I seriously don't get it at all.
Even on etsy there are all kinds of crochet patterns/pieces that are made with this ghastly multi-colored, variegated, cheap acrylic yarn and they are normally something awful like a toilet paper cover, a tea cozy, or a "spa set" that involves an uber-intricate picot edging with lace and ruffles that is so inappropriate and it's just...ugh.
The point here is I'm failing to see why crochet hasn't stepped it up, and why the crochet designers haven't tried to take inspiration from someplace other than their grandmother's kitchen. I'm all for hand-crocheted dishcloths and hot pads because they're functional and have that traditional vintage charm thing going on but HONEST TO GOD please stop with the Super Saver for the love of all that is good and holy!
Crochet is a very versatile craft capable of making a sturdy bag as well as an elegantly draping shawl, but the choice is in the YARN people! And the STYLE! If we crocheters are going to change the way people think about our craft we are going to have to quit making the doilies and start making something fabulous. There are a couple of books out there that have the right idea and are making strides, like
this one by Debbie Stoller (thank the lord, someone credible) and
this one that just came out from Chicks with Sticks, but we as the artists really have to evaluate what we're doing.
It might be okay for your great aunt to make a
bed doll out of pastel baby yarn but come on, is this what we have resigned to using our craft for? Stiff cotton can be made into cute washcloths or sturdy bags (that don't need to be felted, a plus with crochet) and although using wool and other finer fibers is particularly scary for crocheters (because crochet uses more yarn than knitting) they make for beautiful hats, scarves and even fingerless gloves. It's true. Even mohair is fair game.
And lest we forget, crochet has one important edge over knitting we fail to utilize properly:
lace. Crocheters can make the most beautifully intricate lace shawls EVER and with a lovely yarn to showcase the workmanship it will outshine ANY knitted lace item. And don't forget, we have Amigurumi too, the cutest thing to come out of Japan for the crafting world. We need to learn that nothing is off limits to us anymore, and we need to understand that if we're going to give crochet the street cred it's cousin knitting has, we're going to need to knock it off with the grandma-style projects that set our craft back a couple decades too many.
With that I give my message to crocheters everywhere:
Experiment. Try new things. Take that old doily motif and turn it into a scarf. Try to make a lace beanie out of a DK wool. Crochet an environmentally friendly market bag out of that cotton you were going to use for (yet another) hot pad set. And perhaps the most important thing of all:
Forget about the Red Heart for a little while, it does nothing for your but make your work look cheap, and outdated.
With that said, get out there and make something.
