The art of crochet

Born in Scotland and now living and working in the USA, artist Jo Hamilton uses recycled and repurposed yarn to crochet large-scale portraits and architectural landscapes that explore the boundaries of art and craft. This portrait is of Xenobia Bailey, an American fibre artist who also specialises in large-scale crochet. www.johamiltonart.com

WHAT A TREASURE

The Hidden Treasures Blanket is the stunning new six-part crochet-along designed by Anna Nikipirowicz and made using West Yorkshire Spinners Bo Peep Pure 100% wool yarn. Following the success of their collaboration on the Folk Tales CAL in 2021, the Hidden Treasures Blanket is also made using squares, this time creating a diagonal striped effect. There are two versions of the design; a subtle two-colour version in Natural and Dandelion, or a multicolour option using seven pretty shades. Yarn packs are available from www.wyspinners.com where you’ll also find the parts of the CAL released weekly.

SOFT SKILLS

Like many people furloughed during lockdown, crocheter Aoife was keen to do something useful with her time. But there can’t be many who crocheted a science lab! Aoife’s in familiar territory though, as her background is in neuroscience and she works at the London Science Museum delivering science content to visitors. She says, “This microscope is my first big crochet design and it got such a good reaction that I published the pattern and started @The WoollyScientist on Instagram to share my makes.” Take a look!

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