crocheters, and the knitters who love them

I have a confession to make. I was once prejudiced against crochet. Growing up, I had a nice grandmother who knit (and I really appreciate those sweaters now), and a mean grandmother who crocheted. In addition to being afraid of her, I also had to suffer through stiff ugly acrylic afghans and potholders that linger in our house to this very day. And they will keep lingering. Forever. Because acrylic will not die. So for a long time, I dismissed crochet outright. Didn't like it, didn't want to do it, thought it was ugly. End of story. (I am nothing if not adamant in my opinions, however wrong they may turn out to be.)
Enter: The Mad Crocheter. She completely dissolved all my usual objections to crochet with her lovely yarn choices, fearless creativity, and gorgeous results. She made the cutest summer top , all lavender and girly with a really cute edging that blew me away. It was the first time I had ever envied a crocheter. And then she showed me a book on crocheting Aran sweaters that floored me. You can cable in crochet? Who knew?
Through some massive stroke of good luck, she decided to give me this:


A super-freaking-cool hat made from Cascade Autunno. It's so warm and soft and I just love it. Note the cute picot-esque edging. Here it is on.


Note the glamorous 99 cent shower curtain in the background. My apartment unfortunately doesn't have any good spots for photographing one's own head, so that was as good as I could get.
This hat has hardly left my head since she gave it to me, since I was felled with a massive head cold that very evening, along with menstrual cramps (woo-hoo!). There's something about wearing something that someone made for you that makes you feel loved even when you feel like total crap.
So hop over to her website and give her a shout-out. She's new to this blogging thing and off to a roaring start. And she may just change your mind about crochet. Because remember, it's not whether we use two pointy sticks or one hook that matters, it's that we all need new ideas to hide stash from our loved ones.