010: Drew - The Crochet Dude

Special Announcement: The Freakonomics interview will be posted next week.

This week we have Drew from The Crochet Dude. Drew will be appearing on HGTV Monday 11th June at 7am ET/PT. For those of you outside the US, an outline of the projects Drew will be going through can be found here.

Today we go a little crafty and to help me on this journey is Drew Emborsky from The Crochet Dude. Drew is a fine artist from Houston, Texas and whilst he enjoys cooking up a great feed, getting out in his wonderful garden and painting up a storm with his favourite oils and canvas, his blog primarily focuses on his love of fiber arts.

Invented in the 1800s, crochet quickly took off in Europe as a means to supplement family incomes from war-ravished territories. Today, crochet has a healthy and lively following of which Drew is an integral part.

BV: Drew, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me about your passion… crochet. It seems you’re pretty damn fanatical about fiber arts and in particular crochet. Can you tell me, where did this passion stem from?

Hey dude! Thanks for inviting me!

I come from a large family and we all crochet. When I was a kid I watched my dad crocheted area rugs out of old fabric, and my mom crochet doilies out of thread. One of my sisters took to knitting and made us all sweaters one year, and one of my brothers crocheted an afghan for Mom while he was in the army! I guess it must be in our DNA because by the time I was five I was crocheting right along with everyone else.

I studied fine art in college and I love that I am able to combine this long family tradition of working with fiber and my training as an artist.

BV: When you’re at a dinner party and you tell people that you love crochet, I imagine there is usually one guy that’s pretty insecure about his own personality and would be the type to make fun of a man who crochets. How do you respond to this type of guy and still keep him on your side?

Besides kick his ass? Hmm, that usually does the trick. But if I want to keep him on my side I will tell how crochet and knit are practiced by men all over the world and have been for a long time, and that in America it has been a relatively short period of time where men haven’t felt comfortable with the fiber arts, at least that has how it has seemed. In reality men have been knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, etc, all along, but nowadays we can be seen crocheting on the subway or knitting at the coffee shop.

And if that doesn’t work…. I kick his ass.

BV: When I think of crochet, I think of doilies and bed socks. Can you tell me some of the other useful things you can create using crochet?

One of the most exciting developments is that we are seeing crochet on the runways in Paris/Milan/NYC. Designers are using crochet to create some pretty incredible garments. And now that natural fibers are becoming much more accessible, you can find crochetiers working with silk, cashmere, angora, alpaca, wool, etc and creating what many call “wearable art”.

Crochet is also great for creating baby blankets (it’s fast!) and accessories (it’s sturdy enough to make a laptop case!) and intricate wall hangings/curtains (google “filet crochet”!) . I even found myself in a hotel a few months ago and realizing that I had forgotten my cufflinks, I whipped out my wool and hooks and crocheted a pair to wear to my meeting.

Pretty much you name it, you can do a crocheted version of it.

BV: It seems to me that inventing crochet designs is like any other artistic talent. Can you run me through the skills you need to come up with an original crochet design and can anyone do it?

I certainly think that anyone can try to do it and based on their experience and skill level they will be as successful as they want to be. That being said, a basic knowledge of garment construction, a strong command of the stitch combinations, and the ability to visualize how it will turn out (and how to get from point A to point B) help tremendously.

The absolutely most important skill though is the ability to mentally handle ripping out what you’ve done as many times as necessary in order to finally achieve the design as you have imagined it. The technical term in the industry is “frogging” because you have to “rip it rip it rip it”.

BV: Men who knit and the dogs who love them. So is this a book about men, or dogs?).

Men Who Knit and the Dogs Who Love Them came about because my co-author Annie Modesitt and I wanted to create a set of men’s sweater designs that men would actually want to knit and wear. Sometimes when one looks at a man’s sweater pattern it becomes very obvious that the designer had the dude’s lady in mind, mainly because she would most likely be knitting it, so it has pretty features that a dude wouldn’t necessarily want to wear.

What we did was look at each design from a dude’s point of view (that’s me!) and consider “what would a man like to knit, and when he is finished what would he actually want to wear”. So this book contains men’s sweaters that are tailored, classic, a bit trendy in a few cases, but always keeping the dude in mind.

That being said, the fun part of the book is that all the men’s sweaters also have matching dog sweaters. Not all the designs fit all dogs, but there are designs for every size from Chihuahua to Great Dane. There are dog accessories too like beds, leashes, saddlebags, etc. The hardest part though is getting your dog to knit.

BV: You’ve had your blog up for a while now; can you tell me a story about how your blog has made a difference to either your life or someone else’s?

The amazing part of having a blog for the last two years is that I have communication with thousands of people that love the fiber arts too. The feedback that I gain from their emails and comments would be unobtainable any other way. And the blog helps filter and pinpoint with whom my designs are compatible. If they like my designs they read my blog and many of the long time readers have become very good friends of mine.

I could give you many examples of how The Crochet Dude has made a difference in other’s lives, but these are the most common stories I hear. Little “Bobby” wants to crochet but his dad doesn’t think a boy should. So Grandma/Mom/Aunty sit down to the computer with Bobby and Dad and they look at my blog and website and see that it’s okay for dudes to crochet and knit. I have received so many emails from kids and moms saying ‘thank you for being a great role model for Bobby’. That really makes me feel good.

The other scenario is similar but usually includes a wife that wants to get her husband crocheting so they can go yarn shopping together. The success rate isn’t quite as high, but I do get thankyous from them too.

BV: And lastly, if you could crochet one item to stop terrorism, what would that be?

I don’t like to try and stop anything because I feel that it creates more of it.
However, if I could crochet one item to promote peace it would be an electric car.

Related links:
Site http://www.thecrochetdude.com
Blog http://blog.thecrochetdude.com
Patterns http://www.lulu.com/thecrochetdude
Gear http://www.cafepress.com/thecrochetdude

BV: Well Drew, you've certainly opened my eyes to the world of crochet. Thank you.

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