Why Do I Crochet?

 Why Do I Crochet?

        I was a young girl sitting on my grandparents bedroom floor, looking at these beautiful blankets spread out around us. Some were quilted and some were crocheted and all of the colors were spread out around me. It was one of the most beautiful sites I had seen! I was amazed with the talent from my Great Aunt's handy work. My Aunt Marie spoke very broken English and her German accent was so thick as a little girl it was hard to understand sometimes. Seeing the work she had done with her hands seemed to help me understand her and who she was. While going through the blankets my grandma pulled out a bag that had what seemed like hundreds of slippers that had been crocheted as well and they were all sizes! My grandma said we could pick out a pair and I was so excited I got to take home a piece of this artwork and actually use it! I picked out this beautiful pair that were a very light yellow and a cream color! I thought they were beautiful! I can picture them so clearly still in my mind right down to the hand made pompom on the toe of the slippers! This was 30 years ago and I can still picture each little stitch she crafted into the slippers. That same trip to my Grandparents house my Grandma gave my Mom the little sewing kit that belonged to my Great Aunt Marie since she wasn't using it. It was a little woven basket that was a light blue and grey. Inside there was light blue satin lining the sewing box and a pin cushion on the bottom of the lid made from the same satin. I would comb through that box on a regular basis after my mom received it. I found in that box this little rolled up fabric thing. It was a dark blue with little flowers on it, with bright pink trimming and ties. As I untied it there was a little label on the flap with the initials M.D. stitched on it. I lifted the flap and when I did I saw them, the crochet hooks that my Great Aunt Marie used to make those beautiful items that I had just saw at my Grandparents. 

    Over the years those hooks stayed in the little sewing box my mom had been given. None of my family knew how to crochet so they were never in use they just sat there. They were always there in the back of my mind and when I thought of them it always brought me back to my Great Aunt Marie. I pictured the last times I had seen her. The smile she always had and the strong German accent. I had wished she would have been around long enough to teach my how to do this art that she made such amazing things with. The fact that her art not only was beautiful it wasn't just something to look at, it was an artwork you could touch and you could use that you would feel the love that she put into it. Years went on and on being a single mom for many of those years I just didn't have time to learn how to do this art. Then there are times in life that get hard. I was married, working, had my daughter, and three step kids and felt like I had nothing to myself anymore. I decided I needed to find something for me, something I had that was my own. I remember those little hooks in that sewing box and asked my mom for them. I knew what I was going to do! I was going to crochet! I had no clue what I was doing! I bought a couple magazines to teach me, I watched youtube videos and I picked up little sheets at craft stores to get as much information as I possibly could! I got a skein of yarn and away I went, mistake after mistake, after mistake until I made something that resembled something. It was nothing but I got a pattern going and that was a start! I eventually learned more terms made my own experiments and made my own projects and couldn't have been happier! I now see what my Great Aunt Marie saw in crocheting, it is creating something of your own, its making something someone can use, and it is loving the adventure in making your art. 

    Why I crochet is because this little old German lady showed me the beauty in her art! I crochet because it is an extension of myself in each little or big project! It is also something that I can constantly continue learning and improving in! I was so blessed to have known my Aunt Marie in the time she was alive and those little hooks mean the world to me! They are still in the little pouch she had sewn. While I have added and bought more hooks those little hooks will always be my favorites!