I love to crochet. Since learning exactly how to do it at a wool shop just over a year and a half ago I have delighted in creating fabrics and other ephemera through the simple act of pulling loops of yarn through other loops.
Although it’s similar to knitting, crochet differs in that you only ever have one stitch active on your hook at any one time. This, for me has made it my preferred yarn activity. Any mistakes (and I make A LOT of these) and you can literally rip your work up to the point you want to continue from. There is no need to painstakingly unpick each stitch one at a time worrying whether you are twisting the yarn the wrong way on the needles like in knitting. This means it’s very portable. You always know where you are.
The bestselling ‘Happy Hooker’ by Debbie Stoller was published in 2006 which fed off the success of the stitch and bitch knitting fever and since then crochet’s experienced a massive resurgence and is more in favour than ever before. It’s moved on from traditional granny square blankets and doilies that your nan had under just about everything in her house. Now we’re starting to see the emergence of more sophisticated, cleverly crafted, contemporary designs in homeware, accessories and fashion. And some are extremely covetable. Here’s just a few of my favourite things I found on the net.
The mega doily. Truly a thing of great beauty, made from rope Jean took her love of vintage doilies to the extreme and hand (!) crochets these rugs;
A stunning centrepiece for the table crocheted from wire:
Linen Pincushion from namolio would make a welcome addition to any sewing kit.
And now crocheted stones? Who’d have thunk it huh? But aren’t these just amazing?
And we can’t have a post on crochet without some contemporary covetable afghans in modern hues. These are relevant designs for modern surroundings.
Crochet is easy enough to pick up. I could not fathom it for the life of me until that fateful class 18 months ago that began my love affair. However I defy anyone to fail to learn after just a small bit of practice (practice is key – like most things!) and not only is it accessible but it’s hugely versatile with the ability to create countless textures and effects. Work ‘grows’ quickly making it instantly gratifying and there is no limit to the inspiration to be found on the internet. It’s fantastic for fashioning trims, making throws, creating jewellery and so much more. You can use a wealth of different materials, rope, wire, yarn, cotton, twine, raffia – people are even crocheting plastic bags!
To get you started I can’t recommend enough ‘Compendium of crochet techniques’ I have a huge amount of crochet books but this is seriously the ‘go to’ book. For projects give Erika Knight’s ‘Essential Crochet’ a try, and one of my favourites: Linda Permann ‘Crochet adorned'.
I’ve not even mentioned amirugumi (crocheted toys) and I know there’s nothing on clothing except the strangely seductive first image but there is so much to say about crochet so here ends the crochet fest. I’ve enjoyed it immensely. Thanks for having me Kate and happy hooking people. Enjoy.
Thanks so much Amy! these pictures are inspiring - you can find more from Amy at her blog No More Disco.
