A Crochet Syllabus for Independent Study

In the tradition of my alma mater, where students design their own courses that are called "independent reading projects" (IRP's), "independent study projects" (ISP's), or tutorials, I've designed a "New Directions in 1970's Crochet" ISP that I'll work through for the next month or two (traditionally at New College the ISP is a special "interterm" required every January).

I invite anyone to join me at any point in the reading and hands-on experiments. I'll post here my thoughts about the readings as I go and I hope others add comments. If there's a book that you think should or should not be on the list, please comment also.

Working Syllabus
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My Questions:

- A rash of crochet books were published in the 1970's with terms like "New", "Creative", "Discovery", "Adventures", etc. in the titles. What were the truly fresh ideas of the time? How have they matured?

- Are there stitches and techniques in these books that I think deserve rejuvenating for the 21st century?

- Which of these books will become essential classics for my own library?

The Reading List:
Most of the books I already own but haven't gotten around to reading. Some are on order from places like www.half.com or www.alibris.com . A few aren't available at all but I might locate a copy at a library later. I'd like to read them in fairly chronological order. On the Core list, I own the first book but the next 2 haven't arrived in the mail yet. I'm thinking I'll give myself until Jan 9 to read the first one, New Design in Crochet by Clinton MacKenzie. Then I expect to pick up speed with the rest. I don't know yet if I'll be making use of the supplementary books. Maybe to skim briefly and randomly.

The Core List so far:
(If the list doesn't display well, try here.)

Date	Author	Title	ISBN
1972	MacKenzie, Clinton D	New design in crochet	0442350694
1972	Feldman, Del Pitt	Crochet: discovery and design	0385051336
1972	Standing, Dorothy	New Ways with Crochet
1974	Brock, Delia	The Adventurous Crocheter	0671217550
1976	Feldman, Annette	Crochet and creative design	0883653346
1978	Dittrick, Mark	Hard Crochet	0801532795
1978	Dittrick	Design Crochet	0801520193
1978	Hubert, Margaret	One-Piece Knits That Fit: How to Knit and Crochet One-Piece Garments	0442235674

Supplementary Reading List:

Date	Author	Title	ISBN
1969	Horne, Caroline	Fashion Crochet	0263707369
1969	Rathbone, Iris	Crochet: a modern guide to an ancient craft;	0707101611
1972	Taylor, Gertrude	AMERICA'S CROCHET BOOK
1972		Vogue guide to crochet	0812814339
1973	Edson, Nicki Hitz	Creative crochet,	0823010406
1973	Rathbone, Iris	More crochet	0877494312
1974	Ventre, Mary Tibbals	Crochet; a basic manual for creative construction (The Crafts series)	0316899607
1975	Feldman, Annette	Handmade Lace and Patterns	006011231X
1975	Standing, Dorothy	Using Crochet Motifs	0263053660
1978	Bonando, Wanda	Stitches, patterns, and projects for crocheting (Harper colophon books)	006091095X
1979	Jacobs, Shanie	Shanie Jacobs' Crochet Book	0672523817
1979	Calder, Louisa	Louisa Calder's Creative Crochet (Penguin Handbooks)	0140463704
1979	Parkinson, Francesca	Knit and crochet your own designs	0668041269