A French woman who owns a company that provides tailoring and stitching work to high-fashion houses is suing Chanel, alleging they stole one of her company's crochet designs.

Check this out. Etsy seller WhiteFly casts actual vintage lace in sterling silver, then molds it into a bracelet cuff.

Start saving your pennies now.

(via @etsy)

maya*made's doily display is about the coolest wall art, ever.

[via Modish]

Sister Diane just linked to these potholders by Flickr user amorabrancasilvestre.

See? Even potholders can be outstanding. It's been a long time since I've felt so inspired!

Lea Redmond does some pretty nifty things with words over at Leafcutter Designs. After mastering the feat of creating the awesomest tiny letters people can have customized (I gave one to my husband on our last anniversary), she's turning her attention to crafters themselves.

Check out this care tag. I can't think of a better way to label a crocheted gift, can you? And really, they're words we could heed in making just as well as in giving.

Check out this awesome crochet desktop background from Dudecraft. He's giving it away for free for personal, noncommercial use. Because he rocks! "We make our own," indeed.

Today (which I'm assuming as you read this is Tuesday, 25th August, since I'm writing this so late on Monday) we're going to have a live Twitter event with lots of the designers from the new Crocheted Gifts book. I'll start out asking them a few questions, but then we'll open things up so you can ask anything you'd like. We'll even be giving away a copy of the book!

You don't need to have a Twitter account to follow the discussion, but you do need one to participate.

The deets:

Date: Tuesday, 25th August 2009

Balbinka the guinea pig in a crocheted hat. There are no words. Click over to pyza*'s Flickr set for more.

[via Cute Overload as pointed out by @avgjanecrafter]

... what on earth do you do with yarn?

I know many of you live in places where summers are hot. I live in a place where summers are mild. Which makes this record-breaking heatwave we're having out here in the Pacific Northwest an unusual and, frankly, dauntingly unpleasant experience.

What on earth does one make in painfully hot weather? The only answer I can come up with is, "Nothing, silly! Go stick your feet in the ocean."

Please advise!

If you're anywhere near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, before the end of the year, make sure you visit the John Michael Kohler Arts Center to see Xenobia Bailey's crocheted art. Faythe Levine snapped these photos today. Oh, to be able to see the exhibit in person!