Friday, September 2, 2011

notes of crochet

I was gifted a single size crochet bedspread, it's really like a super sized doily. It's seen better days and it's probably a "cutter", someone has already been cutting it. But I really don't feel like I can cut it up. I think I'm going to try and fix it - crazy you say? Well yes super crazy! But I don't intend to stick to the pattern, I thought I could go through my doily collection and patch it with them and add some crochet of my own where patching won't work. It seems a giant task but here's the thing - there are NO crochet machines. So someone has sat there and crocheted this bedspread in superfine crochet cotton and it seems fitting to spend some time to fix it. Whenever you see crochet tops in a chain store (or any clothes store for that matter) it's been crocheted by a person ( there are no machines to crochet unlike knitting), I'm almost 100% sure that the person who crocheted it was paid VERY little to do so and that their working conditions weren't what you or I would expect. That is why I never buy any "chain store" crochet clothes, I just see some poor person crocheting their heart out to fill an order for some country far away. It's something to think about.

I was mentioned by a couple of lovely ladies on their blogs recently, Hanna from craftykin wrote a lovely post about some necklaces that I made for her and her sisters. Also Dee gave me a little mention about one of my necklaces here.  Thank you both!

Happy weekend!

as a wee note: I've searched for "crochet machines" on the internet and it seems that there are some, however when you go and look at what the machines can produce - it's actually knitting!  or a "crochet-like" trim.

3 comments :

  1. Wow, food for thought! I already kind of hate buying clothing from cheap stores, though it is very tempting when money is tight... So good to think about though, my heart goes out to those amazing people!

    Love that you are going to fix this blanket, I think it'll look absolutely amazing when it's finished!!

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  2. i feel the same about embroidered linen too..in fact i bought 4 brand new chinese appliqued tablecloths and serviettes from an op shop this week for $15..the work in them is extraordinary and of course all hand done..to me they are works of art..i really admire your resolve to repair the bedspread..it will be a real labour of love..and i hadn't realised that all crochet is hand made..jane

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  3. great post, l, i agree, the thought of slave-labour crochet is horrible. good on you for trying to fix that amazing big piece!

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