Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

#6KCBWDAY4 ~ Time to delve into that most treasured collection of tools, notions and oddments as you are asked to spill the contents of your knitting or crochet bag, caddy or other method of organisation and put your crafting unmentionables on display. You may wish to talk about your bag of crocheting tools as a whole, or delve deep into the contents of your knitting caddy and talk about the contents each in turn. I do treasure my everyday bag and its everyday basic contents. What's not to treasure? I use my crochet tools everyday and always have at least 3 projects going!  The bag is ready to go at all times! However, I'd like to share some special things that I REALLY, REALLY treasure that are not necessarily in my bag. In the photo there's a tubular wooden box with lid and I have no idea what it was originally used for, but it is an antique. I keep small odds 'n ends in it such as thimbles. The vintage sock darning tool is so lovingly used and delic...

Thursday, October 24, 2013 Dee and I have been crochet friends for quite some time. I've enjoyed teaching for her chapter of CGOA in Connecticut; I've taken classes from her and I've written about her in an article about "Collecting Crochet" for Piecework Magazine where again, she shared her love of hook collecting.  Dee is known as the "crochet cheerleader" and she blogs as CrochetWithDee . Dee Stanziano Magic Wands by Dee Stanziano: Magic wands; all crocheters have them.  Cleverly disguised as magic wands, crochet hooks vary in many aspects including color, shape and material.  Some are mass produced, others are hand crafted. Some are heirlooms; others are brand new, waiting to cast their first stitches.  With refined practice, we are able to wave our crochet hooks seemingly effortlessly, turning simple string into an array of loops that becomes a series of stitches, and those stitches magically turn into fabric.  Yes, crochet hooks are ju...

The word crochet is derived from the French word, croche , meaning hook.  Early on it was almost entirely a convent art, classified as nun’s work.  The exact origin and date of crochet is in great doubt.  Some believe it goes back to before the time of Christ, but there is no record of this form of needle art before the 1800’s and it was not until the 1840’s that written instructions were published. Hand-turned hook from author’s collection Archeologists believe the Israelites were familiar with crochet during the time of Solomon, before the first millennium BC when they left Egypt.  Heinz Edgar Kiewe, in his book titled  The Sacred History of Knitting , concluded that crochet hooks were probably implements of that time. He refers to the story of one of Jesus’ followers, Akida Ben Joseph who was said to have used a crochet hook so that he might spend his time as a shepherd more usefully. Crochet has been handed down from generation to genera...

Tuesday, July 2, 2012 I've just returned and am recovering from attending my 18th Chain Link Crochet Conference sponsored by the Crochet Guild of America. This year it was in Manchester, NH and I think this is the 4th time we have held the conference in this same location. My time there was brief and my main task this time was to present the "Founder's Award" at the Design Competition awards presentation. Like in most organizations, I suppose, in CGOA when you offer constructive criticism, you are given a job! I have a concern that the history of CGOA is sometimes forgotten and new members often think that this wonderful convergence of extreme crochet talent just happened magically. Or, they don't think at all and just take for granted all the hard work, sweat and tears that went into it since 1994. When I approached Doris Chan, Chair of the Design Competition, about being a sponsor of the Design Contest, SHE suggested that we call it the "Founder...