It's Never Too Late to Discover Vintage Crochet

Within the pages of Vintage Crochet, you’ll find a different take on the wonderful world of crochet. We open with a section of articles that delve into crochet’s past, to set the stage for the spectacular projects, which are arranged in four stories—Town & Country, Accoutrements, At Home, and The Younger Set. Among the techniques are Irish, filet, hairpin, tapestry, and Tunisian crochet.

Each project brings its own vintage inspiration. Here are just a few examples:

• The filet-crochet back panel of Robyn Chachula’s Filet Cocoon Sweater was inspired by the Strawberry Thief fabric designed by William Morris (1834– 1896), one of the most influential figures of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

• Katrina King’s collection of vintage items includes a lovely tablecloth crocheted by her grandmother Velma Urzula Sapp Arnold. Katrina based Grama’s Shawl on the tablecloth’s motifs.

• Mimi Seyferth re-created a christening blanket. The original was crocheted by Jabez William Ridgwell (1874–1957) as a component of his rehabilitation after he lost parts of several fingers to shrapnel in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). See Mimi’s article “Jabez Ridgwell: A Boer War Soldier Crochets.”

Máire Treanor’s splendid evening purse incorporates shamrocks to add an Irish flavor.

Each author and designer and each article and project featured here adds to crochet’s rich history. Whether you just started crocheting or are an old hand, the stories and projects in Vintage Crochet provide context for your journey. You, too, are among those who are keeping the tradition alive. Lovely.

Sue Perez designed this apron to honor a specific literary garment—the apron “trimmed with complicated crochet lace fully five inches wide,” which the character Susan Baker wears in the later Anne books by L. M. Montgomery. The apron’s dense, picot-trimmed edge motifs are balanced by the airy lace-and-Vstitch main body

We hope that Vintage Crochet inspires you to hook into the tradition of the handmade life, a history that has inspired so many to keep crafting.