More Crochet by Iris Rathbone

Now I know you've seen plenty of pictures of bad craft books from the 1970s (the decade that taste that forgot, blah, blah), but I rather like 1970s craft books, and I'm always on the lookout for a good one. At first glance, 'More Crochet' looks like a standard 1970s crochet book, with ponchos and flares, as in the photos above. Some photos aren't great...

But as you look through, it becomes clear that poor old Iris Rathbone rapidly ran out of budget for many fancy models or professional photo shoots, like this one. The 'Disco Dress' photo shoot used three models - and two of them aren't even wearing crochet!

It could be that her budget was spent on a surprising amount of academic research in museums all round the country, as the acknowledgements show. Sad then, that her research didn't reveal the correct spelling of 'beret'.

Or indeed, tell her that plonking a string bag on someone's head does not make it a beret.

So, anyway, necessity took over, and plucky Iris decided she could manage with some slightly less professional photos. Despite being a full page close-up, the photo of this hat is so poor, you can't see any stitch detail. Nor can you see any reason for making the revolting thing...

This frightful tie was just plonked on a table top. I don't think it's even been blocked.

I'm guessing this is her next door neighbour in the back garden? (No, I have no idea what he's holding...)

But the photo shoot in the pub car park at night was surely a mistake?