The History of Crochet

From the Crochet Guild, newsletter 10/1997:

You and I call it crochet, as do the French, Belgians, Italians and Spanish-speaking people. It is known as haken in Holland, haekling in Denmark, hekling in Norway, virkning in Sweden.

Other forms of handwork ­ knitting, embroidery and weaving ­ can be dated far back in time, thanks to archeological finds, written sources and pictorial representations of various kinds. But no one is quite sure when and where crochet got its start. The word comes from croc, or croche, the Middle French word for hook, and the Old Norse word for hook is krokr.

According to American crochet expert and world traveler Annie Potter, "The modern art of true crochet as we know it today was developed during the 16th century. It became known as 'crochet lace' in France and 'chain lace' in England." And, she tells us, in 1916 Walter Edmund Roth visited descendants of the Guiana Indians and found examples of true crochet.

Another writer/researcher, Lis Paludan of Denmark, who limited her search for the origins of crochet to Europe, puts forth three interesting theories. One: Crochet originated in Arabia, spread eastward to Tibe t and westward to Spain, from where it followed the Arab trade routes to other Mediterranean countries. Two: Earliest evidence of crochet came from South America, where a primitive tribe was said to have used crochet adornments in rites of puberty. Three: In China, early examples were known of three-dimensional dolls worked in crochet.

But, says Paludan, the bottom line is that there is "no convincing evidence as to how old the art of crochet might be or where it came from. It was impossible to find evidence of crochet in Europe before 1800. A great many sources state that crochet has been known as far back as the 1500s in Italy under the name of 'nun's work' or 'nun's lace,' where it was worked by nuns for church textiles," she says. Her research turned up examples of lace-making and a kind of lace tape, many of which have been preserved, but "all indications are that crochet was not known in Italy as far back as the 16th century" ­ under any name.

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I need to make more money. We had to refinance over the summer and went with an fha loan. This is suppose to be a good thing. Well we had to roll our taxes and insurance into our payment. It went up $400. I thought we could do it. We can't. I've got back a lot, and yes there are still plenty of things to get rid of but seriously, wtf? Everyone is being very aware of shutting things off and not wasting. I quit smoking 9 months ago, this should be $100 back into the house a month. No more wine, no new clothes, yarn only when I have a coupons and I buy one at a time (one coupon per visit per "day").
Here is the list of things left to cut:

• internet $60/m
  
• house phone $30/m
• motorcycle $300/m
• karate $90/m

Internet and house phone I am so ready to let go of. Most of the time the laptop is picking up the connection next door because it is actually stronger than ours (I do not know why). The house phone, who calls? Bill collectors and telemarketers, anyone else can call on the cell phones. The motorcycle, thats hard, because we probably could not sell it for what we owe. It's Mike's thing and I really do not want to see him loose it. If we give it back it will kill our credit, or whats left of it. Of course we aren't buying anything and don't really need credit anyway. And karate, it's not really an option. Its only on the list because it is extra. But Kenzie loves it and really I think she needs it. It is beyond worth the $90 a month.

I don't want to live in the lap of luxary. I just want to pay the bills and have enough to take care of food, clothes and some basic extras. It's not going to get any better. Mike is looking at another hand surgery. I am going to really look into the First Pinnicle stuff from our camp friends. Not that the program is going to get me out of this mess, but I look at them and they see the light at the end of the tunnel and have a grip on thier finanices.

Since writting this the phone has rang twice, both credit cards looking for money. I had to put my tires on my credit card. Now I need to have them mounted, I can't afford it. We're going to call the Vocational school and see if they will mount and balance them for less if not free.

If anything the mortgage will get paid today, the 21st.....it's due again in a week.
Okay I am going to post this then come back and make another post about crochet. I want to get this out, but I don't want to look at it, lol. Sounds like the mail!

Manic Monday

My head hurts. My to do list at work and home is ridiculous. I tried to crochet for a bit, and honestly I am just not interested. My life is far from sucking, but I feel a bit whiny today. They say money does not buy happiness....I call bullshit. So today that is my "expensive desire". And here is why it would buy me "happiness".

• Bills would be paid, no mortgage, no car payment, no electric bill, no heat bill, no grocery bill, no tuition, no tv bills, no phone bills....and so on.
• I would not have to go to work.
• I could stay home and take care of my family......thanks for the woman's lib crap btw!
• Stress? What stress? Bills are paid, belly is full and all is well.

K....back to reality....and whatever about the woman's lib comment. Despite sometimes I really feel like I would be a bigger asset to my family by staying home and taking care of it all, I know that's hypocritical cuz there is no way I could stay home and do what the man says. So on that note.....get out there and VOTE tomorrow. No vote, no bitching! Gotta vote to gripe. Here is my take on what I will be voting on tomorrow:
Question #1, lets get rid of the income tax......sounds great! I don't want to pay taxes, shit I don't even want to get up and go to work. Can we vote to get rid of work too? Sounds just as logical. I'd love to take thier excess money away from them, but it does not add up. They will take it from somewhere, like my kids school or up my property taxes....and the eldery's property taxes....where are they gonna get it from? So I will have to vote no. I wish there was a way to make these bastards more accountable for the way they waste our money. That's what we need.
Question #2, give a fine for an ounce of weed or less....yup. I will admit to several years of my youth in a fog of smoke, but that's not why I am voting yes.....I wasn't stupid enough to get caught, so no skin off my teeth. I am voting yes because harmless pot heads are using up some of that wasted money in question number one. They do not need to be using up time, space and money in our jails or systems. We have way bigger issues that need to be jailed, like rapist, murders and such. Plus why should someone who took a hit or two not get a job because they were stupid enough to get caught while they were enjoying thier youth. They want to repeat stupidity or move on to the big time, then put them in jail.
Question #3, no more dog races? I hate this one. I love animals, a lot. And I am not to sure about the truth behind how bad they are treated. What about our failing economy and the jobs that will be lost. I am having a real hard time voting on something that will take someone's job right out from under them. Plus it won't ban it in NH or RI, CT? More MA money going over the border like to NH tax free purchaces or to CT Casinos or the complete nude (no panties!) strippers in RI? God I hope they are not abusing the dogs like the oposers say. Ugh.
And yes, I am voting for Obama. McCain almost had me until he picked Sarah....there's the real womans lib joke, ha, ha. What a joke. Obama is younger, more in touch and more likely to envoke the change we truely do need. McCain is more of the same stereo typical old white man. So borish at this point in the game really. Either way Bush is finally gone. I am still in utter awe that man got a second term anyhow. So I will not be suprised however the vote turns out.

That is all.....battery is just about dead and it is time to wake up hubby and put the kiddies to bed.

Rainy Day Thoughts.

What a yucky day! It is raw and rainy. I wish I was home finishing my Tiramisu Baby Blanket! The main part is almost done and tomorrow will be one week since I started it. It's not that I am loving working on this thing, it is that I just want it done!

I am suppose to go out to lunch with some people from work, but I am really hoping it gets canceled. Some people are whining about meetings and stuff already so it's looking good. I should be thankful for such a thing, but I am not feeling the love today. Oh well, bad me.

Does anyone need a Curtis Plow Frame for a '03-'08 Dodge Ram 1500? We have one, and it's for sale. Craigslist sucks, it brings out the cheapest people on the face of the earth. If I wanted to give something away I would post it on Freecycle! It is worth probably $600, we are asking $400...with some wiggle room. Why on earth would I concider $100 though? Seriously.

My next Jeep? Build my own online comes out to about $33k and it gets 15/19mpg.....not so effiecent, but damn it looks fun!

Here is my current Jeep.....and I LOVE it, but it is a lease and I will have to make a decision when the lease is up....granted that is not until March of 2010, but it takes me a LONG time to make car decisions.

She gets 27mpg, and is only $200/m. Wish it had the lifetime drive warranty. Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep is going to merging with GM from what I hear. I know I don't want to take that path. Maybe I will go back to the Toyota Matrix again? I kinda like the remodel.

I had this 2005:

Now it looks like this for 2009:

I don't care for it in this photo, it looks better in real life. Maybe it is that black piece on the front bottom? This built by me comes out to maybe $23k.....and still lots of fun!

I'll keep pondering. My head wants to save $$ and gas, my heart wants to be fun and zippy, my soul wants to drive over anything in my way, lol!

New Template?

Not sure about the blog template yet. I'm gonna leave it on for a few days/weeks and see if it grows on me. I loved the colors of the old one but the vines kinda got in the way of my words.

Todays to do list:

• Kenzie has a Halloween party at karate.
• Taylor has a homecoming football game....I'm not sure if we are all going, but I think so. Time lines cross of course.
• I should get a lot of crocheting done today while the kids do their thing.
• Laundry, vacuum, clean....blah, blah, blah.....right like any of that is going to happen today.

Eighty dollars for a crochet hook? Nope I'll pay the electric bill instead :)

ETA: Here is where I got the free blog template. She has some other nice ones too. I tried the Autumn one but something wasn't working in it so I picked this one. I think there are others there I like more.

Checking In.....

I am working on several projects at once again. I just finished a scarf for Veronica, a present from her mom. I started night before last a baby blanket for Liz at work, her baby shower is on 11/14. It is a very simple pattern but it creates a very pretty texture. After hitting it for a couple nights I have about 9 out 30" done. So a week of not getting distracted should do it. I have a 50% off coupon for AC Moore. so I will stop in tonight and get some ribbon for it. I also still have Taylor's entralac blanket and my lap ripple too.....oh and some floppy funky slippers for Kenzie. Too much at once.

Tonight Kenzie and I have to finish her Halloween mask. She has a party at karate tomorrow morning. Although I think her and I are sick, hopefully we will feel better over the weekend. Probably for the best Mike has to work tonight. We have to go get pumpkins this weekend, but it should be quite otherwise.

Otherwise, yay Friday! I am tired....so glad this week is over.

I am going to start posting random things I like but would never own because of practicality or finances. Sometimes the internet can make the world so much smaller and you can just find things you would have never seen before. Here is my random yummy today. If I was rich enough to buy rock pillows and owned enough space for them to look good I might look into purchacing some of these.

IRL I am looking at power conditioners. I found them at first at powersave.com. We had an energy fair at work yesterday and when I asked the rep from National Grid what he thought of them he got real defensive and snarky.....so they must work! Thanks asshole for the tude, now I will look into them further. I hate the electric company almost as much as I hate the cable company.....granted I use satellite for TV, but I still use cable for internet. Mr. Nationalgrid up his ass refused to believe how much my household has manged to cut their electricity usage. See if I was really rich I would be off the grid.

Ugg or Ugly?

I looked at these last season and thought, who would pay $200 for crocheted boots? I kinda like them, I kinda don't. But my daughter loves them. I'm thinking I could crochet over an actual pair of real ugly (cheap and warm) boots in whatever color she likes. Some questions I have wondering around my mind are, buttons or no? how will I sew the crochet to the boot? wonder if someone else has tried this yet? I can't find anything online, just some baby boots on Ravelry (which are super freaking cute!). What about that little patch of suede in the back? Ugh (ugg), I don't know. But it gives me something to think about. Not that I need to be wondering off towards any other crochet projects in the near future anyway. I am working on a ripple that was meant for a woman at work who is expecting, but I like it to much to give away to someone I don't work to close with. So I picked up some nice blue baby yarn that I will wip up some 12" blocks for an afghan for her. I have Taylor's enlectrac afghan going too....but that will be going on for a long time I am sure! Okay, that's it for today...amazing two post so close in time to each other....but I just wanted to document my thoughts on these boots for now. Carry on.