New Zealand's Best Crochet Poem

the votes are in!
http://www.nzetc.org/iiml/bestnzpoems/BNZP07/t1-g1-t12-body1-d1.html

Crochet and Poetry, Together at Last

In response to overwhelming public demand, Anna and I have created some new examples of crochet poetry ... and they've been published in Turbine 07, the latest issue of the journal of creative writing produced by the Institute of Modern Letters at our university, Victoria. Have a read here: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/turbine/ (Anna under Anna Jackson, me under Erin Scudder).

We're on the hunt for more crochet poets ... please paste a poem in the comments section if you have any to share!

Fruit Bowl

Here is our first actual crochet post!

It's a fruit bowl i made - as you can see from this picture, it has adapted to the shape of the apples.

I actually didn't think it was very impressive but other loop troop members persuaded me that it matched their new dark plywood cabinet impressively and must not be ripped up to make something else.

Sea jewellery (crocheted and otherwise)

This is a brooch by Annamaria Zanella which I found on the Cally Creates blog. It is not exactly crochet but it is loopy and the barnacle-like appearance (though it also has an air of cupcakehood about it) reminds me of some of the loveliest crochet I have ever seen:

Isn't this so pretty? A necklace of crocheted coral! You can even buy the pattern for it, to make your own, on etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7683030

Or you can just guess, like the Loop Troopers plan to do. We will show you our crocheted coral when we've made some.

And on the sea theme, and almost on the jewellery theme, how about this for lovely marketing by marketing people of some handles made by Simon, who is a jeweller, but also very close to us crocheters (artistically and personally):

Dog project

Aren't these good dogs which we crocheted. We crocheted them to sit on command.

Crochet by Number

Over the weekend I tried to make the fluffy bunny slippers from Debbie Stoller's Stitch n' Bitch crochet.

I ended up with a slipper but it's not fluffy and it's not a bunny and I didn't make it according to the pattern which had so many mistakes (corrected on the online errata page) that I gave it up.

It is disappointing trying a pattern that comes to naught. It makes me want to crochet something wild and lovely that will look all the better for the mistakes it includes.

I'm thinking of maybe trying to do some crochet paintings. Mistakes, now I think about it, would possibly muck up a looped Hockney, but the pools of blue yarn coagulating on the wall would be so lovely.

Maybe I'll start my paint-by-crochet project by trying to imitate my other favourite painter, Hernan Bas, in which case all manner of loopy bursts of colour would fit in just fine.

Book Review: "Loop-d-Loop Crochet" by Teva Durham

It made my day when this book arrived by inter-library loan this morning. Isn't the cover beautiful? The photography inside is beautiful too.

Only, on the whole, the patterns in this book remind me of a saying I heard sometime, somewhere: 'if it looks good on the shelf, then perhaps you should leave it there.'

Durham's introduction, about playfully plundering the past for elements of design from our grandmother's generation, is a nice read. But most of the patterns strike me as things I wouldn't bother making because I wouldn't wear them in real life. The wrap skirt seems to hang sloppily; the track stitch tunic looks like it would cause body-temperature confusion (not warm enough for a jersey; too warm to fulfil its breezy pretensions); the stunning knotwork socks would etch and itch into the soles of the feet; I think I'd look like an injured bat in the catherine wheel cape.

I like the furry zigzag blouse and filet orchid boatneck (though would be tempted to alter the latter to give it a more defined shape).

Otherwise, these whimsical but somehow implausible creations seem more like wearable art than wearable crochet.

(apropos!: http://www.worldofwearableart.com/)

My friend Dana in Osaka has a magazine called Damki.

Last June the "Home Sweet Home" edition was published, and now number two is ready: "Superheroes"!

It still doesn't have much to do with crochet, because we are still working on getting snaps. But the photos of the new Damki are wonderful eye candy all the same.

Here are a few to feast your eyes upon.

Brand New

Welcome to the blog of the loop troop crochet club. Hopefully we'll have some pictures of our projects to share with you soon!