Tuesday, April 25, 2006

I want to make things like this

crocheted sweater. And I'm still marveling that I love Eddie Bauer clothes this year. Generally I think they're "eh." I've spent a lot of time Googling crochet patterns and it's a sorry situation - knitting patterns are everywhere, but crochet? Who the hell still wears hair scrunchies? There are like 5000 patterns for scrunchies out there if you do. Often made of Red Heart. Because there ain't nothing sexier than a woman with a fuzzy acrylic handmade jellyfish holding her hair. Men just can't wait to get that sexy thang home to that bed with the crocheted antebellum bed doll plopped in the middle.

Bed doll patterns - what the fuck? No wonder Viagra is so popular - how could any man perform for a woman with a lumpy, woolly hair scrunchie and a crocheted doll on her bed without a case of beer and massive chemical assistance?

There are a couple of cute shawls and bags - the aforementioned Delta Breeze shawl looks very promising, but cute, light, fitted little sweaters, like you see in the stores? Nada. It's all accessories and afghans. Dishrags. Doilies, of course, and though I admire them technically, they really are works of art, and I love antique doily books, they do not work with my personal style.

Melissa Leapman's Cool Crochet has a few nice patterns, including a cute lacy cardigan I really want to make. I think that will be my next sweater project, if I get off this kick of Flat Things Only. Right now I'm just plugging away on the All Season Shawl - it's easy and a good wind-down project for the evenings.

My Googling did find Crochet Magazine, and I'm going to try their sample issue. I'm not much for boho skirts no matter how they are constructed, but at least the styles are, uh, styles. The major knitting magazines get into boho stuff too, but it doesn't all suck. So I'll give this a try.

8 comments:

  1. They're a little slow, too. Bohemian is not "back". It WAS back; it is now on its way out.

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  2. Yep, and I think that's the problem with pattern mags in general - by the time they hit on the trend, especially if it's fast-moving, it's too late. But at least this magazine NOTICED the trend, and isn't still pushing hair scrunchies as worn on 80s sitcoms.

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  3. True, true. I was surprised when you mentioned that (I don't do much looking for crochet patterns). I thought, "Scrunchies? Who over the age of 6 is still wearing scrunchies?"

    The Eddie Bauer cardigan is very cute, BTW.

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  4. You may have seen these, but try this directory. The majority of patterns range from "Eh" to ugly, but a few are cute. I like the ones titled "Cardigan, Crochet", "Eskimo Cardigan", "Jewel Tone Sweater"

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  5. I suppose it would help to give the actual directory:

    http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/womens_cardigans_sweaters.php

    But man, you're right. There's not much out there.

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  6. I found this one, too. I don't know if it's your thing, but I think it's quite pretty. And it has waist shaping.

    http://www.coatsandclark.com/fun_and_free/yarn/womans_day_mag/lw1416.htm

    These two aren't bad either:

    http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/projects/june99_crochet.html

    http://web.archive.org/web/20001203051900/www.cei.net/~vchisam/groovy/504-135.html

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  7. Anonymous10:57 AM

    I've got a scrunchie on right now!! Of course I'm still in my pajamas. At 10:00AM. On a a weekday.

    Ooops.....methinks I've said too much.

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  8. See, that's when a scrunchie should be worn - when hanging out around the house. Or doing yard work. They are not a current fashion statement, and haven't been since the era of "Family Ties" and "Blossom." I guess people make 'em for the same reason they make dishrags, but I don't understand THAT either (linen facecloths I do understand).

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