Whose celebrity body would wear this crochet dress best? Halle Berry?

In our "rugged elegant world" do you know anyone who could pull it off?

I do. My college roommate, Sandy Norton Henningsen. Or my godsons' mother, Ellen Warila. Or my sister-in-law, Dr. Pamela Jean Ebstyne King.

If you or someone you know "has it" this would be the weekend to take them to Paris.

AFP Photographer Martyn Hayhow captured the above model on the catwalk in 2003.

This weekend, fashion designers are getting hooked again on crochet with hopes that you might too.

Tomorow, April 1st 2005, The Festival of the Needle opens in Paris France hoping to attract 20,000 people ready to get in the loop.

The three-day festival will showcase 110 knitting and crochet exhibitors.

After the festival stop in to top fashion houses such as Chanel, Prada, Calvin Klein, Max Mara and Kenzo and you'll find crochet collections are in this spring and summer.

Pamela King in a Severin Crochet Dress

My favorite party dress of all time, which has lasted nearly fifteen years, is an olive green crochet dress by Severin.

My sister-in-law Pamela bought the red version at Phyllis in Palo Alto as her engagement dress. I know the dresses are that old because my brother and sister-in-law are coming up on their twelfth wedding anniversary this May.

Over the past twenty years, the color and the weight of the wool used to crochet has evolved immensely.

The art of crochet comes from a piece of needlework by interlocking and looping thread with a hooked needle.

Festival organizer Jean-Charles Durand said:

It is a really creative trend, for people sending a message through their own creations.

This week during jury duty in San Francisco, one of the ninety-five people in the courthouse was the only one able to make herself useful as the jury was chosen. It would have been very inappropriate for me to pull out my PowerBook and start writing. The guy next to me typing away on his Blackberry was extremely annoying. But the woman in front of us knitting was inspiring.

It is likely she will be inspiring to the other thirty people during the trial. First of all, she was chosen to be on the jury. Second of all, bless her heart and the time she will sacrifice to serve our community, this trial is expected to last a month.

I think if I had been chosen to serve as well, I would have asked her to give me knitting lessons.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "in the loop" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC