Eye Candy in honor of Valentine's Weekend

Readers, I ask you, what do you think of as  Crochet?  Is crochet a fabric that looks like it was crocheted with a hook, or is it a fabric that was created with a crochet hook?  Or is it both?

Today's "Eye Candy" should clearly (or perhaps not?) make one ponder this!  First, I'd like for you to visit Joan Dulla's website (www.JoanDulla.com) and check out her beautiful works!  I took a three-day class with her about two years ago or so and learned that her technique is using a crochet hook to manipulate wire that technically looks (is?) knitted.  Her technique caused so much controversy that her work was pulled from a crochet exhibit that was traveling around the United States.  What do you think?  Is her work crocheted or knitted?  Should her work have been pulled from the crochet exhibit?  Is her work really knit even if it was created with a crochet hook?

Next, I'd like for you to visit www.guild.com and do a search for Randi Chervitz (or do a simple search for "Crochet").  [Note: You can also opt to sign up for their newsletter if you're interested in the Arts.]  There you'll see a lot of beautiful works that reportedly were created with a crochet hook.  Upon zooming in as much as they allow, it looks almost like Joan Dulla's technique -- but it's hard to tell.  When you work with wire the stitches do tend to distort making it difficult to make that determination.

On the "about the artist" page it states that once Randi is done with the metal working of the piece (soldering, filing & such), she then "finishes by crocheting stitch patterns that determine whether the piece has a soft or linear character."

Now that I have you pondering ... go check out the work of Michael David Sturlin.  Yeah, wear a bib -- this is  the creme de la creme!  (...and in case you can't get enough of Michael, then go here.)  After all, what is Valentine's Day without looking at some serious bling bling, right? 

What makes all these works uniquely beautiful is that they're all created with a crochet hook.  ;)