I am so excited to show off my latest finished project!
About three years ago, I was wandering around Wal-mart looking for garage sale signs and I came upon a book called I Taught Myself To Crochet. I knew that I would have a little free time while I waited for customers, so I decided to get the book and a skein of yarn. I hoped that if I could figure it out, I would make the kids something to take to college with them when they left home.
After a conversation with a 10 year old neighbor that helped me figure out what I was doing wrong and a lot of phone calls to my sister, who knits and was also learning to crochet at the time, I spent the first few months making a lot of dish cloths from directions my sister and I found at Chickens in the Road. At first I kept unintentionally decreasing or increasing and I couldn't figure out how to count the stitches at the beginning of the row. I'm still not sure I understand all that but most of the time my projects turn out okay these days. I'd love to say that this was my first dishcloth, but it was probably my tenth and it was still lopsided!
Those washcloths are the only thing I use now to wash dishes. They are the perfect combination of pretty and functional, with their ruffly edge and their nubby holes.
Soon after the washcloths, my mother needed some crocheted hats as she fought (and won, PRAISE GOD!) her battle with cancer. That was a real learning curve and Mom got some lopsided hats that were made with much love.
Her doctors and nurses usually found my sister or me in her room crocheting away. It gave us something to do with our hands while we waited and watched and visited and prayed (and worried, if truth be told).
Soon we had a birth to celebrate and I got to make a blanket for this wonderful little boy, which became his favorite, which made my long-distance-great-aunt heart very, very happy.
Along the way, I have made hats and booties and blankets and prayer shawls and scarves for friends and family. I made my son a stadium blanket that I'm not thrilled with and plan to remake when he chooses another college soon. As a matter of fact I have made a lot of things that I'm not thrilled with, but I have also made a lot of things that do thrill me. I love knowing that something that I made is out there in the world, bringing people happiness and becoming part of the background of their lives.
I think my favorite part of crochet is taking this
to this
to this
until slowly it becomes this
and before you know it you have something of lasting beauty that will wrap warm, cozy love around the person you were thinking of while you enjoyed yourself, crafting on the sofa.
(This project was copied from Coco Rose Diaries. I hope that, if she sees this post, she finds it flattering that I copied so closely, rather than irritating. I have always had trouble choosing color combinations that make me happy and I LOVE hers, so I figured copying her colors for a while might train my eye. Here's hoping!)
