Offbeat America -- Elaine Bradford

[PJinNH]

Did anyone else see this episode of Offibeat American on HGTV today?
One of the stories was about a woman who is obsessed with crochet...she covers everything in her home in crochet, pictures, firewood, lamps, catsup bottles, produce, and even a friends truck bumper. It makes some of your yarn collections look tame. I am impressed at what she accomplishes, but I'd be afraid someone would throw me in a strait jacket and take away my crochet hooks if I got this bad.

This is her web site: http://homepage.mac.com/esbradford/Menu3.html

Gee for all I know, she's a member of this list.

[aliciasjoy]

I love the deer, except, did they say if it was a plushie deer under the crochet? Because it would creep me out if it were a real (dead) deer.
The way everything is set up makes it all look like art, instead of insanity.
It just makes me wish I had more time!!

[PJinNH]

I do believe it's a real deer. But I told my husband his deer head is safe from me.

[RachelG]

It gave the knitters more ammo of how crochet is just "cozies and covers". :( (Nothing personal against knitters, I admire their work!)

Oh, and nothing personal against the woman featured on the show. Cozies can be good. In moderation.

[jenhen]

This is great! Thanks for the link! It's inspiring to see someone using crochet as an art medium.

[Empress Busy Bee]

It gave the knitters more ammo of how crochet is just "cozies and covers".

Exactly.
And if it is a real dear, that's just nasty.

[PJinNH]

Actually my husband's mounted deer head looks really good in our modified lodge design in the living room.

[mimi_mia]

Well now I've really seen it all, did you see those baseboards..........and the logs :think what's up with that :think

I have to say she has a lot of imagination even though I don't think I would like some of that in my home :P

[PJinNH]

I think she's trying to make more of an artistic statement than anything that's really practical. can you imagine doing those baseboards? just how many stitches would constitute a row?

[ManfaMae]

I LOVED her lamp shade covers that were featured on the show. I wonder if there is a pattern for them somewhere?

[PJinNH]

I believe her web site included an email address. How about I email her and ask her if she'd be willing to answer some questions from the people at Crochetville? We could post the questions here and I could compile them and send them to her (providing it's agreeable to her in advance).

What do you think?

[PJinNH]

Well does anyone want to add to these questions?


What brand crochet hook do you prefer to use?

Where do you get all your yarn?

How many hours a day on average do you crochet?

[ManfaMae]

I'd like to ask her if she is going to publish any patterns (especially the lampshade covers) and how she comes up with ideas.

[jenhen]

How about what kinds/brands of yarn she uses. Also, why did she choose to use crochet this way? Did she always want to use crochet that way, or did she make other items--scarves, hats, etc.--first?

[PJinNH]

Good start with the questions.

This evening, I'll attempt to email Elaine and ask her if we could send her some questions, and tell her about this group. Perhaps she already knows about it. I sure hope the email addy provided on her web site is still current.

[ebradford]

well, i ran across this forum and thought i should reply. i am the person they showed on offbeat america. and i would just like to begin by saying i am not as crazy as the show made me seem, although i will admit to being a little strange. all of the crocheting they showed is my art, and it doesn't cover my house, as they led you to believe, just my studio. and no, my refrigerator does not look like that everyday, it was an installation of an old art project.
like many people, i learned how to crochet from my grandmother a long time ago, and picked it up again seriously in my artwork a few years ago. i am interested in the ideas and connotations associated with the practice. i don't use patterns in my art, and never really understood them until recently(i'm pretty excited that im finally teaching myself to read them). i do also make normal things like scarves and hats and blankets, in fact right now getting ready for christmas i am taking a break in my art production to work on gifts. strangely enough i never thought i had the patience for blankets, even though i would work for weeks on a sweater for a tree. still, making a blanket seems to take a crazy amount of time.
if i am in the middle of an art project, i will generally spend 8 to 10 hours a day crocheting(sometimes more, sometimes less). most of the crochet hooks i have are almuminum that i inherited from my grandmother. i use all kinds of yarn, mostly the inexpensive acrylic for the large sculpture projects, nicer ones for scarves and gifts. i can't remember what other questions were asked, but feel free to post more if you have them. and as for the deer heads, they are real taxidermied heads. my ideas involve comfort and domesticity, and projecting uncanny lives onto these often ignored items, and it was important to me that the heads be real. i wont go into the whole speech, but you can read my statement on my website. i hope you enjoy the work or at least it makes you think. any comments are always appreciated. thanks.
-elaine

[mimi_mia]

well, i ran across this forum and thought i should reply. i am the person they showed on offbeat america. and i would just like to begin by saying i am not as crazy as the show made me seem, although i will admit to being a little strange. any comments are always appreciated. thanks.
-elaine

Elaine, I sent you a private message, but I want to :welcome you to Crochetville here as well!!

[Hooker]

I am totally digging those tree sweaters. How cute would that be to decorate your trees for Christmas in sweaters!

Although the time involved would make my husband question my sanity!

[PJinNH]

It's very cool that you replied to us. I just can't imagine tackling some of the items you've crocheted, it just boggles the mind. Not only the enormity of some of them, but just how you figure it out! So many of us at Crochetville prefer the Susan Bates-type hooks over the Boye's. Do you have a preference?

[ebradford]

i havent ever really paid attention to the brands of my hooks, but as i look at them i use the boyes, and prefer them. they are the kind i learned with, and are what im used to. i do have one susan bates it seems, and it really never gets used.

[jenhen]

I didn't see the tv show, but it was clear from your website that you were working as an artist, not as a crazy lady with a hook (not that there's anything wrong with that!). I appreciate seeing a new direction for crochet.