An Older Story that Bears Attention

I came across this one by accident. It's by no means a new story, but I'm sure most of you will understand why it bears repeating. I hadn't heard it before...

Apparently, after the last horrible earthquake that hit the Abruzzo region of central Italy in April, one of the very last people pulled out alive was a 98 year-old granny, Maria D'Antuono, who kept occupied during her captivity under the rubble by crocheting. I think most of you will understand how this simple act would keep one sane under such horrible circumstances.

This will bring you to the video of Maria D'Antuono's rescue.

Spotted on Flickr...

Knitted capelet / cape / poncho in a shade of light linen, originally uploaded by Cheenara.

Spotted this on Flickr today. It's a knitted capelet by Cheenara and it is quite lovely with a beautiful vintage vibe. Here is her Etsy shop. Her work is amazing!

Fashionable, Unfashionable, Neither, Both?

There were a couple of odd craft-related posts in the news this week.

There's a lot of hoo-ha about the new Sacha Baron Cohen film Brüno and the amazing costumes within. And yes, I am SO going! As a (former) costume designer, I find a lot of what I've seen in the news to be pretty much inspired, and I'd be surprised if Jason Alper was not nominated for an Oscar. All that said, my inner yarnbitch was pissed at this comment which accompanied the photo above of knitted lederhosen:

"When the Brüno movie came around I thought, 'What's going to be the new green thong?' Coming from Austria, lederhosen are very iconic. And then I thought, 'What's unfashionable, and what aren't people doing? Knitting! So maybe we should knit him some lederhosen.'"

WHAT?? Is this guy completely out of touch? Seriously!

And then this morning, I'm perusing The Guardian and find this article.

This week, the thinktank Demos published a collection of essays exploring the idea of "expressive life". In the volume, US arts writer Bill Ivey – who coined the phrase – and Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery, tease out the prospect of a rebirth of the arts and crafts movement as part of the search for quality of life in a post-consumerist, recession-hit society.

At a moment when laid-off bankers are testifying to the benefits of basket-weaving, a reversion to the reformist aesthetic of John Ruskin and William Morris can feel suitably corrective. The old manifesto has serious contemporary traction: respect for nature, dignity of labour, importance of long-garnered skills, access to beauty for all.

Now, that's way more like it.

I guess when you are part of the army of crafters, you find yourself surrounded by like-minded people and figure even those outside the revolution can recognize the power of yarn. But apparently, that's not quite the case.

Thoughts?

It's Macrame, But Worth a Peek

Some More Vintage Whimsy

Thought I'd post a few more of these lovely chapeaus....

I particularly love the clever use of the stitch patterns in the top one.

Enjoy!

Hallo from Hilversum!

I'm writing from my hotel room in Hilversum, Netherlands. I'm here on business, but there is always time for yarn in my book, so I'm taking advantage of my considerable jet lag to post and say hi, as it's some ungodly time in the morning...

Although my copy of Interweave Crochet arrived a few days ago, I've only just starting looking at it closely and I am very impressed. There's a few beauts in this issue design-wise, and some great articles. Overall, I have to say that Interweave does the best job in presenting relevent, interesting articles and great designs. Don't worry, I'm not going soft - trust me, there have been some klunkers -- but I'm happy to give credit when and where due.

First, kudos to my friend Dora Ohrenstein, who, aside from her considerable design prowess, is also showing herself to be quite the crochet historian. I really enjoyed her piece, "The Victorian Crochet Revolution". I confess the topic is a weakness of mine, being a history dork and all, but Dora has a gift for pulling the facts together and making the story flow. And not for nothing, her new design for Crochet Insider is GORGEOUS! Well done, Dora!

But I even liked the articles by people I don't know! The laceweight piece and the Lisa Naskrent articles were both interesting and well-composed. Who knew?

But let's get to the patterns, shall we?

Like I said, there are a few gorgeous ones in this issue. Of particular note are the two shawls, Raindrops Broomstick Lace and the Shape-Shifting Shawls are really nice. Raindrops uses a very appealing stitch pattern and Shape-Shifting has amazing drape.
And while technically not a shawl, the Yoga Beach Sarong has a very cool stitch as well, with strong vertical lines that should be quite flattering. Can we call it an ass shawl?

Lisa Naskrent's Bustier Top is another interesting piece. I particularly like the back view on it with its historical reference. I wonder how it would look on someone with curves?

I gotta say that my absolute favorite in this issue is Annie Modesitt's Pretty Pleats Skirt. Holy crap! I love love love the colors, fit, and overall design on this. And ohmigod, it has a waist! It's funky, cute and actually well-styled by the magazine (not one of Interweave's strengths in the past).

There are a couple of dress patterns in this issue too, but I always have doubts about this kind of project. First, these mothers take a looong time to do and then grow to astonishing lengths once you wear them. Personally, I won't invest the time.

Crocheted skirts I've made before (longer ones) have always stretched like crazy, which really pisses me off. I'm hoping Annie's skirt doesn't fall prey to that, but I think the shorter length and A-line shape will keep it from growing as much as the others have.

And finally, I gotta mention Doris Chan's Curtain pattern. I really like its wonky, rustic look.

Anyway, time for a shower and then off to work.

Ta for now!

Whimsy

I have this awful tendency to keep piles everywhere. Drives the Brit nuts when they get too high. So as I was working from home yesterday, I took a break to reduce the height of my nearest pile consisting largely of vintage pattern books.

Now, quite of few of them deal with making accessories of one stripe or other. As crochet lends itself to structure more readily than knitting, there is a preponderance of vintage crochet hat patterns to be pored over. And it doesn't take long to see that hats (and bags too, I guess), lend themselves to more whimsical designs than, say, sweaters. Or put it this way, they are more successfully whimsical than sweaters (my proof point being those godawful christmas sweaters that get dragged out every year all mothball-scented and embarrassing).

Seeing some of these makes me wish that we still could entertain these little flights of fancy in our lives. I think the single hardest thing to wear is a hat and I always admire the brave souls that do and carry it off. But how fun would it be to raise the bar even on that and wear some of these treasures?