I'm not Randall Graves

So this conversation came up with the yarn group I hang out with and it is a big pet peeve of mine. It's not from anyone in my group, but something out there in the world. It is doing crafts and yarn work and saying that "you are taking it back" and it is "empowering to reclaim it" Grr arrg. Taking it back, sounds as plausible as a person "keeping it real". My first thought is always taking it back from where, and when I said this a friend said taking it back from bored, sad, lonely 50's housewives. The thing is though, for me, it is bizarre to think of taking something back from these women. This is for two reasons. One: what if they truly enjoyed working in these mediums, then me taking it back, is in fact taking away from time honored arts and traditions. And two: if these women were burying their needs and desires in crafting projects, I don't want to take all those cranky feelings back. From everything I've read, and what I know from familial experiences the lot of the 50's housewife was much better or much worse than we can or want to comprehend, so taking it back from them is at best a silly trumped up idea, or a disservice to what they were actually doing. My grandmother crocheted, it's partly why I chose crochet. I'm not taking anything back from a woman who had a hobby that gave her a great deal of pleasure for more than 30 years. So be warned, start talking to me about taking it back, and I'll just answer I'm not Randall Graves, I'm not going to try and take anything back.

(Oh and if you don't get the reference, you need to go out and rent more Kevin Smith movies).

Why I don't Knit (and have no plans to start)

So when people find out if I crochet, they more often than not ask if I knit. I do not and I have no intentions of starting to do so anytime soon. There are a few reasons for this, maybe not completely rational ones, but I don't find rationality a big plus in life. The first is that it was crochet that interested me not knitting. The second is that people ask me if I knit, and I like to be contrary on occasion. The third is that I have a friend who knits, so I don't want to follow her road. The other (and perhaps key) reason is that of the two practices, crochet is still more of the red haired stepchild. It simply isn't as cool, or done by as many people. Knitters say, oh you can't get the same drape, it uses so much more yarn, etc. If you go into yarn shops the accessories are about 90% for knitters, the book ratio seems to be about 6-1 favouring knitting, and people generally still have one particular view of crochet (doilies and afghans). Because of this I want to focus on crochet, not to improve it's sad little lot in life but rather just to make it feel loved. (Plus we get to do amigurumi, and it looks sooooooooooooooo much better than knitted creatures, so there)

Why I Crochet

So why did I choose crochet? There are a few reasons. First it was a more general I decided that I needed a hobby, something to keep me away from being on the computer for 6 hours a day, especially since what I was doing was of absolutely no consequence. I knew playing an instrument wasn't an option, but that I wanted something tactile. Then I saw the book Creepy Cute Crochet, and the thought of being able to make a little Cthullu made me very happy. Then I remembered that my grandmother crocheted - it was only afghans - but still it would make for a connection that I would enjoy. Plus in theory it wouldn't be a too expensive hobby as there is always cheap yarn out there. I bought a horrible learn crochet book, and started to pull it together. And it turns out that it was something I took to rather well. The funny thing is that I'm now like 6 months into my hobby and have yet to even try to make the Cthullu (though I do have a sad looking Nosferatu sitting on our dresser).

Just throwing up a first comment....so hello! It seems that most everyone on ravelry had a link to a blog and I figured, hey I'm a great person for jumping on bandwagons so here I am. Plus I have time during the day to throw thoughts out into the world. Like the description says, this will mostly revolve around crafting projects. The two things I do are crochet and a little sewing. So that is what I will be talking about. I'll get into the whys, and hows, and whats later on. I'm hoping to keep a schedule where I post 2-3 times a week, but we'll see how that goes.
That's the opener, I would anticipate that my first real post will be about why crochet, but until then TTFN.