Interview by Kathryn Vercillo
Part 2: Interview + Giveaway
Part 1: Book Review + Giveaway
Now that we’ve reviewed this title, let’s chat with Dora a little bit to learn even more about her crochet book.
What first inspired you to try crochet back on that houseboat? And what inspired you to get back into it again in 2003? What did you find to be the easiest and most challenging parts of learning – and re-learning – the craft?
What inspired me to crochet on the houseboat in Amsterdam was the general craftiness of the era; it was 1971. Also, a friend who owned a weaving shop gave me some cones of yarn in beautiful colors and I wanted to play with them.
In 2003, after a successful singing career, I was not performing as much and needed a creative outlet, so I turned to crochet again. At the time I had no plan to become a pro nor did I know that there were any career possibilities for crocheters. I just did it for fun.
What is the number one thing that you hope crocheters will get from this book?
I hope to enable and embolden crocheters to fearlessly experiment with stitch patterns and shaping.
I created this stitch dictionary with shaping strategies because it had not been done before. The book really reflects my interest in stitch patterns; my love for a particular stitch pattern is often the starting point for a design. Having been designing now for more than a dozen years, I have figured out a few things about shaping stitches that I wanted to share. The continued popularity of top-down seamless sweaters is why I included internal shaping.
As you mention in the book’s intro, almost every designer has to go through the process of figuring out shaping, and yet there’s so little written information about this topic. Any idea why that information wasn’t out there before now?
It is difficult and time-consuming to do what I did in this book. One large issue is how to present the information. It was important to devise a way of showing increasing, decreasing, and internal shaping in a concise clear way, while also giving instructions for the stitch itself.
I came up with the idea of a swatch that starts even and then grows into these pointed shapes. It’s an attractive shape and makes it easy to see what’s going on, both in the swatch and in the diagram. On the little internal shaping swatches, a lovely surprise was how pretty the center increases can be.
The swatches took 2 years to make. For most of the stitches I first drew stitch symbols on paper to develop my shaping ideas. Then I tried out the idea with yarn and made many adjustments as I did so. Then I redid the swatch in the yarn that suited it most, very carefully, so that the work was as even and pretty as I could make it. I wet blocked and pinned each swatch, sometimes more than once.
That’s a lot of careful work. And 125 stitches is A LOT of stitches, but there are also certainly many more in crochet. How did you go about deciding which stitches to include and what to leave out?
First, I thought about the categories of stitches I wanted to include and how best to organize them. For example, I knew I wanted a chapter on shells (because there are so many and they are so pretty), one on closed stitches, and one on stitches with texture. I considered also the kinds of stitches crocheters would find appealing, and easy to work with. That’s probably how the chapter on mesh and easy laces emerged – so many great stitches that are not hard and yet look so elegant.
I had to eliminate some stitches that did not want to be shaped. Of course, one can find ways to shape any stitch working in a freeform manner. But the goal in this book is to make a repeatable sequence one can use for row after row. The number 125 was what the publisher felt would offer great value to crocheters, while keeping the book’s price in an accessible range.
Where did you find all of these stitches?
I used a great variety of stitch dictionaries to find these stitches, including the Harmony Guides and several American books from the 1970s. I did not invent any myself; there are already so many that I didn’t find the need to do so, plus I really like the process of researching stitches in books. I think the most original thing that I did in this book was elaborate on the concept of enlarging the pattern, which is an interesting solution for certain stitches that don’t lend themselves to other shaping strategies.
What makes some stitches unsuitable for edge shaping and therefore better suited to internal shaping?
There are several reasons why some stitches might work better for shaping than others.
For example, crochet ripples are very hard to shape because increasing and decreasing within a row is what creates the ripple. Changing the stitch count disrupts the ripple pattern.
Most stitch patterns where stitches line up vertically row after row can easily be shaped.
Stitches that have angles, like shells, can be shaped if that angle is fairly steady on each row, but it also limits one’s choices as to rate of increase.
This is hard to explain just in words, which is why a book like mine has photos, diagrams and other illustrative tools that make the concepts clearer. Shaping all the varieties of crochet stitches is really quite a large and detailed topic that is best understood by reading the book and trying the swatches.
How did you choose the yarn to swatch with?
I chose the yarns in the book for their color possibilities, since beautiful and varied colors was part of the aesthetic concept for the book. Where possible I used single ply yarn as it creates clean and clear stitch definition (meaning each strand of yarn is very clear in a photograph).
I also wanted to use a variety of yarn weights, although I did not use yarns heavier than DK. I feel heavier yarns are less elegant-looking in crochet and want to fight any stereotypes people have about crochet being unrefined.
In my design work, when making garments, I use mostly sport and and fingering weight yarns for that reason. I did swatch some of the stitches with different yarns before finding the ideal one.
How has your experience as a teacher informed your work as a crochet author?
My being a singing teacher is reflected in many other things I do. That role requires breaking down a complex task into simpler steps. In this book’s introductory pages, I aimed to help crocheters understand stitch patterns and how to shape them in a broad and general sense. In other words, to reveal some of the underlying principles that make stitches behave in certain ways. This will, hopefully, give more depth to the reader’s experience as she studies the many stitches and will enable readers to use the concepts in the book in other areas of their crochet lives.
Someone wants to start a new project, but they really don’t have any plan at all in mind. How would you suggest they use the book to get inspiration? Where should they begin?
I think a great starting point for someone who doesn’t have a definite plan is to follow the advice in the book on how to make a scarf with any stitch. For someone who has not designed and would like to learn, it’s a really good lesson.
Another alternative is to grab yarn from your stash and try 3 or 4 stitches with it and see what looks best with that yarn, then analyze why. Try going up and down in hook size before deciding though, as looser or tighter stitches can make a big difference in how the stitch looks. Once you find a good match, think about what kind of item would look good with that stitch and yarn.
This can help crocheters understand the relationship between yarns and stitches and why some yarns work with a particular stitch and some don’t. From there you will have much better experiences when subbing yarns for projects and can also explore making your own designs.
You can find Dora on Facebook and Ravelry.
GIVEAWAY
To enter for a chance to win 1 free copy of this book, please:
Comment to let us know what you found to be most interesting in this interview! You may post 1 new comment every day to enter – no limits!
1 winner will be chosen from the comments on 31 August, 2019.
Winner = To Be Announced
Purchase Options: Crochet Every Which Way Stitch Dictionary: 125 Essential Stitches to Crochet in Three Ways
Various yarn weights are a good way to see how a finished garment will drape.
Crocheting on a houseboat sounds very relaxing!
There are always some difficulties, stitches that cannot be shaped!
Looking forward to seeing the types of stitches you’ve chosen for this book!
This motivates me to start swatching!
Top down seamless sweaters are definitely a crochet staple. Your book makes designs for these garments much more do-able!
I have one cone of yarn planned for a project. It too, was a gift!
Advice on matching yarns with patterns is something I need!
Thank you for investing 2 years to make swatches for this book.
I so love DK yarn and up easier on my hands anyway. I was never aware the different types of yarn can change the effect.
1971 I was focused on sewing, embroidery, and knitting. Crochet didn’t come into the picture until much later!
I didn’t realize that stitch samples with shaping had never been done before.
Interested in what type of singing you did.
I would really like to understand better shaping of garments.
I hope to be enabled and emboldened to fearlessly experiment with the help of your book.
Wow 2 years to make the swatches!
I didn’t realize that there were so many different stitches!
Just like a ripple not to play nicely with shaping!
I want to learn how to crochet all 125 stitches!
WOW! Two years to complete the swatches. That took perseverance and dedication.
Crocheting on a houseboat! What a great idea!
I never thought about shaping in this way. Interesting!
I also like dk yarn, but most patterns use worsted. I think the dfinished peice also looks more “refined” with thinner weight yarns.
Interesting! Your first career was in music 🙂
I never thought about the challenges involved with shaping decorative stitches
I have lots of ideas of what to make and the yarn but need patterns. So using different stitches would be great.
I found it very interesting that there are more than 125 stitches in crochet. This book would help me to increase my knowledge and therefore crochet more.
I found it fascinating that there are more than 125 stitches in crochet. I couldn’t image even 125 stitches. I haven’t don e a lot of crocheting but i’m sure this book would get me going as crocheting is so much faster than knitting.
I liked her answer regarding the edge stitches, to get a straight edge.
Wow! This book sounds incredibly detailed. Kudos to the author for all the blood, sweat and no doubt tears, that went into such an endeavour!
So much in depth info, & so much I didn’t know existed. I love the info about doing things in different & adaptable ways.
There were so many interesting things in this interview. First, I realized how much work went into this book. Just listening to how Dora went about planning each part. Her way of thinking encourages you to adventure into different patterns, yarn weights, and hook sizes. She should be highly praised for her dedication. Thank you so much for this giveaway.
A friend’s gift of yarn helped inspire a future crochet designer
I learned a lot just from the interview. Very interested in learning more about edge shaping and internal shaping.
I am very interested to see all 125 stitches and learn all of them!
Very insightful article. I admire Dora Ohrenstein. She is such a skilled and innovative crocheter. Her book would be a treasured addition to my crochet library.
I like that Dora worked with pattern stitches already created.
I like that this book could help me figure out if a stitch I come across will work for a this project or that project.
One thing I found most interesting is the information on shaping. There is not a lot of books (sources) that include this area of information. This section alone makes this book a must-have!
All of it! I’ve crocheted off and on since I was a kid (now 66) but am self taught and have never taken classes from a professional. I think this book would help answer a lot of questions I’ve had over the years. Thanks!
I can not wait to get this book!!! My fingers are itching to try out some of these stitches.
The depth & complexity of the process underlying this book is very intriguing.
Choosing the yarn to swatch with
How you chose the yarn for the stitches. And the research in discovering all the stitches…
Interested in how wider stiches work on odd areas like sleeves or easing for bust sizes.
I like the part about how to start a new project by trying 3 or 4 stitches.
I have wanted to design but the process of shaping has stumped me. Simple dc shaping is one thing but I don’t like doing a garment is just one stitch. The time you took to help others better understand the process is amazing! Thank you!
That’s a lot of careful work. And 125 stitches is A LOT of stitches, but there are also certainly many more in crochet. How did you go about deciding which stitches to include and what to leave out?
I love that this book teachers you how to increase/decrease in various stitches.
I’m still pretty new in the crochet world but I didn’t know that some stitches are unsuitable for edge shaping and some are better suited to internal shaping. I am always learning something new! This is a great interview.
I found the concept of making a scarf with any stitch to be very interesting. I know that swatching is very important, but as someone who loves having a finished project this really “floats my boat”!
Very interesting ready about the process taken to do the swatches and the shaping.
I appreciated this comment: “I also wanted to use a variety of yarn weights, although I did not use yarns heavier than DK. I feel heavier yarns are less elegant-looking in crochet and want to fight any stereotypes people have about crochet being unrefined.” It made me pause and think about the long-range impact this could have on crochet as an art.
I love how the book helps to inspire you to find a project with any stitch and see what yarn will work best with it!