Made popular by Queen Victoria, crochet has long been the art behind lace. Victorians dressed their houses in layers of flounces, ruffles, lace, doilies, and gilded knickknacks to keep up with the opulent times. Through the years, crochet became a quick way to make a blanket or a hat, though never quite as popular as knitting - the veteran craft. In the 70's or 80's, someone came up with the brilliant idea to crochet a Kleenex box cover out of Tunisian crochet. Forgive me a shudder of distaste. Also a product of the 70's, mini-dresses were crocheted, as were long vests and granny square afghans in orange, green, and brown. Probably stereotypical of me, but that's what comes to mind when I think of crochet in the 70's.
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These days, knitting is still the superior art, with its wide range of garment possibilities and neat, tailored stitches. Crochet is chunky, difficult to shape, and it's made using a hook, earning some crocheters the unfortunate punny nickname of 'hookers'. Awkward. That's why it wasn't named 'Vogue Crochet'. It just doesn't flow, and apparently didn't have the fashion potential that knitting does. It seems that that's changed within the past few years - crochet is making its way up.
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So why crochet? Well, for the past few years, since I started getting serious about it, I've had this vision of crochet being a beautiful art instead of a tacky one. I've tried to realize this vision by designing my own patterns and selling them on Ravelry and Craftsy. Recently I've begun to take my crocheting to a new level and start selling what I make on Etsy. I want to make crocheting appealing to people, and part of that means using quality materials and making things that are intriguing, not tacky. I don't mean to be high-minded or idealistic, but I'm interested in what I do for a reason. It means a lot to me to make things with my hands and have them be things that mean something to someone else. I want to sell both the items I make to someone who doesn't craft, and I also want to sell the instructions to make an item to someone who does craft and appreciates learning how to make something new.
I'm excited about the future of crochet, as more people are introduced to it. I have nothing against knitting - I love knitting, but I learned to crochet first and I believe it has a lot of potential.
What about the art of Amigurumi? You forgot to mention that :) I've recently published a book about crocheted rattles in the shape of self designed Amigurumis - check out my blog :)
ReplyDeleteI did forget amigurumi! I am so impressed that you've designed your own crochet rattles - that's a really great idea.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you say. Crochet is coming into its own. Many commercial patterns I find in the wool shops do still look like they are from decades ago. I'm really enjoying the new crochet magazines that are popping up here in the uk and of course reading blogs such as yours. Good luck with your Etsy shop.
ReplyDeleteS xx