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a handicraft in which yarn is made up into a patterned fabric by looping yarn with a hooked needle.“a crochet hook”
I was chatting with a friend today on Facebook, and she commented that she needed to get better at crochet, to which I quipped back, being goofy but encouraging, “It’s only loops!”
That’s not really fair of me, though, to dismiss it like that, even in a joke. Those loops, which start out as a simple chain then build to make just about any shape you can imagine – those loops hold magic.
Did you know that crochet is one of the few fiber arts that cannot be truly replicated by machine? Knitting, weaving, felting – all those have been industrialized. But if you buy a crocheted sweater or shawl, that passed through human hands.
Some folks know this about me, but I’m betting a lot of my readers don’t. I started out as a crocheter. My mom is a whiz-bang crocheter and she taught me when I was little, maybe all of 6 or 7 years old. I wasn’t good right away, but by the time I was 8 or 9 I was making tiny freeform animals with steel hooks and baby yarn, so I’d say that I’d absorbed it pretty well! I never made anything large like Mom does – she’s a veteran of the afghan-making craze of the seventies and eighties – but I am very absorbed still with freeform shapes and small items.
I had put down crochet for a while, during the high tumultuous energy of my twenties and thirties, but I hadn’t forgotten how. When I picked up knitting, I momentarily considered just going to crochet, but I wanted to learn a new skill, and knitting was really hot and hip at that moment too. [it was the era of Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook
I picked up knitting pretty easily but it has never come naturally to me like crochet does – I always have to remind myself which side is the right or wrong side if I’m not doing stockinette, and I spent the first couple of years knitting twisted stitches without knowing it, because I often flip things with my hands, like using scissors. I think that might be a side effect of growing up with a leftie and being fairly ambidextrous myself, but who knows? So when I have been away from knitting for a while, I have to go back every time and give myself a remedial course on where the needles go and other basics. It’s not ingrained like crochet is.
Not to say that my crochet is perfect! But I have a lot more confidence there. And that’s what counts. It’s just loops!
Like this guy? You can but it [and an air plant for an extra cost] on my Facebook page!
One of the things I love the most about crochet is that it plays so nicely with my handspun yarn, especially my spindle spun oddities. I often have all these small balls of yarn in various textures, and though I do enjoy using them in my Arcanity necklaces and small weavings, I am always exploring other ways to play with them. Crochet allows me to easily double up yarn for color/texture combos, and to pretty seamlessly switch yarns out – I also can make up for the particular weirdnesses that can happen with a thick/thin texture or features like locks or neps that I would prefer to have stand out in a finished project. It’s easy to take away or add a few stitches to make up for any wonkiness in a way that would be totally noticeable in knitting. And I can change my mind on the fly so much easier in crochet!
Interested in learning crochet? I always, always recommend Craftyminx’s free Crochet School series to my friends.
Already a crocheter? What are you making? I wanna seeeeeee! That’s half the fun, the sharing!
Thanks for reading, beautiful people. Look for more crocheted podlets, bowls, pod bowls, and who knows what else, soon!
**Christiane Knight is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
1 Comment
deki
January 31, 2017 at 9:58 pmI love your podlets with air plants in them! such fun! all of your crocheted creations that i have seen, including my arcanity neckwear piece (ahh.mazing!), very much enhance your hand spun! (which is SUPER soft and squishy…mmmmmmmmm yum). i love where you are going with your art and i can’t wait to see more!