Trendspotting: Modern Needlecraft

I'm seeing more and more knitting, crochet, and macramé utilized in home-decor products lately. But these aren't your grandmother's tissue cosies -- while still undoubtedly feminine and ornamental, the traditional needlecraft techniques are more likely to be applied in graphic ways to utilitarian materials and furnishings, giving the finished product a sense of freshness and humor that their matronly predecessors lacked.

In addition to the macraméd chairs, knitted pillows, and crocheted light fixtures, hanging pendants, and pottery (top) that I've recently blogged here, several more industrial-meets-handicraft furnishings have caught my attention in recent weeks:

The Macramé Lamp from Sweden's Pernilla Jansson is an art piece rather than a retail product. Still, I want one.

This Macramé Hanging Shade, $168 from Anthropologie, is more "Granny Chic" than industrial, but has a somewhat modern sensibility thanks to the simple drum shape and all-white palette.

These petite Crochet Tables, $50 each from CB2, are rendered in iron and wire, making them both delicate and tough.

Marcel Wanders' Crochet Table for Moooi, $1,448 from UnicaHome, is made from cotton and hardened with epoxy.

Check out the gigantic needles Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma uses to knit her Flocks Poufs, $800 and $1,600 each at Design Within Reach.

I think it's nice to see handicrafts coming back into vogue, even among die-hard modernists. What examples have you spotted lately, and what do you think is behind this melding of traditional needlecraft and modern design?