Crochet combined with a bit of lace making is suddenly about to hit the shops. It's a granny thing, right? Wrong! It's the hottest and yet oldest look to hit fashion and a natural follow-on to vintage.
 It's a bit holey, but that's perhaps its attraction to the younger end of the market who've got very used to exposing underwear and midriffs. This kind of crochet offers a demure cover up but with a glimpse of flesh. Look how pretty it looks over dresses, denim, over anything, as long as the colours work together. Those a little older will probably know how to crochet themselves. Lace making is a little more intense, but many learned to crochet at their grandmother's knees. If we get busy we can take advantage of the new interest in home crochet, on the back of the knitting craze, sparked by the international `knitting is the new rock and roll' movement practised by film stars and celebrities alike. They do it to relieve stress, apparently, but it's a great way to keep busy whilst waiting. For film stars like Catherine Zeta Jones, it's something relaxing to do in between takes on the film set.
 Ordinary mortals can do it while waiting for the bus, sitting on the train or watching TV. It can be incorporated into our lives, however busy. It's so easy to carry - a ball of yarn and a hook. If you haven't crocheted for a while, or want to learn, there's lots of books around, like Simple Crochet by Erika Knight (Quadrille Publishing) with easy to follow diagrams teaching the foundation chain and the single crochet stitch through to the double, via the treble and the half treble, and showing how using different yarns can create different effects. Although more inclined to the homes market, this book shows crochet with string, ribbon, leather and rags. But it's a good basis to start your crochet craze. It takes a bit of practice to learn how to hold the yarn and hook, but with practice Erika describes it as "yoga for the hands". How nice and gentle, but there's a competitive side too. Last October's knitting and stitching show at Alexandra Palace in London was the setting for the Woman's Weekly world speed crochet and the winner, American Lily Chin, achieved 63 trebles in three minutes. But where's the joy in that? And the creativity? It used to be regarded as shameful to wear something that looked as though it had been made. How much fashion has changed with Boho and deliberate dishevelment becoming one of the most popular looks around.
 All this love and creativity in garments explains why there's a new appreciation of hand knitting. But fashion always looks ahead and crochet is the next step on for the knitter, and especially those who want quicker results. Crochet as a skill is as simple or as complicated as the end result you want to achieve. Australian Penny O'Neil and her Melbourne-based label ArtRageous crochet is best described as wearable art. Interviewed in this month's newly re-launched Knitting magazine (£3.45 and a testament to the rediscovery of wool, hooks and needles), Penny explains her freeform technique, making lots of small pieces of crochet, laying them out and filling in the gaps to make the shape of a garment piece. The structure is undetermined but the colour scheme is meticulously prepared. But at the end of the day, if your crochet urge can't wait, then the high street can provide the look at a fraction of the price your eventual garment would cost in man-hours alone. You will have missed out on the pleasure of making it, but then there's the pleasure in wearing it. ********* Further reading ArtRageous crochet is $15 (Australian) from Penny O'Neil directly on feralbeanies@yahoo.com.au New Knits by Erika Knight, published by Quadrille at £14.99, is available from all good book stores. | 
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