R. J. Montgomery - The Crocheting Witch: New Age Arts and Crafts

Copyright 2021 by RJ Montgomery

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-5107-6387-6

eISBN: 978-1-5107-6388-3

Cover design by Kai Texel

Cover photograph by Ami Nicole of ACRONYM

Printed in China

To my grandmother and aunt, who taught me to crochet.
And to my mother, who taught me I could do anything.

Table of Contents

Introduction

How to Summon a Witch

Post a sign in front of your house, and another on Facebook, that reads: Free mason jars, all must go. Witches will drive for miles to your location.

We are a very DIY bunch. The modern witch has mason jars full of spells and potions in some closet in their dwelling. They set up altars in the corners of their dwellings. Personally, I have a mason jar full of cascarilla powder and a spell repository candle (I had one with rainwater gathered during a storm moon, but lets just say that went bad, so its no more). My spell stash box (where I keep my spellcasting items) is handcrafted from a cardboard box from Michaels and decorated with pieces of my first tarot deck (it was retired after giving me a series of bad readings which didnt come true: it was exorcised, cut up, and glued to my box).

The journey to this book started a long, long time ago. When I was a kid, my parents would ship me and my little sister up to my grandparents for a week or two every summer. It could get a little boring; theres only so much Nickelodeon you can watch in a day before it gets repetitive and the urge to start a fight with your sister revs up (in my defense, she started it most of the time). One summer, when I was about nine, to pass the time, I asked my Gramma to show me how to crochet.

Gramma can do anything with a ball of yarn: make lace, Tunisian crochet a blanket, anything. And with a spare hook and some scrap yarn in hand, she sat next to me and taught me how to make a chain. Gramma learned from a boarder who came to stay with them during the Depression, when she was she about nine, which is when she taught my aunt (Mom was more of a sewist, but both my mom and aunt were taught how to sew). When I got back home, my aunt taught me how to make a double crochet stitch. For Christmas, I got a bundle of cheap yarn and some hooks.

On and off, crocheting has been in my life. It landed me a job at a yarn shop in college and made me the resident crocheter in my knitting club. Its the reason I keep finding drawstring pouches and old patches of unfinished projects from high school in my yarn cubbies. But while I discovered Wicca in high school, a mere few years after learning to crochet, the twain didnt meet until recently, when I discovered the possibilities.

Witchcraft Meets Crochet

While this book was written for people who have a basic understanding of witchcraft and can follow beginner-level patterns (and want to take it up a notch), some readers may have picked up this book because they were curious, or it caught their eye. To all of you, I say welcome, and here are some brief pointers on what this book is about:

Ive been a practicing witch for over a decade and a half, but defining it is hard because its a broad, eclectic religion that, like Buddhism, can be applied to many faiths and walks of life. There are witches who are Christian. There are witches who pick up neopagan traditions or dont have a specific practice. Wicca, the most well-known religion involving witchcraft, is a religious practice centered on casting spells and casting goodwill into the world.

While practicing magic has been something humans have done since we were living in caves, I think the uptick is a push against industrialization, patriarchy, environmental destruction, and social oppression. Fighting against this stuff is part of our great awakening, and magical practices allow for a simple, individualized way to make a difference.

Take Wicca, for example. It was founded in the 1940s by Gerald Gardener, who wanted to take magical practice to a lighter, more nature-centered place. There is one eight-word rule to being a Wiccan: if thou harm none, do what you will. And while its a broad rule, it trusts that the follower knows that with great power comes great responsibility, and therefore knows not to take their spellcasting lightly. As such, our do-good approach spills into the rest of our lives. Many of us are vegans, environmentalists, social justice oriented, or political activists (though its not required to be any of these things to be a witch!). Virtually all of us identify as feministsmost Wiccan understandings of God are centered around a Goddess or a God and Goddess. And since we believe that what we do comes back to us three-fold, we know to be careful to set good intentions before we even cast our circles (which is how we begin a spellcast a circle of protection so unintended or uninvited forces dont find their way in).

There is a plethora of books on DIY magical projects, namely, herbalism, woodworking, oilmaking, etc., but when I went to look for one of yarn working, I came up blank. There were a few general yarn-working or needlework Wiccan books on Amazon, and many more single patterns floating around Etsy or Pinterest. But there wasnt a Wiccan crochet book. Thus, I decided to make one.

Spellcasting and Crochet

Casting spells is a ritualistic practiceit can be as short and sweet or long and complicated as you want it to beand at its foundation is the manifestation of what you want to come true or what you want to accomplish. You can use a plethora of items to aid your spell, from crystals to candles and incense to the phase of the moon of the season of the year. At its heart, though, is you and what you want to do.