#needleworkhistory

[professorpski]

I Diss Granny Squares, Unless in Afghans

This magazine from 1983, Great American Granny Squares, offers lots of projects. It has a few vintage patterns--doilies, bedspreads-- from heavy thread which are extraordinarily complex, but most of the patterns are worsted weight yarn made into squares like the one featured here: Old Fashioned Granny Vest.

The name is unintentionally ironic because old-fashioned crochet was never this simplistic in garment design or color mix. I am not sure even a master colorist like Kaffee Fassett could save what is essentially a set of squares slapped onto the human body as if any part of our bodies were squares. The children's versions are even worse as they use the same size yarn and the front of a vest or sweater becomes one giant square. The drawbacks of granny squares were also their selling point here: so simple to make! Well, yes, but why bother to put any effort however small into something this goofy looking? Ok, maybe a potholder for the first project, but after that, let's aim higher.

The afghan on the cover is not much better than the women's vest, but others included in the magazine are undeniably handsome, especially a monochromatic single square afghan in a range of oranges.

As this example shows, the descent of garment design into greater simplicity during the 1960s and the Youth Quake happened in needlework as well as in dressmaking. Making designs simpler was a tradition in children's clothing; making grown-women's garments equally simple was a new trend brought on the desire to look youthful no matter what. As a result, a lot of sophisticated garment design and needlework got forgotten for a while which is why pre-1960s books and magazines are so valuable. They remind us of great possibilities.