'70's Read-Along Book #6: Adventures in Crocheting

[W]hen clothing is made from some of the very unusual and interesting pattern stitches herein, the pattern stitch itself becomes the style, and it should not be obscured or belabored by complicated styling known as high fashion, which usually enjoys so short a period of popularity that it is often out of style before it is finished. Most certainly an item lovingly made by hand over a period of weeks or months, and with it a joyous anticipation of the item finished, should be of such simple lines that it will stay in style until it has worn out.
Barbara Aytes, 1972

It is with regret that I return this book to the public library. I hold pretty much the opposite position toward fashion crochet than Ms. Aytes does in the above quote but it won't stop me from adding a copy of this book to my collection when I get a chance. The content is solid, accomplished, and well-rounded. The author certainly met her stated goal: to "strike a happy medium between those books which are full of pattern stitches and nothing to make, and those which are full of items to make and few or no pattern stitches".

Maybe now would be a good time for me to state a personal bias: I'm not interested in making or wearing timeless fashions. I don't shop for them and designing them is not a meaningful career for me. Designers who appreciate timeless fashion are the ones who do it the best and so I'm happy to leave them to it and remain impressed from afar.

The opposite is what I buy, wear, crochet, and design: trendy. I think the world can never have enough trendy crochet patterns and I'd produce far more designs than I do if I humanly could. I even teach a class on designing trendy crochet at the CGOA conferences. Contrary to what timeless crocheters say, I think crochet is well-suited for trendy projects because:
- crochet itself continues to be a trendy look in the larger fashion world (yay)
- the internet offers a whole new opportunity for trendy crochet patterns to reach the widest number of crocheters a.s.a.p.
- you can crochet it with plenty of time to wear it, and make more for your friends and relatives too! The amount of time it would take me to sew a garment is roughly comparable to how long it would take me to crochet it. This is the exact opposite of what Ms. Aytes says--that by the time you put in all that work crocheting something fashionable, it's out of style. This is the amazing versatility of crochet: both Trendy and Timeless crocheters can be right!

Back to the timeless book: Ms. Aytes' designs have the kind of simple lines of good proportion that I admire in timeless designs. This is one reason I want to own the book. She offers a range of slippers, for example, that are great to have on hand as templates if nothing else. Remarkably, I can imagine wearing many of these designs even though:
- they are photographed flat in black and white;
- they are intended to look timeless, and did I mention timeless is not my thing?;
- we're talking 1972. (I think of myself as 1970's-friendly, yet so far as I review these books I often cringe.) Compared to many early '70's crochet books, the photos are high-quality, the projects are well-finished and blocked, and the overall selection of projects is sound.

Viewed within the context of my project of reviewing pioneering 1970's crochet books, the author's goal is not exciting enough to justify having the term "adventures" in its title. I was a little disappointed in this respect, but the book makes up for not delivering a promised adventure in other ways. Besides offering a thoughtful collection of timeless designs, the stitch patterns are thrilling! Each crocheter is probably unique when it comes to what counts as thrilling stitch-wise. For me, it's how uncommon it is, how difficult it is for me to figure out how it's done by looking at it, and if the solid-vs-open shapes the stitches make are distinctive. Out of about 65 stitch patterns provided, only about 5 appear in every crochet book ad nauseum (plus another 5 or so motifs); the rest are unusual somehow. A few are downright alien to me {{said with shiver of delight}}.

When I began this '70's book review project, I envisioned zipping through what I had on hand in Jan-Feb'07 while taking a vacation from design deadlines. As people emailed me titles of books to add to my reading list, and as I immersed myself in reading them, I stopped expecting to skim and gab, and instead, ponder and savor and try to give each book its due. Now it's mid-April and I have design deadlines and then prep for conferences to do. So the bad news is that these '70's book reviews are going to slow to a crawl; but the good news is that I'm in it for the long haul--I'm NOT stopping. It's way too rewarding. Heck, I haven't even gotten past 1973 yet!

'69 Iris Rathbone Followup; other news

In my review of Iris Rathbone's 1969 book, I mentioned a stitch pattern that caught my eye.The purple and red swatches on the left only are the Rathbone stitch pattern in two very different yarns. I can't show more of the swatches because then we get into confidential designing information.... It's basically clusters of chain-3 loops so that they look like a cross between picots and a shell or v-stitch. Works up fast, faster than the picot-laden stitch pattern on the right (also shown in two very different yarns. You can can see the instructions for this one here.)

My left brain says these 2 stitch patterns have nothing in common but my right brain says, "I'll always love the look of the picot one even though it's kind of slow-going. When I want the same picot effect but fast, Rathbone's could do the job." (By the way the lefthand swatches look flatter than they really are. The free ch-3 lps form lacy nubbies.)

In the same review I also mentioned that I might find a photo of my attempt at safely removing previous rows from crocheted fabric. Does this old photo make sense? The stitch pattern is double-treble (dtr) filet. First I threaded a contrasting cord through the feet of the dtr that would become the new bottom row. Wherever the dtr were connected to the dtr below it, I wove the cord. That way, when I cut through the middle of the dtr row below and removed the remnants, the cord gave the dtr's of the next row something to hold onto.

So in the photo you can see that 4 dtr have been freed from the row below it (click on it for a closeup). It was so scary at the time that I took this picture. I suspect it's as terrifying for a crocheter as steeks are for knitters!

Then you just make a new foundation chain for the feet: In the case of this filet pattern, slip stitch into the feet of the first dtr, (chain 1, sl st in the feet of the next dtr) across. It looks 100% like it has always been the foundation chain.

Sorry it's novelty yarn but the open filet pattern helps make the photo informative. If have time someday I'll do this to a swatch of smooth yarn for a better pic.

Two Crochet Books from 1969

I'm only going to mini-review two books first published in 1969 because they lie just outside the stated scope of the '70's crochet read-along: Crochet: A Modern Guide to An Ancient Craft by Iris Rathbone, and Fashion Crochet by Caroline Horne.

The dustjacket of Ms. Rathbone's book looked very promising to me (a stylish and hip young woman wears a crochet dress in a '60's glam shot) but the excitement fizzled out as I actually read the book. It's not a bad book, it's just basic and boring. Thank goodness for the color plates because the majority of the images is pretty poor.

The author wants to get young stylish people crocheting and the book is small and portable. I pity the person who actually tried to learn how to crochet for the first time from this book, though; most of the illustrations of how to make basic stitches are so unclear that they almost look like woodcuts with yarn plies drawn so boldly that you can't make out the stitches! Photos of stitch patterns are so muddy that I had to try one because the instructions sounded unfamiliar. I got lucky: I discovered a little gem of a stitch pattern this way. If this new stitch pattern is the only thing I gained from reading this book, I'm content. I'll post a photo of it and and instructions later.

Ms. Rathbone shows a designer's flare. Her beret and mitten set is strikingly bordered with shells of contrasting colors, she seems to prefer triangular granny squares, and she fearlessly teaches the presumably new crocheter how to make a cocktail dress, a maxi- and mini-length lady's dress, and a blouse top. I was impressed by the section showing how to remove earlier rows of crochet from a piece. I don't remember seeing this explained elsewhere back when I needed to do it, so I figured it out on my own at the time. I'll see if I can rustle up a photo illustrating this also.

The drawings and photos in Ms. Horne's book are a big improvement over Rathbone's, however there are zero photos of finished garments. Like Rathbone, this author assures the reader that crochet is so easy that after learning a few basic things you can now crochet pants, a pair of stockings(!), a tailored suit with raglan sleeves, a coat and dress ensemble, and a blazer. These are illustrated only with shapely drawings so a beginner following her patterns would probably be in for a rude awakening.

I appreciate the range of stitch textures the author featured in her garments and she offers a hat with unusual construction (you crochet a long mini-ruffled strip first, then sew it into a coil shape over a stiffener). Her love of wearing her own crocheted clothes is obvious and she offers four methods for altering the hemlines of crocheted skirts.

Both authors are acutely aware that in 1969, beginning crocheters will want to be able to crochet fashionable clothing and a bit of bold home decor. Both of these books differ from the '70's books I've reviewed so far because neither complain about old-fashioned crochet but instead give it its due. They both have a sophisticated, cosmopolitan sensibility (esp. the Horne book) whereas often the '70's authors set out to show you how to crochet earthy, casual, more guileless-looking stuff. Fashionable folks who lived through the late '50's and then the '60's must have had vertigo by the time they got to the '70's! I wonder what fashion sensibility we're 'hooking' into for 2007?

Next '70's book to be reviewed: Adventures in Crocheting by Barbara Aytes (1972).

'70's Read-Along Book #5: New Ways with Crochet

Crochet has lost its stuffy and time-consuming image and is now bold and exciting. There's no great merit in producing large slabs of it unless at the same time you acquire a foreign language from the radio or something equally useful. But to use the the craft intelligently and discriminately can give attractive results without involving a great deal of toil and time.
Dorothy Standing, 1971

Sometimes I worry that I lack a feel for the times and therefore am not doing full justice to '70's-style originality. I mean, look at the cover--was there really a time when that image was the best possible way to convey NEW WAYS WITH CROCHET? Must have been, so after pondering this, I'm thinking that as a home decor item it must have seemed bold and fresh: one jumbo granny square in the hottest '70's colors, NOT little white or ecru lacy bits, not an antimacassar or doily. Ripple afghans must have been appealing for the same reason: a riveting, in-your-face, do-it-yourself home fashion statement. I wonder if this was electrifying for crochet's image if until then it had been stuffy and time-consuming as this author says.

Here again is an author who starts out complaining about old-fashioned crochet but it would help me to get inside a 1971 mind if she (and other authors like her) got more specific. The kinds of items made and the colors used, rather than the style of them, are big factors for her, so I think part of her goal is to get people to crochet new kinds of things, not just in new ways. She also seems to be down on colorless lacy, dainty, painstaking thread crochet. I kept expecting her to denigrate doilies (which occurs in other '70's books) but antimacassars seem to be more loathesome to this British author--she says "positively no antimacassars" and there's a chapter called "No antimacassars, but some useful household things".

She promotes a "new" way to follow crochet patterns. As a teacher she has seen many crocheters have trouble reading patterns so this book teaches the reader to make paper patterns using "basic dressmaker skills." Not only does she show how to modify a paper sewing pattern for crochet, she uses paper patterns for even the most basic shapes, such as a beret. It's taken to a quirky degree in my opinion but I like how visual and tactile the approach is, so I can imagine it really would appeal to certain learners. Still, the way this template approach is overly relied on in this book, it: a) depends on "basic dressmaker skills" which fewer people have today, b) still leaves the the reader without the understanding of how to read a crochet pattern, and c) I wonder how new it really is; I thought crocheting or knitting clothes the way a dressmaker would go about it is very traditional. Maybe what's new about it is how she empowers you to draft your own paper patterns.

I was pleasantly surprised to find some flexibility in the clothing section. The author questions the need for side seams, and for working rows horizontally when there are benefits to working rows vertically in a garment (side-to-side construction). I thought her hats chapter was strong design-wise. I had to pick up the hook when she discussed cords and braids and before I knew it I had 4 bracelets. (All stitches are in UK terminology.)

I'm not raving about this book, am I? I don't know if I'll keep it. I guess much of this kind of book depends upon the projects being exciting and they aren't, they're too dated. I'm fond of the author's voice throughout the book. The author is described on the bookjacket as a skillful, lively, and amusing writer and I agree. I appreciate how concerned she is about crochet dying out in the future; she ends the book by urging readers to teach not just the girls but also the boys in their families how to crochet.

'70's Read-Along Book #4: Adventurous Crocheter

Meet the Adventurous Crocheter--believer in simple means and spectacular ends, advocate of the little-known but highly successful anti-doily approach to crochet.
--Delia Brock and Lorraine Bodger

What a potent mixture of reactions I have to The Adventurous Crocheter by Delia Brock and Lorraine Bodger (1972)! I see it as a prime example of '70's American rugged individualism; even the illustrations and book design were handled by one of the authors (Ms. Bodger, who according to Google, went on to publish many more books and teaches how to write cookbooks at a community college). The authors' spirited voices come through so it makes for engaging reading.

What does the book promise, and does it deliver? It promises quite a lot. The authors "break the rules" and explore "uncharted" territory with an "improvisational and iconoclastic approach". They gave up their "very successful--and exhausting--career crocheting clothes for boutiques and department stores" (such as Bonwit Teller and Henri Bendel), and have distilled their experiences and professional production strategies for this book. I’d say that what the book delivers is detailed information on how to wing it: how to design as you go. I can see how this was truly new and is probably the book's greatest value still today. What it also often delivers, though, is glorified dumbed-down crocheting. Perhaps what also seemed so fresh, new, and adventurous at the time is the authors' rebellious attitude!

Although I think their John Wayne-like approach is unproductive in the long run, the authors succeeded very well at putting together a book that conveys their style and approach to crochet and fashion design. There is a wealth of solidly helpful information for beginners and for crocheting with individualistic style. As a designer I was fascinated to see how the projects were explained, diagrammed, and how the patterns (or unpatterns) were written up; every designer has his/her own ways of problem solving. I do wish they showed how to construct sweaters more ways than just from the bottom up.

Itchy fingers? Nope. Simple stitches and cheap materials are not a turn-on for me. Throughout are comments like, "You can save at least a third on the price of a skein of yarn if you avoid specialty yarn shops and department stores and search out one of the following places: a large five-and-ten; a large discount store..." "...We discovered that [string] comes in many textures, colors and materials--thin cotton twine, twist string, shiny nylon string, ...It is cheaper and more interesting than the five-and-ten cotton string, such as Coats & Clark's Speed-Cro-Sheen..." "The 1st and best stitch pattern of all is row upon row of single crochet. It is solid, pretty, delicious, and you just cannot beat it for elegance." This is probably great for a beginning crocheter but even so is not great for crochet itself (in my opinion as a member of the Crochet Guild of America). I would worry about the future of crochet if this book had a lot of influence!

This gets to my strongest dislike of the book: the way crochet is taught produces low-quality results. For example, on blocking: "We think blocking is a boring, time-consuming chore. We never bother with it and recommend that you don't either." On dye lots: "That threatening note on the yarn label--buy as much yarn as you need now of the same dye lot to assure uniformity of color--is hogwash." On turning chains, they cut corners (literally) by teaching you to start the next row by skipping the first stitch, even if you're doing single crochet, therefore working the last stitch of the row into the turning chain of the previous row. Not so good for sc, especially because of what it does to the bottom corner (nor for hdc in my opinion). They line wallets by coating felt with glue. On buttonholes: "The simplest and fastest way to make a buttonhole, which has always been perfectly adequate for our purposes, is to push the button through the crocheting." I giggled at this explanation of how to change colors at the end of a row: "Do not worry if a bit of the old color mixes with that of the new on your first stitch. No one expects a person to attach color like a machine." (The remedy is simple and standard now: complete the last stitch of the row with the new color by pulling the new color through the last loops on the hook.)

Deja vu? Whew--the anti-doily syndrome! They are not the first crocheters to dis doilies, but maybe the most passionate. To this day there are still people who feel the need to distance crochet from doily making. I can see that it was a new idea in the early '70's to say, "Crochet can be modern! It can do so much more than just old-fashioned stuff like doilies!" But nowadays is this really news? Fifty years from now, are we still going to be reading that crochet is more than just doilies?? Can we move forward on this yet? (This is not a complaint about the book, it’s that I hoped we’ve come farther than this by now.)

New generations of beginning crocheters might enjoy this scrappy-rough-n'-ready book, although the lack of any photos or color illustrations is less enticing nowadays. The drawings are sometimes the best way the authors get an idea across, other times it’s the worst way. New designers of clothing and accessories could learn some tricks or new ways of looking at things. This book is a big slice of '70's style, so it’s just fun. I laughed out loud at times! Listen to this: "The Heart Belt is, without a doubt, a perky belt. To do it justice, you should use the 2 schmaltziest colors of yarn you can find."

'70's Read-Along Book #3: Crochet Discovery and Design

"In the Middle Ages a person's wealth was judged by the amount of taste, toil, love, and craftsmanship put into every article of clothing. I think today we are having a revival of this kind of thinking. Nobility is in your hands." Del Pitt Feldman (1972)

Del Pitt Feldman's Crochet Discovery and Design (1972) does not take long to read nor is it difficult to review, but I've been delayed by a birthday, wedding anniversary, and sick kid! So I thank you for your patience. Ah, it's good to be reviewing again.

First of all, Del's book is quite a contrast to Annette's. They complement each other nicely, in fact I see very little overlap among all 3 books reviewed so far. This one is short on text but larger-than-life in visual aids!! The text is so concise that I experience crochet differently every time I re-read it, so sip this one slowly and savor. By my third time through I'm a bit in awe of how much is here.

Having looked over many '70's crochet books lately, I'm starting to appreciate the book's cover blurb, "An innovative craftswoman shows you how to design and create new fashion artistically--without pattern" because it distinguishes the book accurately and succinctly from others available in its time. I'm seeing these categories: some guides to crocheting clothing using patterns similar to the way dressmakers and knitters traditionally go about it; and some guides to freeing you up to see crochet as an art form with infinite possibilities for sculpture, wall hangings, or new home decor statements. Then I'd say there's a 3rd category that merges these two: guides to crocheting wearable art. (These may end up being clumsy categories, we'll see.)

Not only are the projects designed well, they display an impressive array of materials such as suede, rayon braid, linen, rattail, raw fleece, silk ribbon, silk chenille, and rayon-wrapped cord ("Corde'" - Judi & Co. currently supplies this; I bought some from Dreamweaver and I love it). It's important to me that when crocheters come up with a great design concept, that they also consider what would be an original/ideal/fresh/adventurous material to use other than smooth worsted weight acrylic or wool. I also appreciate that Del spares no expense for her crochet. Very inspiring. Timeless.

A favorite chapter, "Forms and Building", has some of the most helpful, down to earth info for anyone building the shapes they want with a freeform approach, whether the shapes are wearable or not. Valuable tips and very clear symbol diagrams are provided. "Forms, Background, and Discovery" takes the freeform approach further toward amorphous shapes, filling in spaces, and setting shapes into a background.

"Working with Hard and Semi-hard Objects" is also remarkable. I wish I'd read it before I tried to edge a tote bag with suede lacing! This chapter covers how to incorporate beads, cabochons, mirrors, metal pieces, leather, and woven pieces.

Itchy Fingers Effect? Yes, throughout, though more of an itch to build out stitches and shapes with uncommon materials (uh, freeforming), rather than the itch to swatch up unfamiliar stitches that I got from Annette's book. In Del's brief stitch dictionary she provides closeups of familiar stitches done with unusual materials straight from her finished projects.

Deja vu Effect? Yes--It's common to hear nowadays that it's no wonder we have so many new and resuming crocheters and knitters, after all, look at the exciting new yarn choices out there! I've thought this myself because the only yarn I remember buying in the '70's as a young kid was acrylic worsted, as if that's all that was available to buy (or the baby yarn versions). Many resuming baby boomer crocheters seemed to recall the same thing when I helped them in a local yarn shop--as if they (and I) had never seriously tried crocheting with anything but the most conservative plastic yarns. I learned to card, spin, and dye wool with marigolds in '79 or so, and crocheted up a pair of mittens with it, but I don't remember doing so with the '70's adventurous art spirit or thinking seriously about any creative possibilities this opened up. (Sure wish I still had those mittens!) Gee, if Del was crocheting up SILK CHENILLE in 1972, and she had both twisted and untwisted rayon corde', yarn choices really weren't so limited back then were they? People have always done specialty handspinning and dyeing too. Maybe it's about cost (and still tends to be among many crocheters). I'm told that all else being equal, you actually get more yarn for your money nowadays.

At the same time, I can see that there have been some recently invented yarns such as the fake furs and microfibers. Also maybe some of the fancy novelty textures such as railroad, flag, and knotted are 21st century inventions. Hopefully someone who's been in the yarn industry for a long time could tell me. Yes, the 21st century now has soy and bamboo fiber yarns, but surely there were some less mainstream plant and animal fibers available in the '70's too, like qiviut, baby camel, possum, alpaca and llama, though maybe you had to meet tropical natives to find out about banana leaf, ramie, manila, sanseveria, etc. I wonder if the internet has helped inform people about uncommon fiber choices?

I am so glad to finally have this book in my library; I've searched for it sporadically in the past and eventually got one at a good price. A keeper!
Here's a copy for $5. Alibris has one for $20.

Annette Feldman Swatching

Here are 4 stitch patterns that I swatched up after reading CRAL Book #2, Crochet and Creative Design. They appealed to me because I don't recall ever seeing these variations on long single crochet in a stitch dictionary. The top left swatch is split hdc puffs worked into the spaces between stitches. The lower left one biases but it could probably be prevented, even though you have to cut the yarn at the end of every row so that all rows face the same side.

The yarn is Patons Grace mercerized sportweight cotton. Split hdc puffs would look very different in a wool.

'70's Read-Along Book #2: Crochet and Creative Design

"So earnest was the enthusiasm of the young people toward creating their individual things, and so intense their endeavor toward this end, that even their first attempt toward a new style started a fashion trend, and indeed a very popular fad." Annette Feldman

Crochet and Creative Design (1973, 1st ed.) is Annette Feldman's first crochet book. Crochet sure was a natural high back in 1973! Just the historical background she gives in Chapter 1 left me jazzed; by the time she brings us up to 1973 (end of Ch. 2), I was breathless and even jealous! Crochet is bliss for me too, but I missed out on the wild sensation that it was. Imagine a shortage of hooks and yarn! Imagine writing that everyone's doing it--even if it wan't technically true, it must have felt like it was.

I collect needlework magazines & leaflets spanning the early '60's to the early '70's because I'm fascinated by the abrupt fashion shifts in the mid-'60's, and in these publications, crochet's fevered pitch peaked at or before 1973; perhaps the true peak is around 1971 and then it coasts through to '73? I'd love to hear others' thoughts on this who were there, you lucky devils. So I also felt sad for the author as I read these chapters. She clearly thinks the crochet hysteria has lots of life left in it. She would have written the manuscript in '72 at the very latest. I'm anxious to see shifts in the post-'73 books I'll be reading.

I'd sum up the message of Chapters 3-5 as: "If you think crocheting is outtasight, wait 'til you wear something you've designed yourself!" (I'm not denying that she's right.) Not only that, but designing is a piece of cake and now that it's 1973, you no longer have to worry about whether your design is fashionable. If it looks good to you, then "believe it is good" she says.

There is the usual "How to" section and she offers a bit of guidance for making circles that lie flat. The text goes on for long unbroken columns, but when Feldman is excited, it's easy to read and you're (I was) carried aloft. When she's explaining math, however, it becomes off-putting, even though I already know what she's trying to say. Some charts and visual aids would make it so much more accessible. Textbook writers know how to do this.

After these very dense chapters are six that are basically stitch dictionaries--Tunisian, filet, etc. These take up three-quarters of the whole book. I can report fingers itching for hook and yarn when I saw unusual stitch patterns that I'm sure she made up herself. Many incorporate long single crochet and split hdc-clusters that I hope to swatch up and post here another time.

The final chapter, the "Designer's Guide", is a fantastic idea, but of limited real use to me now. It gives standard dimensions or proportions for many items, but often the info is narrow, outdated, or the math is wordy and dense.

I thank the author for the exhilarating slice of '73 and the ambitious scope of this book. She's a true crochet sister. I'm not sure how long I will hold onto it--I doubt I would use it as reference but I may keep it for other reasons. I'll wait until I've read the others.

Read-Along: Thoughts on 1st book

"Crochet is essentially unlimited in its potential because it is open-ended in all directions, but sometimes we have to stick with it, push it, and exploit it in order to grow beyond the traditional boundaries. Scale in crochet is a matter of how much energy the artist is willing to expend." Clinton Mackenzie

First book up for discussion is New Design in Crochet (1972) by Clinton D. MacKenzie.

[Readers of this book are welcome to add their comments. For more info on this '70's Crochet Read-Along, look at the end of this entry for a label that says "'70's Crochet Read-Along" and click on it. This will bring up all related entries.]

The author writes about crochet as an art professor, in fact he is still teaching art today at Fullerton University. I am so accustomed to crocheting clothing and accessories that the freeform-style sculpture emphasis of this book was refreshing. For example, Chapter 12 is called "Armatures and Stuffing". He also favors the technique of surface crochet, where you can build vertical 3-D rows onto crocheted horizontal planes, anytime, anywhere. Mackenzie sees such freedom and possibility in this kind of crochet that it had me wondering, why don't I see this kind of crochet more often?--as a fashion edging, as an all-over linear design on a bag, etc. Right now, I can only think of what Annie's Attic is currently calling "Wiggly Crochet"; I've also heard it called "hotpad crochet". Dee Stanziano has more info with a link to a free pattern at her site. Mackenzie, though, wasn't so much into the wiggly look (see bookcover image).

There is also a strong emphasis on crocheting with "new" materials, and Mackenzie encourages crocheters to scrounge around in hardware stores and other places for unconventional materials, such as covered wire. However, there is so much crocheted jute, sisal, and raffia in the book that in the future, when I see it on my shelf (because I will be keeping this book), I'll think of it as an inspirational guide to crocheting jute-type fibers. It has a dated feel mostly because of this, but I like it.

It briefly passed my Itchy Fingers Test: the section on crocheting differently-shaped tubes had me suddenly wishing hook and yarn were handy. It is a small section of the whole book, though there are photos of art pieces featuring tubes that I found strangely inspiring. But for the most part, for me, too many pages are taken up with teaching newbies how to crochet and I'm so tired of every crochet book having to devote a third of its space to how-to basics. (It's probably unfair to complain about an early book having a big how-to section.)

Oddities of the how-to chapters:
To my 21st cen. mind, he places extra emphasis on the slip stitch (sl st) while de-emphasizing the half-double crochet stitch (hdc)! He notes that a fabric of all sl st is slow going, but he likes its denseness especially for sculptures. He only teaches going into the back loop. (See the chapter on "Bosnian Crochet" in Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet. See Dee's site again; she says this is the Bosnian, whereas going into the front loop only is "Shepherd's Knitting". Also see a pullover shrug I designed for CGOA using only sl st worked in the front loops.) For the hdc he says, "The hdc is treated last because it is seldom used." Have times changed or WHAT?

The section on crocheting discs is from the Dark Ages--there is no formula for how much to increase in each row so that a circle lies flat, you just have to go by trial and error. I remember that and I don't mean fondly: all the ripping out and uneven distribution of increases bogged me down. Also no suggestions for closing up the center hole. Also there is a bowl-shaped art piece next to text describing how to make a disc cup by decreasing stitches, yet the rows of the bowl were worked vertically, not in the round. The bowl's vertical stripes could confuse someone!

He offers a variation on the love knot with a heavier knot that I don't remember seeing before. His way of fastening off is not so good--leaves a short tail; but the temporary ending is cool. The illustration showing how to start the 2nd row of double crochets has an error in it. He explains long double crochet with more detail than usual as I recall. In the chapter on Tunisian, he teaches a stitch called "knitted afghan crochet" and I don't recognize it, but maybe I did it a while ago and the look of his swatch throws me off. He has very few rigidities, but one is that Tunisian simply can't ever be worked in the round. (Another one is that you can only do bullions if your hook is tapered.)

Overall, the how-to information is more thorough, with more fine points, than in many books. I'm impressed by the space he gave to chainless foundation stitches, tunisian, and hairpin lace. He even provides a chapter for lefties.

Chapter 14, "Contemporary Crochet", is my favorite. It is full of vision and an art professor's perspective toward crochet compared with other art media such as weaving, glassblowing, and pottery. I see crochet a new way because of it.

'70's Crochet Read-Along update

Welcome and thanks for joining me in this '70's Crochet Read-Along! I've only announced it on two discussion lists so far and many people have written to me about their interest in the topic Some have suggested more books.

Finished reading:

• New Design in Crochet (1972) by Clinton MacKenzie, an art professor. Book will be evaluated in the next blog entry later today or so.

Skimmed while waiting for other early '70's books to arrive:

• Vogue Guide to Crochet (1971) Occasionally I'll skim a '70's book that lacks a pioneering emphasis in its title ("New", "Adventurous", "Creative", "Discovery" etc).

Next up:

• Crochet and Creative Design (1973, 1st ed.) by Annette Feldman--it just arrived in the mail.
• I may skim America's Crochet Book (1972) by Gertrude Taylor.

The minute they arrive (any day now) I'll read these:

• Crochet: Discovery and Design (1972) by Del Pitt Feldman
• New Ways with Crochet (1972) by Dorothy Standing
• Fashion Crochet (1969) by Caroline Horne (might skim this one)
• Crochet: A Modern Guide to an Ancient Craft (1969) by Iris Rathbone (might skim this one)

The Horne and Rathbone books (the last two) are complete wildcards to me--I've never heard anyone mention them. They lack any pioneering terms in their titles, but hey, copyright 1969! I'm intrigued! Might offer a useful context for the '70's books.

Books too darned expensive for me to order right now:

• Modular Crochet (1978) by Judith Copeland, currently over $100.
• Creative Crochet (1973) Arlene Stimmel and Nicki Hitz Edson, currently $65 and up.
• Batsford Book of Crochet (1981) by Ann Stearns. Past the '70's, but people make it sound so good; minimum $40 now.
• Crochet: A Basic Manual for Creative Construction (1974) Mary Tibbals Ventre. Okay, so it's only going for $29 right now, but no one ever raves about this one, and it's still more than I want to spend after buying crochet books I'm more sure of for much less. I have no shortage of '70's crochet books to read!

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