Skip to main content

Book Review: Poetic Crochet ~ 20 Shawls Inspired by Classic Poems by Sara Kay Hartmann

Poetic Crochet
I often say about crochet, “There is nothing new under the sun,” because I’ve been at it for over forty years! 
Theme books like this book's title intrigue me because again, it is difficult for me to find books that offer truly new and creative twists to all the crocheting I’ve done over these many years. 


Spring Dream
Excited by the concept of poetic inspiration, I must say I was looking for more focus on poetry. I found only 4 poetry references scattered through the 20 shawl patterns. Other than stating that she finds crochet poetic: beautiful, creative and soulful, Sara has offered very little when it comes to the connection between poetry and how it inspired her pattern sdesign. At times, it seems like she is more inspired by flowers and birds.

That’s not to say that the book isn't lovely. In Poetic Crochet, Sara Hartmann has found a way to use classic and simple crochet stitches to almost magically explore construction technique and shawl shapes to create beautiful drape and simple sophistication.  She has used a great selection of yarns in her designs, some from traditional big box manufacturers and many from independent spinners and dyers. Paired with her great design ideas, she achieves some astonishing results from simple everyday stitches.


Sea Song
Large full-color photos of the shawls set the tone.Their style is from a softer era, and I think crocheters will be excited to find that simple stitches can result in  inspired results!


Tyger
"Winter slumbering in the open air, wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!" Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Available from Interweave/F+W, Poetic Crochet retails for $24.99.







Interweave/F+W; $24.99

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Craft vs. Fine Art: How is Crochet Blurring the Lines

I was awakening to the world of crochet in 1972,a time of immense artistic expression through fiber arts; and crochet was not the “ugly stepchild” at the time. In fact, Ferne Cone Gellar who I admire as a successful fiber artist said in “Knitting: The Stepchild of the Fiber Arts?” ( Fibercraft Newsletter 1978), “Has knitting been slighted among the areas of the fiber arts? The very word ‘knitting’ evokes images of the little old lady in tennis shoes. Over the years, I’ve learned to ignore all those jokes.” Cone Gellar went on to publish Crazy Crocheting in 1981 and encouraged her readers to create more than bedspreads, providing ideas such as “things to play with or to display on a shelf or hang on a wall.” A photo of single crochet from bread wrappers served as inspiration.  In 1972 in her book, Creating Art from Fibers & Fabrics , Dona Meilach wrote: “Why are fibers and fabrics becoming increasingly appealing to artists? Most artists agree

Wartime Crochet With Attitude, Part I

Wednesday, October 30, 2013 Karen Ballard and I have a mutual love of free form crochet. We met for the first time in a class taught by Prudence Mapstone of Australia at the Chain Link Crochet Conference 2011. I admire Karen's vast knowledge of needle work history and am grateful for her willingness to share with us as my guest blogger this week. Karen wearing a World War II-era knitting hat with stubby needles on top Karen's Heritage Heart,  with flowers symbolic of her heritage, is currently on tour with Prudence Mapstone's traveling "Hearts & Flowers Exhibition" in Australia and New Zealand   World War 1 Attitudes About Crochet by Karen Ballard In 2008, I coined that term, "Workbasket Campaigns" to describe the organized efforts during World War I (WWI) and World War II (WWII) coordinated through the American Red Cross {ARC} and the Navy League to create needle crafted items.  These items were mostly knitted but also sewn, qu

What is Free Form Crochet?

Monday, January 6, 2014 This topic came about from the title of my article recently in Fiber Art Now magazine.  "Crochet As Art: A Conversation with 5 Free-Form Crochet Artists." Yes, the 5 artists I wrote about, all of which are in  my book  The Fine Art of Crochet , are free-thinking when it comes to their creativity. They are free-wheeling with the hook and use unique fibers in many cases. Once you read the article, tell me what  you think? Are these artists doing free-form crochet? In order to define free-form crochet, we must look way, way back to it's origins: Irish crochet. A brief history of crochet, including the Irish method, written by Ruthie Marks is available through The Crochet Guild of America . Unfortunately, there are no images on the site. On her blog, Nancy Nehring has a beautiful montage of Irish Crochet in reference to a class she taught in 2013 at Lacis . I wrote an article in Old Time Crochet Magazine (Spring 1998), "History of Irish Croc