Hi and welcome to the next stop on the Moorit Kickstarter Blog Tour. (Cue crocheters cheering wildly and holding hooks aloft).
Yes I think I know what you’re thinking. Why is Jeanette Sloan talking about a crochet magazine? Isn’t she a knitwear designer? Well you’re right, knitting may now be my primary practise but crochet is just one of several crafts learned ‘back in the day’ when I was a freelance designer. Growing up I watched my multi skilled Mum crochet and yes there were the seemingly inevitable doilies and table decorations but there also must wear garments too – after all Mum was a woman of considerable style.
As a craft crochet is all too often;
- misrepresented – ‘only black people crochet’
- under appreciated – ‘crochet is easy’ and / or
- misunderstood – ‘crochet is all granny squares’
But, far from being the ‘lesser’ craft for the poorer skilled it’s as beautiful, versatile, creative, sexy and desirable as any other fibre craft. You don’t need to take my word for it, just look at the work of @taliacrochetcreations @crochetluna @heldap123 @blackgirlcrochet @jaimecrochet @woowoollens @by.stephanie.erin @mammadiypatterns and many, many others.
So when I heard talk of a new crochet magazine, one that was dedicated to crochet, based in and taking inspiration from my old home city of Edinburgh and run by my friend Alyson Chu, I got really REALLY excited. For anyone who doesn’t know, Alyson is a crochet designer, web developer at BIPOC in Fiber and along with her Mum produces the KCACY podcast.
Moorit is a crochet magazine. Not a knit magazine with the odd crochet pattern, not a general craft and fibre magazine, no, this a FULL ON CROCHET publication. Based in Alyson’s home city it will take influences from its Edinburgh location; the environment, architecture, colours and also the fibres embraced in each issue. Well, let’s be honest the Scottish climate speaks to the warmth of wool.
In terms of content there’s a focus on both accessories and garments with inclusive sizing from 30” to 62” using indie yarns, in natural fibres like wool and cotton as well as linen and other vegan alternatives.
For those who love a high quality print publication – and who doesn’t? – the hard copy magazine will be printed on 120 gsm (that’s heavy) uncoated paper, making this a publication you’ll really want to keep. And although primarily a print title, for lovers of digital it will explore how online supplements can add extra value to readers, with digital supplements adding extra, helpful goodies like row count tables, tutorials, and supplementary photos.
Last but certainly not least, accessibility is being built into the magazine from the start with a plan to create a fully accessible, screen readable version with guidance from accessibility consultant, Renee Van Hoy.
Having worked with Alyson over at BIPOC in Fiber I know how talented, thorough, organised and passionate she is both as a web developer and crochet designer – plus of course she also happens to be a genuinely lovely person. The prospect of Moorit is exciting and its already creating quite a buzz. So much so that the Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for issue 1 reached its goal in just 2 days. It then went onto meet a £16,000 stretch goal in less than a week, and £20,000 within two weeks! The good news is the original print run for issue 1 has now doubled meaning Alyson can already lay the groundwork for issue 2.
The Kickstarter continues to run until February 23rd, 2021 which means there’s still time to add your support while this blog tour continues with Helda Panagary tomorrows before finishing with Cecilia Losado on Friday. These links are to their blogs but also check out their IG feeds too where Helda is @heldap123 and Cecilia is @mammadiypatterns).
You can read more about the magazine and pledge your support by visiting the Moorit Kickstarter here.
Well done Alyson, I can’t wait to see the first issue!!
J x
jeanettesloan.wordpress.com 