I love watching Joanna Gaines and Erin Napier transform homes on HGTV, and I so wish that I had their talent. I am way more hit or miss in my decorating abilities, and I’ve had some major misses. I once picked out what I thought was a nice gray paint color for the exterior of our first house. When I turned onto my street excited to see how the house looked with a fresh coat of paint, the first thing that I noticed was the neighbors all standing out on their lawns. Once I saw the front of my house, I knew why. It turns out that the gray color that I had chosen had a hint of purple to it that I hadn’t noticed on the small paint chip, and my house was now a glowing lavender color. New Englanders might be known for their reticence, but every single one of my neighbors asked me if I was going to “keep it that color.”

When I sat down to come up with my next crochet project, I thought that a throw inspired by French ticking striped fabric would really add some warmth and color to my living room. When one of my gardening friends asked me what I was crocheting and I tried to describe French ticking stripes, I realized that I didn’t really know enough about the fabric’s history to explain it to her.

Thanks to the internet and a blog by Melinda Page on the Schumacher website, I now know the history of the French ticking stripe. Basically, the French—doing what they do best—turned solid, canvas mattress encasing fabric known as “ticking” into a design sensation by adding stripes. The fabric became very popular for mattresses and was used throughout Europe. During the Great Depression, the interior designer Sister Parish, in a stroke of DIY genius, used this low cost mattress ticking fabric to make curtains and transformed the humble fabric into an interior design staple.

According to Architectural Digest, Sister Parish was also known to use crocheted, and other handmade items, to give her fabulous rooms a comfortable homey feeling. Knowing this connection made my project even more significant given that this throw was designed with exactly that thought in mind.

If you like to crochet and are looking for a project to add beauty, warmth, and fabulousness to your home, The French Ticking Stripe Throw pattern can be found in the DaisyGardenCrochet Ravelry Store. And, in case you were worried about my neighbors, thankfully the lavender color was only the primer coat. The mistake did cost me a few hundred dollars, but the house ended up a lovely bluish gray color with bright white trim and a happy red door.

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