Tuesday, October 7, 2008

walking the dog crochet meditation and designing garments

I had a lady coming over later this morning so decided to walk Knight early. (if I don't walk him, he drives me crazy:) While walking I was thinking about crocheting (what else would I be thinking about? :)

Anyhoo, I was thinking about the recession that seems to be hitting these days and was wondering what it would mean for crocheting? We all know that we can use relatively inexpensive yarns and make gorgeous expensive looking gifts that were really inexpensive to make. Does that mean more people will be buying crochet patterns to make gifts and clothing for themselves and others? Could that mean this could be good for designers, yarn manufacturers and crochet book / magazine publishers? Do any other designers out there have any ideas on this? What do other seasoned designers say? Do things like crochet do better in a recession or worse? Hmmmmmm.....?

I know I plan to make a lot more of my Christmas gifts this year. My wardrobe is in dire need of replenishing and updating and I've been searching for eye catching designs to make for myself. (Although my good friend Ellen at GoCrochet.com brought up a good point about being a designer; you feel like you are cheating if you make something someone else designed! (Thanks Ellen! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one:0) I may have to rethink this and design my OWN clothes:0)

Actually, Dora from Crochet Insider has started a thread in the group Crochet Designers about designing crocheted garments. She is offering to set something up to help designers learn about grading garments, sizing, fit, shaping, etc. The thread was "Are you comfortable designing garments". She is talking about having a maybe 6 wk or so tutorial on designing garments. It would either be free or for a fee to cover her time and efforts. I'm definitely keeping tabs on this thread!

Someone on Crochet Partners mentioned this morning that Lion Brand had new colors in their cotton yarn. Yay! I have some designs in cotton that I couldn't find the right colors for. I'll have to have a browse to see if they have the colors I need now.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Deidre! I have a terrific sweater, designed by Doris Chan, that I wear. But since many people know I design crochet, I often get asked, "did you make that?" and I say, "Yes, but it was designed by Doris Chan" and I feel kind of embarrassed that I can't claim the crocheted garment that I'm wearing. On the other hand, when I did design the crocheted item that I am wearing, I feel so much better, less sheepish. :) I certainly do learn alot from other's construction methods, but if I wear crochet, I prefer to wear my own!