She's crafty!

I crochet. Not well, but I try. My grandmother was a master crochet-er, making delicate lace doilies and complex afghans. I never developed any interest in the craft until my mid-teens. By this time, she had fallen into the depths of dementia and had lost ... everything. When she died, I had a nervous breakdown. Literally. I had to see a physiologist and everything. One night, during my despair, I decided I wanted (needed) to crochet. My mother dug out an old hook and some worn yarn and showed me the basic stitch that she knew (she has never been into knitting or crochet). For months I worked on this blanket. My mother and I would go to the craft store and pick out colors of yarns together. It was a striped blanket, so we would consult on what color would look best next. I would stitch rows and rows and then furiously tear them out because my virgin hands dropped a loop here or there. Some rows would be super tightly coiled, revealing the bad day I may have had. While others are airy and light, showing a more relaxed state of mind. That blanket, as ugly as it is, helped me grieve. It helped my mother and I communicate during a time when we couldn't. I knew that my grandmother was somehow guiding my hands, helping me learn. Teaching me.

I am still not the best at crochet. I don't learn well from a book of diagrams and patterns that read like computer programming -- I have to have someone show me and I have to do it. However, that isn't an option -- no one I know can crochet. Yet whenever I get stuck or my eyes get hot with tears of frustration, I think of my grandmother and I ask her for help. Lo and behold, it eventually comes to me. My awkward fingers find the rhythm and my mind translates the image. So, in a way I guess I DO have some one to help me.

I don't usually have the attention span to finish any projects that I start. I have a massive granny square bag I made that all it needs is a strap and lining -- yet it still sits here. Pathetically unfinished. Alas, I have finished a few small projects and would like to show them off to you.

I made myself a little cell phone holder that turned out so cute that a friend at work begged me to make her one. I used a really tight, sturdy stitch that almost makes it appear to be knitted instead of crocheted. Here is how hers turned out.




I then got bored at work and decided I was going to try to make my mother a clutch using the same idea, but making it larger. Here is how it turned out.

I decided to try some new things on mom's gift. I had never done the Picot edging before and it turned out surprisingly well. I had also never attempted flowers and that was ... a trip. Initially I had a pattern for a little bird and since she loves birds, I wanted to make that. Yeah, um ... flowers are easier (but not that easy). I sewed fancy buttons in the middle of the flowers to really make them pop.

In my earlier, cell phone/change purse I made the mistake of trying to sew Velcro onto the yarn as a closure. Never again. I was intimidated by using snaps as I have never sewn snaps before, but it turned out alright on mom's purse.

All in all, I was pretty impressed with myself. I stuck to it, and it was not perfect, but it was made with love and I had a good time doing it. I will let you know what she thinks of it when I mail it off this week.