I love crocheting.

OK, I thought I was going to post about my latest project, but it’s kind of an experiment-in-progress and there appeared surprise ruffles, which of course won’t do. So… some frogging must be done and then, only then, will I post The Best Thing Evarrr. Or at least I am hugely amused. But perhaps I am easily amused.

Crochet: a fiber art that emphasizes color, texture, and shape and the interplay of those things.

So I hear that crochet is a sort of unwanted stepchild to knitting. Sort of not as good. Not as hip, cool whatever. The hip kids knit, the dorky kids crochet. That crochet isn’t part of this whole young DIY movement. Et cetera. I posted a rebuttal to such a sentiment on my other blog some time back. (right - that’s Jeff’s stripey woollen scarf )

Well, color me dorky. I seriously can’t figure out why knitting would be better. I can’t stand knitting. I did try, and technically I can knit, but my feeling about it is that it’s error-prone. And that does NOT attract me. I’m already error-prone, and I certainly don’t need to adopt a craft that tends toward dropped stitches and runs. And of course I tried a million things to fix dropped stitches, all of which didn’t work.

Should I have given it another try? Should I have tried harder? Nope. Why bother? I don’t like knitting, so I don’t want to knit. I craft because it’s enjoyable and creative. I craft because it’s something I’m not a perfectionist about like everything else in my life. I don’t work at getting better at things I’m not having a good time doing. That’s just silly. (left - that’s some examples of the crocheted snowflakes I made for my family last year)

But crochet is a different story. I love making all the little knots. i love the texture and I love the intricate patterns that appear. I love granny squares, seriously. I like that I can make snowflakes and lace with just a few chains and some single crochet. I like that I can make a scarf that’s dense and thick or a scarf that’s lacy and light. And out of the same pattern, and all it depends on is the lovely bits of yarn chosen and the size of your hook and how tight your tension is.

And really, those are the same things knitting depends on. So I can’t see what’s inherently better about one or the other. Crochet makes beautiful things, very intricate and detailed or simple and detailed, either way. (that’s my very first crocheted project, my scarf, to the right)

Mostly, I think that experimenting and trying things and sort of messing around with the hook is just a ton of fun. I rarely finish things. Right now, I’m making another bunny, a teeny shirt, a blanket, a hat, a scarf, a pretty rainbow-ey wrap and a dog sweater. I’m also planning to crochet a couple dozen things for christmas and I have some potholders and a couple rugs, and maybe a towel, and another afghan and some pillows, and … oh, enough projects for the next 18 years. I’m just hoping I get faster.

The point is that if I didn’t find real joy in this, I wouldn’t bother. One thing that I’ve really learned from crafting is that there’s not enough time in life to do all the things I’d like to do and make. So I should get after the ones that real mean something to me, or the ones that are the most fun, or the ones that I want to pursue the most for whatever reason. I just won’t be weird about trying to do what I want to do because someone else tells me I should want to do it. (left - that’s one of my in-progress projects, a very soft, self-striping, fall-colored wrap).

Instead, I write to people at the yarn companies and tell them that their email newsletters should feature more crochet, because I’ll unsubscribe them if they keep sending me useless knit patterns. I complain to crochet magazines for using knitting advertisements (usually they’re very good about that). And they do respond! Mostly, I hope that crochet gets its proper due, not as the stepchild but as the true fiber art that it is.

IMHO, Miriam