Interweave Knits Crochet Traditions Fall 2012

28 Timeless Projects

Crochet Traditions Fall 2012, a 148-page special issue from PieceWork magazine, explores the rich variety and techniques of crochet with 28 patterns for mittens, a skirt, hats, a shawl, bags, socks, and more. Companion stories frame projects in their cultural or historical context. In addition to this beautiful treasury of tradition and design, crocheters from novice to advanced will love the special focus on techniques, ranging from Irish crochet and tapestry to Tunisian and filet.

It’s Lacy
Originally, crochet wasn’t considered a technique for making true lace and often mimicked bobbin-lace or needle-lace techniques. Crochet Traditions Fall 2012 includes contemporary renderings of vintage patterns designed to mimic both Armenian and Battenburg lace, but it also illustrates the beauty and variety of several crocheted-lace techniques. A whole section is devoted to lace which just might prove that crochet is the perfect lace technique after all. Learn six separate motifs in one knockout Clones Irish lace project. Filet and broomstick lace patterns are also included.

It’s Worldly
Travel to India to learn about the tradition of crocheting coins into purses. Visit Sweden and meet Berit Westmann, a lifelong crocheter working to teach and preserve the history of crochet in her country—and slip stitch crochet a pair of mittens based on one of her designs. Explore the tapestry crocheted hats of the Foumban people of Cameroon in western Africa and make your own.

It’s Fun
Discover a section devoted to fun vintage crochet patterns. We’ve included a doll’s dress, a sweet donkey based on a 1936 Needlecraft magazine pattern, a cat, and a lamb. Filet-crochet Sunbonnet Sue with her puppy and create your own lacy fruit basket in hemp cord. Tapestry and slip stitch crochet your own colorwork socks based on a nineteenth century mystery sock.

It’s History
As with PieceWork and all of its special issues, the projects are unbeatable, but it’s the history we love. Crochet Traditions Fall 2012 is full of rich stories profiling crocheters of the past and the present, spanning the traditions from 1880s Ireland and Italy to fashion choices of the early twentieth century in America. A grandmother and a great-grandmother’s legacy of crocheted work create fond memories in the lives of two authors and led to two designs based on the original work.