What I love about fiber art is that, for the most part, we don’t take our craft too seriously. Oh, sure there are a few out there that get their hanks in a twist over their projects (you know who you are), but in general, we are a pretty easy going bunch.
And then there is Howie Woo (WooWork.com). He’s the ultimate at having fun with his art. I’ve never smiled so much browsing blog. A recent Amigurimi artist from British Columbia (that’s in Canada), Howie not only crochets fun object reminiscent of his childhood, but does a wonderful job of capturing them in whimsical photographs and videos.
Ever since I was introduced to the Crochet Liberation Front I was drawn to their style. There’s something about militant hookers that just makes me…happy.
So, for this Memorial Day weekend, I came up with a few graphic designs for the militant hooker in all of us. All four designs are based on vintage propaganda posters from the Second World War.
As a little extra bonus for iPhone users, I also created backgrounds for the iPhone based on all four designs that are free for you to download.
And, if that wasn’t enough, all four designs are available for purchase as coffee mugs, tote bags or posters through the newly created Double Treble Zazzle store.
AND it keeps getting better! Zazzle is having a Memorial Day weekend sale on posters. All posters are 70% off through Monday. Just enter MEMORIALSALE as the promo code at checkout and a $9.95 poster will only be $2.74!
My, how two weeks fly when you are under the gun to get something done!
A co-worker of mine is getting married in Greece in a couple of months, so quite naturally the office threw her an engagement party (last night), and quite naturally (two weeks ago) I got the brilliant idea to make something in a technique I had never used before. Quite unnaturally, I need to start rethinking some of these brilliant ideas.
The lifesaver (or potential iceberg) was Donna Kooler’s Encyclopedia of Crochet from which the pattern came. This invaluable book has been like a hand on my shoulder in a storm. Oh sure, I’ve hit my head on a low-hanging branch from time to time, but the hand was still there guiding me back to the proper row and stitches (except for that one row that the hand had no idea what I was doing, gave up and went to the local Stitches-n-Shots bar, got totally wasted, tried to pickup someone else’s project, got slapped and finally stumbled back to mine only to find me in a fetal position crying, “Where did this extra row of a hundred stitches come from!”
But the agony quickly evaporated away once the gift was opened and there was a broad smile on the receiver’s face. With reactions like that, I swear we crafters are some of the luckiest people on earth.
Sometimes I swear I craft just to have a believable excuse to buy cool things. First you buy the practical tools that you absolutely need to make something (e.g. Boye aluminum crochet hook set), then as time goes on, you find the awesome tools that actually give you a heightened sense of joy while you are making something (see my awesome new stitch markers).
Today I found my next tantrum-at-the-check-out. Glass crochet hooks. Not just any glass crochet hooks. These are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen. Michael and Sheila Ernst have created amazing hooks in a choice of five flameworked colors ranging from size H(5mm) all the way to P(11.5mm). Knitters, fear not, they have a full range of circular glass and bamboo knitting needles for you as well.
While you are there, also take a long I-needz look at their glass Don’t Drop spindles and the most amazing glass buttons I have ever seen.
For a slightly more affordable crochet glass hook, but no less scoot worthy, are the colored ribbon crochet hooks offered by glass2art. Each hook is made from Pyrex glass and annealed in a digital kiln for added strength and durability. They are available in sizes J(6mm) to N(10mm). And yes, they have uber cool glass knitting needles as well.
I seriously need a stimulous package to bail out my crochet addiction.
Way back in the time that is known as Let’s see how many projects I can do just before Christmas, I purchased some Stansborough Grey yarn because…well, the idea of it is freakin’ cool. The wool that was used on Lord of the Rings, how cool is THAT? The problem was now I had the yarn but I had no idea what to do with it. I knew it had to be a project that was just for me (a first), but what that was going to be, I hadn’t a clue.
I don’t know about you, but most of my best creative ideas gently caress me in bed around three o’clock in the morning and then sixty seconds later they grip my neural pathways and do a gymnastic floor routine en route to my bladder. Being confronted by both a creative idea and urinary desperation proves too much and I get up to resolve one problem while contemplating the other.
That was the scene when the Diamonds in the Rough scarf pattern came to me. A simple scarf for an understated yarn that would be enhanced by the simple textured pattern of alternating Tunisian stitches.
Click for pattern
I’m even more excited that the pattern is available for download! The $4.00 FREE pattern includes both standard written instructions as well as a symbol crochet chart.
I hope you enjoy crocheting it as much as I did designing it.
As I was doing some research using old pattern books for an upcoming project, I came across this pattern for a crochet watch fob1 that, to my surprise, had a swastika dangling from it. The first thought that zapped through my brain was, “Great. It isn’t bad enough that crochet gets such a bad rap, but now I have to deal with it being the preferred technique when the Nazis had craft time.”
As I read the pattern, something struck me. I was reading the pattern. That’s not right. I shouldn’t be able to read a German pattern. The most I know of a foreign language is “beefy bean burrito.” It was in English! Hmmm. Things aren’t adding up. A quick look at the copyright and publisher showed that it was published in Chicago in 1915. This looks like a case for Almighty Google.
I knew from my years of obsessed watching of The History Channel that ancient societies were using the swastika in their symbology centuries2,3 before the man with the iron chip on his shoulder ever came to power. But in 1915? In Chicago?
I turns out that the swastika was used in America during the 19th and early 20th centuries as a good-luck symbol2,3. So much so that even Coca-Cola used it in 1925 as a watch fob for advertising.
It is so interesting to me that through the course of human events something can go for centuries as a cherished religious symbol or good-luck charm and then through the adoption of one man it can be turned into a symbol of hate and murder. The inversion of this of course is how something for hundreds of years was a symbol of hate and murder and by the event of one man it turned into a cherished religious symbol and good-luck charm. That would be the symbol of the cross.
The final conclusion: The Nazi party, like much of the world today, did not crochet.
And that concludes the history lesson for today. Next time on Chain Stitching through History, Wooly Mammoth Fur: worsted or wasted?
1. EM Devere. Crocheted watch fob. Richardson’s Irish Crochet Book; 1915 Chicago, Ill. Pg. 27.
Just when we need sale prices the most, I realized that it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted the Weekly Bargains.
Each week I search the Internet for the best bargains I can find in yarn, fiber and other crochet/knit related items. If you know of a good bargain this week please comment and tell us about it.
I love projects that have a double meaning. Like scarves that look like a sushi roll when you roll them up, or scarves that show the color spectrum of a chemical element. My good friend at work (you remember, Content Pig) is a Guitar Hero “super star,” so I was pretty jazzed to see that someone created the Guitar Hero Scarf and posted it on Craftster.org. Not only is it a great representation of a Guitar Hero display, it actually displays the note chart for Knights of Cydonia by Muse.
The designer gives very general instructions, but it’s pretty easy to do it yourself using the pictures as a reference. To customize it with a song of your choice you can use the .png files for Guitar Hero 1 or Guitar Hero 2. Or do a Google search for “Guitar Hero Note Charts.”
Browsing though my emails from readers today, one came through that excited me. I love a challenge and a quest and this one has both. Several years ago (twenty-one to be exact) a rose of a hooker (coincidentally named Rose) crocheted the very cute elephant themed baby afghan that is pictured in this post. She wants to make it again but has lost the pattern.
Now the pattern looks fairly simple (large granny squares surrounding a single crochet field with a cross-stitched elephant) but before I go through the task of figuring out the pattern and writing it down (which I’m totally inclined to do to help Rose out), I was hoping that someone out there might recognize the pattern and be able to direct her where she can find it.
If you know of where she can find the pattern, please comment to this post or write me directly so she can create this delightful afghan again. If it comes down to having to recreate the pattern maybe you can assist with that as well. Everything is pretty clear except for the joining and edge stitches. That has me a bit stumped.
If you are a crocheter, you know that the knitters seem to always get the cool stuff. We hookers, being an inventive bunch, then have to adapt or rename to fit our needs. One thing that has always been a knot in my skein has been the lack of stitch markers that are suitable for crochet. I’m reminded of the time when my fiber buddy and I went to a local mega-craft store and I asked for stitch markers. “Oh yes, we have them right over here.” Yes, they did. Rows of every size and color of solid-ringed stitch markers that would make any knitter purl with joy. But there was no joy in Crochetville. “Do you have any for crochet?” I asked with as much puppy dogness I could muster. With a tone that revealed her amazement that crocheters actually had a need to count stitches, let alone the ability, she replied, “No.”
Now, plastic locking stitch markers are somewhat easy to find. After five stores I was finally able to find a package of turquoise and orange plastic locking stitch markers that would be suitable for everyday use or a 1950’s Jello party. But I wanted something for when company was coming over. I needed the “fine china” of stitch markers. Where did I find it? Oddly enough from my own website.
As you may know from previous posts I like to browse my own blog. I’m a sucker for browsing the companies that advertise on my site (which is probably why Google has banned me for life from their advertising program AdSense). Yesterday I found Art Fire advertising on my site; a buy/sell resource for handmade items. After a quick search, there they were. Stitch markers with the crocheter in mind. And not just one type, but four variations. And that was just from one seller, JedsJoy.
The order’s been placed for a set of Czech Glass stitch markers and payment has been sent. I can’t wait for my high-class crochet stitch markers. Now I just need company to come over. Maybe I need better looking hooks too.
What I love about fiber art is that, for the most part, we don’t take our craft too seriously. Oh, sure there are a few out there that get their hanks in a twist over their projects (you know who you are), but in general, we are a pretty easy going bunch.
Ever since I was introduced to the 
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