Popping In

Thought I'd drop by to say that I've been blogging more over at Designingvashti and I may merge this blog into that one. The Toydesigningvashti blog is turning out to be a fun diversion. (I'm still getting the hang of blogging!)

Hookers of the Web, Click!

We interrupt this nascent blog to bring you a piece of crochet heaven, even here in this humble mortal life. Yes, it's finally here: The Crochet Insider.

Go, then come back. I've got about 4 blog entries in draft form, just waiting for images or links for maximum blog enrichment.

Geisha Crochet

Discovered two Japanese crochet books for sale at knit pixie and ordered both of them. Got my order fast, too! I chose kpixie because they are very Crochet me -friendly and have lots of indie yarns.

I first learned from Kathleen Power Johnson how awesome Japanese stitch dictionaries are, and are easy to use if you know symbol crochet. I wish ALL of my stitch dictionaries spoke symbol crochet. Then a friend I met at a Chain Link conference, Dora Ohrenstein, brought some Japanese crochet books with her from NYC when she visited me and I decided at that point to just buy them whenever they crossed my path! I even went to amazon.jp to order crochet books, and got them, but I don't remember how I did it (my friend from Japan helped me at the time). Anyway here's the one from kpixie called Crochet Adventures that I'm really pleased about:

And here's only 1 of many reasons why:


Maybe this seems like nothing to someone else, and maybe I should have shown a photo of the unique 3D bullion-puff cushion instead (or see it at kpixie); but it just happens to be the first time I've ever seen fanned-out grannies-as-u-go. Since granny squares remain crowd-pleasers, this design gives me hope that I can join in the fun because it's probably the only kind of granny square-based pattern I would want to try. What is this called? Entrelac grannies?

And then there's the styling that only a Japanese book can do well:

Geisha Crochet! Ok, so it's not a new technique or stitch, I just like how crochet is involved in the whole look. Historic and modern at once.

The other book I bought at kpixie is lovely from a styling POV, but I will probably give it away. Over half of it is knitting projects and most are more for beginners I'd say. It does have lots of Japanesey things to say about the yarn being all organic and who knows what else, maybe plant dyed or color grown? I'm only guessing.

Too Much of a Good Thing?

According to Fashionlines, the designer Bora Aksu overdid the crochet in his Spring 2006 runway collection, a concept difficult for me to fathom, since I can never get enough of crochet. Their explanation fascinates more than explains: "Aksu's excessive use crochet and dantele [sp? dentelle?] throughout the collection ended up looking like the gifted designer was out to create fashion accessories as opposed to complete ensembles."

I guess this makes sense if you think crochet is only a form of embellishment, not also a method for creating fabric. It is possible for crochet to look heavy-handed as a "complete ensemble"--but not a certainty.

It's interesting to me how the noncrocheting fashion media interpret crochet. For example, this is from London Fashion Week's summation of Aksu's style: "Texture rather than ornate decoration is his thing; so you get fluid layers of bias-cut silk, chiffon and heavy cottons accented with leather or crocheted knit or lace" (emphasis mine).

No complaint here, I'm just chewing on that phrase a bit: so there's crocheted knit (i.e. when you create fabric, like knitting usually does whether by hand or machine?) and there's crocheted lace (i.e. where you use crochet as embellishment, which tends to be crocheted more often than knitted?). Probably just fashion-world-speak where there's wovens vs. 'knits', and embellishing techniques, and Aksu's use of crochet is falling in 2 of these categories that have different meanings in my own Crochetopia.

Free Yarn Friday!

There's no better day to get free yarn in the mail than a Friday!
The trends I'm seeing in the new yarns:

1. Though away from exuberant novelty textures and toward traditional smooth worsted looks, there is still an emphasis on surface interest. So for example, you might be able to see some fancy stitches in the new yarns, but they still contribute subtle interesting textures, such as with some haze or guard hairs or subtle glimmer strands.

2. Sophisticated range of neutral shades, both warm and cool choices for very different design possibilities--from the simple pleasures of oatmeal goodness and ethnic familiarity to urban detachment and cool logic. I guess it's the usual rural vs. urban, timeless arcadia vs. au courant urban split. I like that both are being done in a luxe way, and for me, the split is resolved in my favorite trend, the aristocratic-historic looks! Yay!

3. Natural fibers--always upscale and therefore always in style of course, but natural (esp. animal) fibers are also now a trend for the masses. I see it as a whiff from the future when eco-friendly everything is in full trend. For now, ever more primarily synthetic yarns have a sprinkle of animal fibers, often ingeniously blended in a way that there appears to have a higher animal fiber content than in reality. I think the enduring felting craze has boosted this appetite for animal fibers too. Maybe felting is putting animal fibers on the map for those habituated to 100% acrylic.

4. Garish color combinations from the 1980's. {{shudder}} Intense and cold colors like fuchsia and peacock blue set off with lotsa black in--ick--giant geometric patterns with shoulder pads. Heck, add some metallics to the black. I can't think of any knitwear that I miss from the '80's. Still love the music though.

What is a good pairing with free yarn? Champagne! Except that free yarn is champagne.

Chunky Lace Loves Baroque Music

I need to make good progress on a "chunky lace" garment. (In the case of crocheted lace, "chunky" to me means sportweight thread or yarn.) When I need a baroque music fix and am too lazy to use my iPod or boombox, I go to Sunday Baroque . Perfect choice!

As for today's libations, I'm disappointed with Starbuck's "Pike Place Market" blend. Having spent some of the best years of my life in Seattle back when Starbucks was a small local company, I'm liable to buy anything that mentions "Pike Place Market" on it. I even lived on Pike St.! I remember when you could still see the mermaid's split tail in the logo; found the image in the excellent entry at Deadprogrammer's Cafe. The coffee blend isn't doing it for me, unfortunately. The best aspects smell fantastic but taste ephemeral, and the rest of the "bold" effect is just an uh, over-roasted flavor.

And now to the lace.

Chocolate, Red Wine, Starbucks, and CROCHETED JEWELRY

-Sipped, not gulped: Papua New Guinea Estate (Starbucks) in a brand-new Cuisinart coffeemaker.
-Unwrapped: Dolfin Chocolat Noir au poivre rose--buttery velvet consistency
-Uncorked: a Tempranillo--renews my appreciation for an Australian Shiraz; in the meantime, it works with sheep's milk cheeses.

Any 2 of these 3 in a day and I can come up with design proposals I love for crochet jewelry for a close deadline. (Am working on photos.)