Alas, Barnabas......

With the frenzy surrounding the delicious Johnny Depp's recreation of Barnabas Collins, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and watch the videos of the original series.  If you're old enough, you probably remember racing home after school to watch it.

There are so many comparisons to be made between the movie and the series: chief among them being who's the dreamier of the two Barnabeaux?

The beautiful, though often ridiculously attired Johnny Depp?

Or the smoldering, yet generally more conventionally attired Jonathan Frid?

Really, it's difficult to say.  Each man makes one's heart throb in his own way. Certainly the original series was darker and more engrossing than the movie.  The movie is rather a send-up of the series, and doesn't take itself particularly seriously.  It won't be winning any Oscars, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and loved all the '70s references thrown in.  Of course in the movie, the production values are much better, and there are no scenes in which we can see people wandering around backstage.  But the series has its own special charm, and like all soap operas, reveals the story one tiny glimpse at a time.  I love Jonathan Frid as the original Barnabas.  But I can't help thinking that even in a more serious recreation of the original Dark Shadows, Johnny Depp would have been even better than he was in the present Tim Burton vehicle.  And why, you might ask, am I obsessing about Dark Shadows in a blog that's supposed to be about crochet?

Well --- here's my reason (read that:  excuse).   I bet you can't guess what really caught my eye as I watched episode after episode of the original series these past few weeks.  Well, here's a hint:  in almost every room at Collinwood, at "the old house," even at Maggie's house...........

beautiful, traditional granny square afghans appear on every bed and every sofa.  It was a lovely touch.  It gave the spooky old house a warm, homey feeling, don't you think?

And I might have imagined it, but in a couple episodes, I thought I also saw this sort of thing:

So - for those of you Dark Shadows fans out there in blog-land, take a step back in time to revisit Collinwood.  How many examples of crochet can you spot?  Think of the people who made these items.  Were they made just for the show or were they borrowed?  Who decided to include these beautiful pieces in the prop list?  If you feel like it, leave me a comment on this post - tell me how many crocheted items you've found.

Your guess is as good as mine, but it warms my heart to see them.  And now if you'll excuse me, it's almost sunrise.  I must get some sleep.

Oh, Barnabas...........