Crochet Ruminations – The Start Of A New Thing
There are times when I have a series of thoughts and mini-conversations running through my head. And when those “attacks” come, I don’t always have time to explore them. But I’ll go ahead and draft the musings up in preparation for a deeper blog post to savor later when better time and exploration can be dedicated to them.
And sometimes they do turn into much more and get published. And sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they never evolve and really are just shorter capsules of ideas in the moment – tasty tidbits of ponderings and half-eaten conversations that honestly don’t have anything more to do, or become, right now.
In looking over my list of possible blog posts, I’ve realized that sometimes one of those posts is only supposed to be just a few “deep thoughts.” Just some occurrences of ideas to fling out there for consideration and/or discuss amongst peers, if anyone wants to engage. And that’s just that.
So in that spirit, instead of saving a zillion drafts every time something crosses my brain (my list of drafts is getting too long to manage!), I’m launching a series on my blog simply tagged Crochet Ruminations.
With that intro, here’s the latest….
The New Frontier…
Technology has brought us to the beginning of a new frontier in the world and we’re the pioneers laying the groundwork for what is to come, for ourselves and for future generations. History is literally being made.
How this new frontier works for crochet is being driven by the people actively in it. People like us, anyone who is willing to move to uncharted territory and figure it out.
The same is happening in other fields too. The internet is the “new land” to settle. There’s no reason why anyone who has the will can’t figure it out and benefit.
The thing I find extremely important to register in our heads though, as Laurie points out (a.k.a. Fearless Leader from the Crochet Liberation Front), it takes working with others, not shouldering the responsibilities of the world alone, or shoving everyone else out of the way. That is not to invalidate the need for personal hard work and responsibility. However, it is said that successful business people know at heart what school doesn’t teach us. That life is not a closed book test, that we don’t succeed by cutting others off, that the only way to succeed is to do it with the help of others. And that often a sign of a successful person is one who continues to train and learn and someone who recognizes and values the expertise of others.
We walk a fine balance of working hard on our own, but also benefiting from the help and insight from others. Whether we hire them, or we accept help from a friend. Trying to go it completely alone, making sure everyone knows we did it by ourselves and without help, does not work outside the classroom. It is not a place of balance, nor a sign of success (and neither is the opposite). In reality, no one expects you to perform alone in adulthood – only on standardized tests. And those who believe they do not need advice, training or learning, who only boast on “did it myself” laurels, surely exhibit signs of impending implosion.
Coaching, master minds, discussions, hiring experts, studying, training, practicing, learning new tools and technologies, comparing notes with peers, understanding that old ways don’t always work today and that some old things never lose their effectiveness and sometimes what works for someone else is not right for you – all these things are important. Settling the West was not born on the shoulders of one person. In fact, to try to do such, was almost certain death. People had to come together with their varying talents and work ethics to form the foundation for something great.
In thinking about this, what things do you see as it affects the crochet world that we should be mindful of?
Crochet Liberation Front:
Aberrant Crochet (TM) 
I’d like to be a crochet designer, I have loads of ideas and love working them out to solve problems. But once I’ve figured out how to make a thing, I often then lose interest in actually making it and move on to the next idea. I wonder if it might be a good idea to try and find find a partner who enjoys the bits I don’t, make a team. That would be great. But when I approached a yarn company with some ideas they just said crochet patterns don’t sell. Grrr, especially as it was my LYS manager who recommended it as she said people keep wanting crochet patterns. What I wanted from it was the chance to work in a team as for knitting patterns they have people who write them up and do the sizing and also they deal with admin and stuff. But most indy designers have to do it all themselves. I probably could if I set my mind to it, but my health is not great and at the moment I just can’t face it so, like many things, it’s hibernating. So, yeah, I like the idea of sharing talents 🙂
Hmmm…. Knotrune, this strikes a thought I’ve had in general about how independent crocheters seem to be forced to be. “Crochet patterns don’t sell…” Yeck, what a broken record that phrase is. That touches a subject we’ve discussed before about the general treatment of crocheters by yarn companies who do not value us as a market. I guarantee companies who make this statement did not try to get to know the crochet market. They shouldn’t try to apply the same marketing tactics that work with knitting. It doesn’t work for crochet. There is a definite difference. Crochet patterns sell alright, but not poorly written or marketed stuff. And the crochet world has gotten jaded to the lack of resources too. So it’s give up or strike out on your own. For instance, you can’t look at June Gilbank’s success and say that crochet patterns don’t sell. Um, obviously they do. But I’d dare to say she had to work very hard without a lot of support from many of the yarn establishment before she was finally respected as a designer. And she’s still an indie designer.
This could be a discussion about religion or anything else in the world. No one is an island, and tho the net may force us into physical individuality, it is all, or most all, calling us together. I crochet. I can knit and cross-stitch and macramé and make soap and so on and on, but I don’t often. I prefer crochet. Which is to say I prefer to be Catholic or Baptist or drive a certain kind of car…To me, knitters seem an arrogant bunch. Brewing beer is a hobby or craft, crochet is art. I can crochet something that looks knitted, but you cannot knit anything that resembles crochet. I think knit is a four letter word. I love crochet. Those of us who do must be happy in just knowing who we are. After all, when we go to a third world country and “give” the natives shoes or religion or civilization of our taste, the result is often very disappointing. They, in the first place, did not ask nor want to be forced to live their lives the way we think would be best for them and, in the second place most always revert back to their customs and lives as they were before we invaded.
A friend who neither knits or crochets made this observation. She said that when she watches people knitting, they seem uptight and smile so much less than the crocheters she observes.
I can get up in the faces of any and all who diminish crochet. But as the saying goes : Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.
That’s why we smile. We know.
I think honestly anything can be an art and certainly that includes brewing beer. And that some crochet, like paint by numbers, is a craft. Art can be experienced through any of the 5 senses. The question is whether you are simply putting something together, or are you going after the human experience. That’s the difference where art lies. Human expression and the cultivation of the human spirit is the m.o. of art.