profiling 6 inspiring modern makers-- Tula Pink, April Rhodes, Maryanne Moodie, Fransisco Valle, Maud Vantours, and Caitline Dowe-Sandes. If you would like to see all 18 blanket designs, please check them on Ravelry HERE. “The Art of Crochet Blankets” is available for purchase on Amazon HERE*. Disclosure: this blog post contains affiliate links. Subscribe to a newsletter not to miss a single post. You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.