This week, we got to meet six knitters and their favorite knitting projects, and this week, we got to hear from crocheters. While knitting needs two needles to create V-shaped stitches, crochet requires one needle with an end that is hooked to make knot-like stitches.
To pass the time during a commute, create gifts for family members and acquaintances or for items to run small businesses. It seems to bring ease and happiness to those who choose to do it.
Four crocheters discuss their most memorable projects that they are pleased with.
When she puts on this dress dress, it makes us smile.’
Sahra O’Doherty designed the cardigan to present her partner in business (who has also become her favorite friend). “I love making pieces to gift to others, as the process of crocheting and working out new patterns is what I enjoy,” she explains. When she sees her friend wearing her piece, “it brightens our day.”
The psychologist from Sydney discovered the soft, fluffy yarn in the discount “mill ends” section at Spotlight. “They often have expensive brand name yarns without labels sold in bulk carry bags, so I always check out there first.”
For the cardigan, she employed a repeated “granny” pattern (a square made by working out from the center towards the outside) using different yarns in order to keep it simple and leave the thread speaking on its own.
As a young person, O’Doherty learned how to crochet from her grandmother. However, later on, as an adult, she was required to re-learn through YouTube. “My granny passed away last year, and before she became too unwell to do so, she could crochet by feel, even when her eyesight was failing her,” says O’Doherty.
She makes crochet whenever she has the opportunity: “I carry the current work in my purse. When I’m in Zoom meetings watching TV, in trains, or going to Lizzo’s concert I’ve got my crochet on my,” she says.
While everyone was baking, I began to learn how to crochet.’
Andrea Zanola, the Brescia-based designer behind Italy’s Patchouli Studio, learned how to crochet from a Russian grandma via YouTube as part of the 2020 Covid lockdowns.
“While everyone in Italy was baking or singing from balconies I decided to learn a new technique,” he declares. The process of learning the art was “truly life changing, I have not stopped crocheting ever since.”
Zanola created the sweater in 2021 when Zanola was a finalist for Feel the Yarn, an international design contest for knitwear. In keeping with the contest’s theme, “fluid, “he designed an all-over seamless piece with an unusual stitch made of small rectangles joined at the corners and looping the strands.
“It was extremely difficult to create the seamless structure using this type of stitch. It took me approximately 70 hours of work to finish,” he says. “If this wasn’t long enough, I made it over-sized. Whatever is necessary to get the right appearance.”
“It’s been a lot of affection over the years.
“This is a bit of a showpiece,” says Rachel Rutt, founder of the crochet label Rutt Australia. “I’ve frequently worn it for my photo shoots and have loaned it out to my friends. It’s really comfortable for a variety of sizes, so it’s seen plenty of affection throughout the decades.”
For Rutt, the dress holds lots of memories as it was created from leftover yarn that was used in other projects. “When I look at it I see parts of a baby blanket made for a friend, a mohair costume for a live performance, a charity shop yarn haul, or the last hank intended for a scarf,” Rutt explains.
Prior to making this dress back in 2012, Rutt had never attempted crochet. She was, however, a keen knitter and used her talents along with some basic crochet skills to create the open from the top down and put it on in the process.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a great crocheter, but I think the beauty of hand craft is less about perfection and more about self-expression, even if something is made purely to perform a function,” she states. “I’ve been [crocheting] since my early 20s, and I’ll probably continue to do it forever.”
“It makes me think of home.’
As Zanola did, designer Cielle Marchal began crocheting during the outbreak. Her stepmother taught her for several years; however, when Marchal discovered she was no longer employed and was unemployed in Paris in April of 2020, the crocheting began to take off in earnest.
“I had a lot of time at home to create, with absolutely no restraints or time barriers,” she explains. She was excited about the summer months and decided to create an original and unique bag to wear as the temperatures heated up.
She found a spiral-like pattern in a spiral on YouTube and used it as a base; however, she gave it an ethereal look by making the width smaller at the center and then wider as it unfolded. “It reminded me of home in the northern rivers of Australia,” she declares. She was so thrilled with the design that it sparked her brand of crochet called Par Cielle.
True to her words, when summer came around, and Marchal, along with her boyfriend, traveled across the Gorges du Tarn in the south of France, she carried her crocheted bag each day.