The Crocheting Hummel?

No this post is not launching an effort to find a crocheting figurine (if you're new to this blog and are not quite sure what it is I'm talking about, check out my first ever post here). But tonight, I'm here to put the spotlight on another "yarn-craft" that is near and dear to me!

Although knitting is my favorite fiber-art (and probably the one that comes most naturally to me) in the past couple years I have been discovering the delights of crochet. I taught myself crochet because I had a conviction that I shouldn't work in a yarn shop without at least a cursory knowledge of the craft. I had customers coming in with crochet questions and I was embarrassed to admit that I couldn't answer them!

I'm beginning to discover that with the recent resurgence of knitting to pop culture, that sadly, crocheting has been somewhat "poo-pooed" among yarn-loving circles. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, crocheting began to be associated with scratchy, funky-colored kitschy tissue box covers (and the like). And I believe that crocheting has (and always has had) much more potential than that!

After doing a little searching on the internet, I've discovered that there are websites (like this one) devoted to connecting people to "crochet-friendly" yarn shops, because the honest truth is that many a crocheter has entered a yarn shop only to be looked down upon by snobby knitters.

Well, I'm here to declare that this knitter has plenty of room in her crafting heart (and project bag) for crocheting. And to back up my words, I'd like to share photos of my most recent project fresh off the "hook" today.

My "chic-hippie skirt". (Pattern source: Hooked on Crochet by Candi Jensen):