New Color Schemes for 2021, Plus a Sale!

Polka Dot Cottage is pleased to introduce four new designs in three new color schemes, and two refreshed designs for 2021! I have also decided to retire fifteen older designs, and anything made in these colors and patterns is now priced to sell!

New Designs

Left to Right: Salmon Jubilee, Salmon Tortoise, Honey Jubilee, and Galaxy Jubilee

I took a long look at my design library recently, and decided that maybe I have enough greenish patterns 🙂 I do love me some green, but in the interest of appealing to those of you who may enjoy other hues, I made a conscious effort to avoid green with these new color schemes.

Salmon is mostly shades of pink, with a bit of turquoise and a pearlescent red shimmer .

Honey features browns and golds, with bits of actual gold glitter adding some sparkle.

Galaxy also contains glitter, which looks like stars on the black background.

All three of these color schemes are a departure in some way from the usual, whether it be found in sparkly elements or in the accent colors that are used to brighten or darken the patterns.

You can find Salmon, Honey, and Galaxy patterns on Pendant Necklaces, Seam Rippers, Bangle Bracelets, Channel Rings, Earrings, and Barrettes, so far. If you’d like to see any of these designs on some other item, please let me know!

Refreshed Designs

Left to Right: The original Rainbow Jubilee, the new Rainbow Jubilee, the original Rainbow Tortoise, the new Rainbow Tortoise

Part of the joy (and perhaps also the frustration) of Jubilee Canes is that you can follow the instructions exactly the same way twice, using exactly the same colors, and it will nearly always turn out different. I was running low on Rainbow Jubilee, but it’s a favorite of mine and I didn’t want to retire it, so I made another. As you can see, it’s not quite the same as the original, but it’s still a kaleidoscopic pattern with all of the colors of the rainbow. I do think these images somehow exaggerate the differences between the two versions, but they are definitely not quite the same.

On the other hand, the difference between the two Rainbow Tortoise designs is as dramatic as it seems. Tortoise canes are built entirely from leftovers. These are scraps that are generated while making other designs in the same color scheme. So, the original Rainbow Tortoise was almost definitely built from the scraps of a Rainbow cane that had a lot of white in it, and maybe not a lot of blending of the other colors. While the new Rainbow Tortoise was built from the leftovers I had after making the new Rainbow Jubilee. The result is much darker and more blended.

There are still a few items in the shop that feature the old Rainbow patterns, but these are clearly marked as “discontinued” and are included in the sale I will mention below. Going forward, any new Rainbow items will use the new versions of these designs.

Retiring Designs

Left to Right: Country Tortoise, Pink Tortoise, Yellow Kaleidoscope, Purple Kaleidoscope, Primary Circles, Rainbow Floral, Seaside Squares, Candy Jubilee, Seafoam Glass, Cubicle Glass, Cubicle Parquet, Cubicle Storybook, Cubicle Retro

I came to the hard decision to retire all of these designs, when I could no longer fit all of my patterns in the container I had for them. I could have gotten a bigger container, but I decided that I’d rather simplify the line.

So, now anything that is not a Jubilee, Tortoise, Retro, Afghan, or Calico cane has been discontinued. And any color scheme I don’t like anymore has been discontinued. And any design that just came out less attractive than I’d hoped has been discontinued.

Every item in the shop that was made with one of these discontinued designs is now marked 50% off. No coupon required. Discounted items will add to the cart at the discounted price.

Drop by the shop and look for any handmade item marked “SALE.” There’s nothing wrong with any of these, aside from the fact that they have the misfortune of being a color or pattern that I put on the chopping block 🙂

Now I’d like to hear from you. What items would you like to see more of at Polka Dot Cottage? Would you like a better selection of Crochet Hooks? or maybe more jewelry in a purplish color scheme? I’m likely to make some more inventory in the coming weeks, and I’m happy to take requests!