Sweet Strawberries is the first in a series of patterns, called collectively Crochet Cornucopia, that will be coming out this year involving food.  I want to talk about why this series of patterns is important – and why I’m passionately committed to releasing them seasonally – as each of the fruits and vegetables comes into season.

My mother is a registered dietitian.  In addition to working as a clinical dietitian (working in a I gave them to her for Christmas, and she was overjoyed (like many mothers would be when their children make them stuff).  But it got me thinking about other people, who might want children-safe playfood or just beautiful crochet pieces to put on display.
hospitality making sure that patients get the right food in order to become well), she is also passionate about children’s nutrition. Just before Christmas, she jokingly said to me that she wanted me to make her some fruits and vegetables – not realizing that I’d already started making some for her.

Meanwhile, Michael and I belong to a farm share.  You might remember some of our adventures in using the food from our farm share from last year.  Eating locally and seasonally is something that Michael and I are passionate about.  Not only is the quality of the food so much better, but belonging to a farm share (or finding another way to eat local) cuts down on transportation pollution  in addition to supporting local farmers and communities.  Even in the winter when our farm share isn’t running, we try our best to eat as many seasonally appropriate fruits and vegetables as possible.  We also do a fair amount of canning, freezing and preserving to hold us through the winter.

Food is important.  Where it comes from, what we eat – it’s not only about nutrition.  It’s about culture, history, values, economics, ethics and choice.  At least once a day – if not two or three or five times – you take time to feed yourself, and every single time you make choices about what you eat and why you eat it.  This, for me, is fascinating stuff – and important!

Sneak preview of the next pattern!

Michael and I weren’t always as fortunate to be able to eat at a farm share.  The first year I was out of college (Michael was still in college), we were on a tight budget, and we had to sometimes choose between the ethical and healthy option or the economic and convenient option.  It is a shocking state of affairs when it is cheaper to buy a doughnut than it is to buy a piece of fruit.  It is cheaper to buy processed and canned food than to buy fresh and local.  In other places that isn’t the case – the cheap option is the local option – you pay more for ease of use.

Crochet Cornucopia isn’t just about making cute fruits and vegetables – though that is part of it.  I’m releasing them seasonally to correspond to the growing season for each piece of produce, aiming for the beginning of the seasons so you have time to make them.  I’m using a yarn that is made in the United States – my effort to use “local” yarn.  And as part of my release schedule, I’ll be doing blog posts connected to the fruits and vegetables.  It’s my form of meditation on where our food comes from.

I’m looking forward to taking you along for the ride.