Launch Pad

Today I have decided to put my brain and fingers to work to try and help spread the word that the wonderful designs and projects being produced by today's crocheters is light years beyond what was crocheted by your grandmother. I learned to crochet when you purchased yarn at the department store or perhaps the 'five and dime'.

I don't remember any local yarn shops though there must have been some. In southern California in the late 60's I bought yarn at Sears and The Broadway. There were two local all purpose craft stores, H & H and Lee Wards, but I don't remember buying yarn there. Usually I used worsted weight wool yarn -- 4 oz skeins for $1.25. Acrylic yarns were relatively new but I didn't use them then. One project I started was an afghan made in 3 shades of purple. If I remember it was made of 4 inch squares in different color combinations. The center was circular popcorn stitches and the second and third rounds morphed the motif from round to square. It never was finished because no one clued me in about how many ends there would be to weave in. Ugh!!

Gradually I did start to use acrylic yarns because of ease of care and price. For projects for babies I discovered fingering weight yarns. If I was making something to wear, I would usually knit it. Crochet garments were stiff and lacked any drape to the fabric. Comparing acrylic yarns that I still have in my stash the quality was dramatically better. Over the years I have made lots of afghans and given most of them away.

Flash forward 40+ years and the crochet world is so far removed from where I started. Yes you can still make a granny square afghan and sew in hundreds of ends. But wouldn't it be better to make a garment with all the texture and drape of fabric that was knitted.


Today I am working on two projects that I hope to finish in time to give them as gifts for Christmas. One is a scarf using Marks & Kattens Fame Trend in a teal, green and purple colorway. The pattern is The Wavelength by Dawn Ellerd. She created this design to imitate a knitted scarf with way too many cast-ons and cast-offs. The design is perfect for the long color transitions of this yarn or the Noro Silk Garden Sock that I made the first one in.

The second project is a shawlette using a hand dyed sock yarn from True Love Fibers that I purchased last year at a fiber retreat in Tehachapi. The design is War of The Roses by Debbie O'Neill. I am just beginning the pattern portion of the body of the shawl. Wish me luck and I will check back in soon.