Today it is my absolute pleasure to introduce two of the stunning designs from ‘Friends: The One With Crochet’ book coming out April 2023!
When my dear friend Valérie Prieur-Côté emailed me to show me her finished Central Perk Blanket for my upcoming Friends: The One With Crochet book, I think I fell directly out of my chair! It is stunning! And it’s no wonder, Valérie is an extremely talented crocheter, and I am so honoured that she joined me as a designer for this book! You can find out about how she came to design the Central Perk Blanket, as well as the ‘How You Doin?’ Floor Mat, and get to know Valérie as well!
Where to Purchase ‘Friends: The One With Crochet’ by Lee Sartori
The ‘Friends: The One With Crochet’ Book is so special to my heart! You can read all about how it was created and learn more about our upcoming Virtual Book Tour Dates with all of the designers involved here >> https://www.cococrochetlee.com/friends-the-one-with-crochet-book/
The Pre-Order and Release Date
Before I introduce you to more of ‘Friends: The One With Crochet’ by Lee Sartori, let me tell you about where you can purchase the book!
-The Pre-Order Campaign has officially begun, and when you purchase your pre-order through the publisher of this book, Insight Editions, you will receive a bonus pattern PDF sent to you as a free gift!
You can also purchase the book on Amazon here >>
The book officially releases on April 25th, 2023, so there is plenty of time to secure your copy with a pre-order.
Interviewing Designer Valérie Prieur-Côté
To say that Valérie crushed it for this book is an understatement for sure! Her Central Perk Blanket is so gorgeous with the most detailed and beautiful graph! And the How You Doin’? Mat? Come On!! It’s fantastic! When I read the answers to her interview questions, I definitely started to get ‘spicy eyes’ and by the time I reached the end, Valérie made me cry. I am so grateful to call her my friend, and also a fellow Canadian! Thank you for being a part of this project my dearest!
Here is our interview for our Virtual Book Tour, but before you dive in, be sure to follow Valérie on her social media on Instagram, Facebook, her Blog, and her Tiktok!
1). Can you tell me about how you became part of the Friends Crochet Book, and any experiences/thoughts/feelings you had at joining the book?
Lee contacted me in August 2021, and I’m not going to lie, I cried. I have three passions in life:
books, yarn crafts and Friends, so receiving this amazing opportunity was living a dream I didn’t
know I had. I knew it would be fun because Lee is one of the sweetest humans on Earth so she
would only pick amazing people to participate in this project. I didn’t know it yet but working on
this book, just like the show, brought me a lot of comfort and joy in a very hard time in my life
and for that alone I’m incredibly thankful. Shortly before I received my yarn to work on my
designs, my grandpa was put on palliative care. I sent my finished pieces in February 2022 a
couple of days before he passed. These patterns kept me company while I was dreading the
inevitable pain coming and the show took the relay after by bringing light in this moment of
darkness.
2). Describe your design and its inspiration in relation to the Show.
I was very lucky to contribute two patterns. The first one is an entry mat with the very popular
quote ‘How you doin?’ that the charming Joey uses to seduce women. There is no better way to
greet people at your door. Being such an iconic line from the show, I went with the iconic logo
of the show as an inspiration: the text in white on a black background with red, yellow and blue
dots between each letter.
The second pattern is the Central Perk blanket which was the biggest crochet project of my life.
Online, I saw a few Central Perk blankets, one with the logo and the couch and others with the
black background. I decided to absolutely not go there and to use a light grey as the background,
it is also fairly common in Friends merch to have light grey so it stays on brand. I’ve decided that
the logo of the famous coffee house would go in the middle, and to frame it better I added green
stripes at the top and the bottom of the blanket. Of course I had to add big fluffy tassels in each
corner to finish it off.
3). How did you approach your design? Was there anything you found fun or exciting about the design process?
For the entry mat I really wanted to be smart about it, you don’t want the project to be destroyed
after a week of using it. I decided to use mercerized cotton because it’s the most durable for this
kind of project. I also wanted the mat to be more sturdy so the yarn is double stranded to make it
thicker. I have never made a mat before so it was really fun to do something completely new. As
cool and fun as the mat is, the Central Perk blanket sure is the ‘piece de résistance’, it’s huge and
the graph is very detailed. I have done colour work before, but this was next level. I’ve learned a
lot through this design the best way to juggle so many colours, organization, weaving ends as I
go ( I KNOW !). Additionally, the size of it plus the time frame made it so that I had to work
multiple hours a day on it. This blanket became my work and personality at that point in time,
but I’m so proud of myself because it came out so well.
4). Are you a fan of the Friends TV Show? What are some of your favourite memories or moments?
Oh! My! God! Am I a fan? Fan isn’t strong enough to be honest. Friends has been a
part of my daily life since I was in high school in the early 2000s and I was watching it with my
mom. I watch this show on a continual loop; it soothes my anxiety and it brightens my day. I
have many things in my house that are Friends related as well. Even my kids can name all of the
characters and will dance like there’s no tomorrow to the theme song. Smelly Cat is obviously
very popular too. I can pretty much quote all of the 236 episodes by heart. One episode that isn’t
really popular but that I love is ‘The One Where Joey Speaks French’ because French is actually
my first language so it’s extra funny to me. I could write a whole dissertation on each episode so
if you’re a fan and want to talk about Friends please DM me.
5). If you could make any other design from the book, which would you make first? Why?
I want to make them all of course but I have to say that Jillian (@spinayarncrochet)’s Marcel is
at the top of my list ever since I saw her WIP pictures. He’s so cute and I love that she used faux
fur for the details on the face.
6). Is there anything else you would like to add to your feature? Tips/advice/shout-outs etc.
Shout-outs to Lee. She was (and still is) such a good leader and team player, on top of her many
other qualities. Thank you for inviting me to this project, but also for how you inspire me as a designer, a person and a mother. You’re so strong, kind, generous and a hard-worker, it was such
an honour and a joy to work with you and to call you my friend. I can only end this by saying
that I’ll be there for you.
Pattern Support
Because this book will be distributed and sold worldwide, the designers and Author of ‘Friends: The One With Crochet’ will not be available for the high volume of pattern support questions related to each of the designs inside the book. If you have a pattern question, please do not contact the designers directly, but rather contact the Publishers at info@insighteditions.com – and they will be happy to help you. If needed, the Publishers will contact the designers directly on your behalf. Thank you for your understanding!
Thank you so much for your support of ‘Friends: The One With Crochet’ by Lee Sartori. I am so thrilled that this book is out there for you to enjoy! If you make anything, please tag me on Instagram at @coco.crochet.lee and use the hashtag #friendscrochetbook and #friendstheonewithcrochetbook so we can see your beautiful makes!
