roadside craft
PHOTOGRAPHER NATALIE MCCOMAS VISITED A PINT-SIZED CROCHET MUSEUM IN JOSHUA TREE, CALIFORNIA.
Some La-dwelling friends were getting married in the Joshua Tree National Park, so my sister and I flew to the States and made a two-week road trip out of it, driving all the way from Tucson, Arizona, across to California for the wedding weekend. It was springtime, and much to my delight, the Joshua trees were flowering and the desert was experiencing an amazing ‘super bloom’ as a result of a very wet winter.
While we were in town, we visited the World Famous Crochet Museum. Created by a local artist, Shari Elf, the museum is a teeny-tiny treasure of a space, completely dedicated to her appreciation for the craft of crochet. It’s the only place like it in the world, apparently, and while it’s overflowing with all sorts of crocheted goodies, none of them were made by Shari. She doesn't actually know the technique herself!
Shari’s interest in crochet began in the ’90s, after being gifted two crocheted poodles for her birthday. Two decades of secondhand shopping and internet-trawling later, she found an old, unused drive-through photo booth on the side of the highway, and turned it into a home for her growing collection. When she officially opened the museum and launched her website in 2006, she began to receive many cute and bizarre crocheted creations in the mail.
Only two people can fit in the tiny booth at any one time, as it’s a skinny space and only a few metres in length. You can’t miss it, though, thanks to the fluoro lime exterior! It’s overflowing inside with crocheted creations of every possible thing imaginable: mermaids, kangaroos, cheesecakes, rabbits, fruit, alligators and Humpty Dumpty-looking fellows. I loved the bright red crocheted watermelons, and all the poodles lined up on the window sill with different faces and cute, lanky bodies. It’s cosy and bright and a little overwhelming inside, as there’s so much detail to take in. (It’s also a bit stuffy, to be honest, as it’s sitting in the full desert sun.)
Crocheting brings me back down to Earth during hectic times – it slows my mind down and is very relaxing. I go through phases when I do a lot, then many, many months without doing any at all. Right now, I’m three-quarters of the way through a granny-square blanket (which has been ongoing for about five years!). I’m determined to finish it at some point. As for the Crochet Museum, I’m just pleased it’s been ticked off my list.