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
----------------------
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 |
What a fantastic idea!! Good job pulling together a comprehensive reading list! Oprah aint got nuthin' on you!
ReplyDeleteHi Drew, thank you! I ordered 10 of them from www.half.com and each averaged out to only $2 (not including shipping). When I saw the James Walters book for $20 on alibris.com, I had to grab it. I've seen it go for 4 times that amount!
ReplyDeleteI just found and ordered 14 of the books- it looks like quite a worthwhile endeavor. I aqmlooking forward to receiving the books quickly and reading a lot!!
ReplyDeleteCarole Fitzgerald, Houston, TX
Hi Vashti!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea...I originally started with Mel's list (file on freeformers site) and am loving my growing collection of the older books! I may not be a designer but am interested in all things crochet.
Anne
Hey Vashti! I love your 70s read along! I broke down and got the cheapest Modular Crochet I could find. With my new library card, I also found a Woman's Day crochet book which has cool stuff and New Look at Crochet which I also ordered for less than $5. Keep that list coming! I just ordered Crochet Design, too. These books are so much more interesting than the new ones. But, why hasn't American crochet caught up with New Zealand/Austrailia and Europe?
ReplyDeleteHi robbin12, please expand on your tantalizing statement, "why hasn't American crochet caught up with New Zealand/Australia and Europe?" How do you mean this? Style-wise? Technique-wise? Stitch-wise, I'd like to see American crochet catch up with (heck, surpass!) E. European/Russian and Chinese crochet.
ReplyDelete