Excuse me if I fail to piddle myself in excitement over the release of Stitch & Bitch Crochet: the Happy Hooker. Ooh, Debbie Stoller, the Saviour of Knitting, is now going to rescue crocheting from the abyss of unhipness.
Riddle me this, Batman: Why does it have to be hip?
To quote Emily Dickinson, how boring to be somebody!
Yeah, I share my fellow hookers' consternation that crochet is so often seen as knitting's bastard stepchild. Hillbilly knitting, and all that. I hate having to dig through piles of knitting books to find the lone, lonely crochet book. I hate having to move aside even the cross stitch magazines in an effort to find Crochet Fantasy while Vogue Knitting occupies pride of place in the front row.
But I don't need to be saved by Debbie Stoller. I fail to see how a lifelong knitter "discovering" crochet and deciding to introduce it to her disciples is going to solve the issue of crocheting being considered a secondary craft. Snapping up a book that once again disses the history of our craft does no one any favors. "These aren't your grandma's doilies," indeed! (I swear, I'm gonna go up into a clock tower with a high-powered rifle and start picking off people with ugly scarves if I hear that line too much more often.)
Yes, crochet needs acceptance. But we need it on OUR terms. Not knitters' terms. We need to embrace doilies and afghans and yes even antimacassars and GRANNY SQUARES NOT USED IN A "NEW AND CREATIVE" WAY. The Lord's Prayer done in filet crochet using thread has at least as much artistic value as anything sporting Fun Fur.
In the meantime, let's embrace our craft as the unique thing it is. No, you won't see a photo of Kate Hudson crocheting a doily. So what? There used to be a time when the American spirit embodied individualism. To quote Cowboy Troy: Do your thang, baby, do your thang.
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1 comment:
Amen Sister!!!
Hold your hooks (and heads) up high and shout "I'm a Hooker and proud of it!"
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