Introducing the Texas Crochet Heritage Exhibit
The Texas Crochet Heritage traveling exhibit is about doily crocheters, doily culture, and doily history, with a little doily art and poetry, for good measure.
The exhibit consists of forty-five 16 x 20″ panels that feature photos, maker stories, history, and culture of doilies and similar items. The Texas Lakes Trail Region heritage and tourism office (affiliated with the Texas Historical Commission) published the exhibit in 2019. Since then, the Texas Crochet Heritage exhibit has traveled to Texas museums, cultural centers, and libraries.
Find out how to rent the Texas Crochet Heritage exhibit, and optional add-ons, at
texastimetravel.com/regions/lakes-trail/partners/traveling-exhibits-for-loan/ or email Jill Jordan at jill@texaslakestrail.net.
Examples from the Texas Crochet Heritage Exhibit
Thanks in part to a grant from the Summerlee Foundation, Suzann Thompson created the Texas Crochet Heritage exhibit based on interviews, fieldwork, and archival research. Following are three examples of stories she discovered, which are included in the Texas Crochet Heritage exhibit.
On her fieldtrip around the Texas Panhandle, Suzann individuals and people at small and large museums, to talk about doilies. Among the generous people Suzann talked to on the trip, were Jim and Beverly Baker, who told about Jim’s mother, Marie Colene Schwartz Baker.
Back at home, Suzann spent hours exploring newspaper articles about doilies in the wonderful, digital Portal to Texas History. She found ads selling doily patterns, articles about how to use doilies, reports of social occasions where doilies were included in table centerpieces, and the time-honored American tradition of crochet competitions in county fairs.
Poet and musician Sandi Horton was an early collaborator in Suzann’s doily research and art journey.
The rich history of doily-making unfolds every single day, because yes, people still crochet doilies. At the same time, the personal history of doily makers is erased from living memory every day. The future of crochet heritage research, by Suzann Thompson and others, will capture as many of those stories and histories as possible.
2023 Seeking Crochet Apprentice
Interested in continuing the traditional art of crochet in Texas? Texas Folklife funds an Apprentice/Mentor program, where the goal is to foster “the continuity of traditional arts in Texas.” I am seeking a Texas crocheter to join me as an apprentice in applying for Texas Folklife’s Apprenticeship Program.
The application deadline is in the fall of 2023, for a 2024 apprenticeship. It seems a long way away, but Texas Folklife values a good relationship between apprentice and mentor, and it takes a while to build a relationship like that.
Click here to read about Texas Folklife’s Apprenticeship Program.
A prospective apprentice should already know how to crochet, and be interested in the tradition of crochet. If you would like to explore crochet in your own community, we can build an apprenticeship program plan around that. If you’re not sure what crochet tradition you would like to concentrate on, my suggestion is that we study Texas Thread Crochet. A small stipend for apprentice and mentor covers reasonable expenses.
As a prospective mentor, I have long experience as a crochet designer, author, and community researcher. I’m a Board member at the Center for Knit and Crochet (centerforknitandcrochet.org). You can find more about me at www.textilefusion.com/about, where you will find links to my artist’s resume and complete CV.
Apprenticeship applicants must
- know how to crochet,
- have an interest in the tradition and culture of crochet in Texas,
- live in Texas, and
- be at least 18 years old.
If funded, the project runs for six to eight months, beginning early in 2024. Texas Folklife recommends 8 to 12 hours of instruction per month. Outside of actual instruction, expect to spend time crocheting and preparing for lessons, and working on our final report. Some travel will be necessary.
Commitment
- Apply to be an apprentice at www.textilefusion.com/apprenticeapp2023.pdf, and return it to the address or email address listed on the application, by May 1, 2023. The application is about your personal crochet history and why you want to be part of the Apprentice/Mentor program.
I don’t know how many crocheters will apply to work with me, but if I have to choose among two or more applicants, I will do so by June 1, 2023. Then, the Apprentice and I will:
- Get to know each other via Zoom or in person, if possible. Texas Folklife wants mentors and apprentices to know each other and have a good relationship.
- Work together on a proposal for our six- to eight-month program of instruction, making, exploring the course of study we agree on. The deadline for sending funding application to Texas Folklife is early December 2023.
If our Apprentice/Mentor proposal is funded:
- The project runs for six to eight months, beginning early in 2024.
- We will work together virtually or in person, 8 to 12 hours per month.
- Apprentice and mentor will spend time outside of instruction in preparation for lessons, crocheting, doing homework, preparing the final report.
- Some travel will be necessary.
Please contact me with any questions at knitandcrochetwithsuzann@outlook.com . I would be glad to schedule a call or an online meeting to visit with you about the program.
Experts Share How to Introduce Texture and Patterns into Your Home Design
Thank you to Ryan Castillo of Redfin, who invited theTextileFusion.com team (me) to contribute to his blog post, “Experts Share How to Introduce Texture and Patterns into Your Home Design.”
Ryan encouraged contributors to republish his post with their own photos. Thanks again, Ryan! Find the original post, with live links, here.
If you feel like your home is drab and are looking for a way to spice up your home design, why not introduce texture and patterns into your space? Textures and patterns are a great way to add depth and variety through decorations and can make your space feel more inviting and alive. If you don’t know where to start, we got you covered. We reached out to experts from Phoenix, AZ to Hamilton, ON for their best tips on how to introduce texture and patterns into your home. From bringing in house plants to peel-and-stick wallpaper, keep reading to see what they had to say.
Think of each living space in your home as a storybook
Each wall, pillow, rug, blanket, and piece of art can capture the imagination. Unique wallpaper or a mural on a feature wall can be the hero of the room. Then, you can layer in more of the story through highly textured pillows, patterned rugs, and colorful art that speaks to you.
– Lori Siebert
Bring life and texture into your home through plants
Adding plants to your environment creates a lovely texture that stimulates feelings of growth and renewal. In addition, I use chunky knit blankets and the smoothness of oil paintings to add texture variety to my home.
– Lauren Lee
Decorate with peel-and-stick wallpaper
Add peel-and-stick wallpaper in a powder room, laundry room, or as a feature wall in a bedroom. The surprise of color and pattern can elevate your room and your mood.
– Smithhonig
Add original paintings and art prints
Adding original paintings and art prints to your home will make it feel more cozy and complete. The artwork doesn’t even have to always be large to create a big presence. Consider framing a smaller work of art in a larger frame with a big matte to create a lot of white space and give even more attention to the artwork.
– Laurie Anne Art
Change up the location of your wall art
Don’t think of your wall art as having permanent spots in your home. Moving it around the house to different locations can give a fresh look to a room that needs an update. Bonus: it costs nothing.
– Liberty Worth of Liberty Worth Art
Consider installing Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring
Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring (LVP) is one of the fastest growing products in the floor-covering world. Customers can install LVP in any room of the home and it offers the following benefits:
- Waterproof
- Durable
- Easy to clean
- Pet & kid-friendly
- Affordable
– Best Rug Prices
Decorate with needlework
Make your home comfortable and welcoming with needlework, from lacy table mats and runners, to embroidered pillow slips, to wall art. Find vintage crocheted, knitted, and quilted pieces at estate sales or among your own family heirlooms. You can also consider supporting fiber artists and artisans creating today’s textile treasures.
–Suzann Thompson of TextileFusion.com
Get inspired by traditional craftsmanship
Instantly update your home with print and patterns inspired by traditional craftsmanship. We are embracing modern takes on Ikat, Jacobean, and paisley motifs by including small areas of intense color (think fluoro pink). On throw pillows and accent chairs, these types of prints will add an exciting pop of color and vitality to your rooms.
– The Print School
Stop painting your walls
You should consider not painting your walls because paint is expensive and in-colors change often. Consider buying art and letting that add texture and pattern to your home. Remember that art does not have to match your sofa.
– Donna Jean Art
Originally published on Redfin.com
Revisiting Fire Ant Ranch in Spirit
In June 2005, my little family visited Suzanne Correira’s Fire Ant Ranch in Elgin, Texas. I bought fleece and planned to unpack my spinning wheel and spin it all up. I missed spinning!
Okay, well. I did get out the spinning wheel and spun about half a bobbin of the green fleece with yellow, which you can see in the blog post I wrote at the time. So yay me!
It was a while before that pretty green and yellow yarn got finished. In November 2021, I set up my spinning wheel in its own dedicated corner in the house we built in the interim.
My goal now is to spin my backlog of fiber from friends and vendors in England, various wool festivals here and there, and friends in Comanche County, one who raises sheep and one who raises buffalo. This will take a few years.
I tend to get distracted (yes, like for 16 years—see above), so I chose three bags of fleece to start with. I promised myself not to move on to the next batch until those three bags were empty.
Mission accomplished! The fleece, roving, and mohair locks in the three bags are spun, and here’s what they look like. Hope you like the music!
@textilefusion #HandSpun ♬ The Twist – Chubby Checker
That was a lot of spinning, so the next goal was quicker, kind of a spinning palate cleanser.
- The yellow is Polwarth wool and silk from Sky Loom Weavers Farms, a freebie at the 2021 Texas Fleece and Fiber Fest.
- I got the coral mohair in England before 2003 from Victoria Smedley, known as Mo Bair.
- The hand-painted blue kid mohair was labeled La Plata Farms, Colorado, probably bought at the Wool Festival at Taos, and it was lovely to spin.
Now it’s time to spin the fleece from our 2005 visit to Fire Ant Ranch. Gulf Coast Native, Black Welch Mountain, and a Fire Ant Ranch special Rock Pile blend of Shetland and forest green mohair, along with a dark khaki fleece of some kind, and a bag of white roving, which may have been meant for making Christmas tree top angels.
The story about our visit to Suzanne and Fire Ant Ranch is in “Welcome to the Fire Ant Ranch,” INKnitters, pp. 42 ff., Vol. 5, No. 2, Fall 2005.
Jane’s Book Found
My friend, Jane Hurwitz, created a book called Instructions for Handknit for an article I wrote, “Handmade and Altered Books for Knitters,” INKnitters, pp. 6, ff., Vol. 5, No.3, Winter 2005.
We met in the late 1990s and were pleased to find that both of us enjoyed knitting. Jane introduced me to the Hallamshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers, and Dyers. We were members, as long as we lived in the area.
We hadn’t seen each other in several years when we talked on the phone early in 2005. It turns out she has been making books by hand! What perfect timing.
Here is her book, Instructions for Handknit.
Jane is on Instagram as @maniacalgardener, and her photos are wonderful. I hope you’ll follow her there. She also wrote Butterfly Gardening: The North American Butterfly Association Guide, Read more about Butterfly Gardening at Jane’s website.
In 2022, Jane, along with me and other volunteers, writes social media posts for the Center for Knit and Crochet. We’re on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Sweet Picot Shamrock
Here’s a St. Patrick’s Day idea Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day 2023!
Use DK weight cotton to crochet Shamrock mug mats. They’ll be large enough to protect your table, and absorbent enough to trap most of the condensation on the outside of the mug. The beer mug, you know.
Instructions for the Sweet Picot Shamrock mat are in the Sweet Picot Heart pattern, in my Ravelry shop.
One dollar of your purchase price goes to Comanche TX All Pets Alive. A bargain!
Crochet Bouquet Tutorials List
Here’s help for some of the flower patterns in Crochet Bouquet. I’ll update this post as I add more of my lost retro-posts to this blog.
If you need help with a flower or leaf from the book, and you don’t see it here, please contact me at knitandcrochetwithsuzann@outlook.com. Help may already be there, just not republished yet.
Also, here are the known errors in Crochet Bouquet
Tips for finishing the Shamrock.
Stay tuned, there are lots more.
Valentine’s Day is for Fun
In elementary school, each one of us students gave a silly little Valentine’s Day card to every other student in the class. The idea of fun and silliness is forever linked to Valentine’s Day in my mind.
I’m surprised and saddened to be reminded that, for whatever reason, people feel unhappy about Valentine’s Day. When I stop to consider the pressurized marketing around Valentine’s Day, I can understand their distress.
How about let’s return to the fun, less expensive, less fraught idea of Valentine’s Day? It’s a day of fondness and love, and that love can extend to friends online and off, to a pet, or to a craft you enjoy.
Originally published early in May 2012, this post was titled “Valentine’s Day Quilt Finished!” It’s about a project created with contributions from friends and daughters.
On a Tuesday evening in 2012, at Eva and Ella’s piano lesson, I sewed the last button onto my Dublin Rippers quilting group’s Valentine’s Day Quilt. I tried to sew more buttons on, but when I put them tentatively on the quilt, the quilt said, “Enough already!” Usually, I can find a place to tuck in one more, but all my attempts were rejected.
So it was finished! Yay!
This quilt combines old and new and bits and pieces that will remind me of friends and fun times. Like this pretty quilted heart will always make me think of Peggy. The flower below the yellow buttons is a Twirl Center Rose from Crochet Garden.
These yellow and white applique daisies are from my mother-in-law’s sewing collection. She was a lovely lady named Mary Eugenia Frederick. She went by ‘Gene,’ but we thought Eugenia was a beautiful middle name for our younger daughter, Ella.
Rachel made the fabric flower with the red center. Rachel’s daughter Beth and Eva like to go adventuring together and talk about music. Gail Hughes made the green buttons that serve as leaves for Rachel’s flower.
Three pink heart buttons from Hazel are surrounded by flowers from Crochet Garden: Begonia (lower left), Turkestani Star with a button from Gail Hughes, and Any Color Pinks at the upper right.
For Donna’s quilt, she asked us each to sign a piece of fabric, which she incorporated in to her quilt. The spool charm is from Donna.
This heart, cut out of an antique quilt, is from Mindi. Both green buttons and the crystal topped button on the heart are by Gail Hughes. Hazel’s buttons are the red heart-shaped ones hidden next to the big heart.
This quilt is full of love!
* * *
More Valentine’s Day posts:
Heart-shaped hoof-prints, handmade Valentine’s Day card, and very retro heart, 2013.
Read about the making of the Valentine’s Day Quilt here, 2012.
Ella creates a Valentine’s Day card collection box, 2012.
Crocheted roses, inspired by painter Barbara Van Wyk, from Crochet Garden, 2012.
Kerrville Honeycomb Doily Origin Story
Hexie quilts are so pretty and simple, they’ve inspired many a quilter to take up paper-piecing. Quilters get into the slow process of hand-sewing the hexies together, and one day, they have sewn together enough motifs for a quilt top!
I’m all about flowers, so I studied the “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” version of a hexie quilt, where you make lots of motifs with a yellow hexie in the middle, and surround them with rounds of flowery colors. My thoughts went something like this: “Hm. I could crochet that, but crocheting a bunch of hexagons and sewing them together does not appeal.” That was the end of that.
It was the end of that, until the summer of 2021, when my husband Charles invited me to come to Kerrville on one of his work trips. The idea was that I would enjoy a break from routine, visit a few bookstores, yarn shops, coffee shops, and so on, while he worked at an archeological field school.
We shared a nice town home with Charles’ colleague Gus and his wife Mel. The wonder of it all, was that Mel is a spinner and knitter! A yarn crawl partner! A coffee shop pal! A fellow bookstore afficionado! We visited The Tinsmith’s Wife, a large yarn, cross stitch, and needlepoint shop in Comfort, Texas. We stopped by The Sheepwalk Ranch and Fiber Arts Studio, a yarn shop, workshop venue, and sheep farm in Bandera County, promising “A Farm to Fiber Arts Experience.”
One evening, the four of us went to a pleasant party to socialize with archeologists, at an Airbnb house in town. The bathroom floor design at the house was a lot like a Grandmother’s Flower Garden hexie quilt pattern. The difference was, each hexagonal tile was surrounded by grout.
Grout. Really?
Yes! The grout gave me a whole new perspective on designing with hexies. Suddenly I could visualize how to crochet the outline of a hexagonal space. The space could be open, or I could fill it with more stitching. It was a big mind-shift.
I printed several copies of my photo of the hexie floor, sketched various ways to crochet the design, and wrote notes on the copies.
In the end, the best way to figure out a crochet pattern is to crochet. Late in July, Charles and I boarded a plane to visit our daughters in Boston. With no dogs needing to go in and out, no phone calls, no snacks calling my name, I had three uninterrupted hours to figure out how to crochet the hexie pattern.
The first draft was way too complicated. I had to rethink. I kept trying, until the method of crocheting the design became clear to me. It finally did. Yay! Here’s a photo of my moment of triumph, with the photocopy of the bathroom floor at the lower edge.
Today the Kerrville Honeycomb Doily pattern is for sale on Ravelry. Instructions include how to make the doily in larger sizes, and how to starch the doily. When you buy the doily pattern before March 31, 2022, you can download a Honeycomb Snowflake pattern free. No coupon code needed.
Knit Advent Day 24
Number 24 at last! The bell is worked from a chart in garter stitch intarsia. It is worked from side to side, increasing and decreasing along the edges for the curve of the bell, the clapper, and the upper shape of the bell.
And here is the Advent Calendar all loaded with its ornaments. Wishing you many happy returns this holiday season, I look forward to seeing you in the New Year.