My mother and my grandmother were both prolific knitters....and my mother crocheted as well....so birthdays and Christmas always included sweaters and vests and mittens and sometimes afghans.
In hindsight it was pretty amazing that my mom could do these things since she was legally blind...I remember her using a magnifying glass to read the instructions and counting her stitches by feeling them. And she didn't stick to the easy patterns - she'd keep multiple yarns on her needle to make patterned ski sweaters.
Sadly, I didn't really appreciate her skill......I didn't want to be different with "homemade" sweaters and such - I wanted to be like all the other kids wearing machine made ones. As I got older, I'd like to say that I became more appreciative, but actually it was more that the fashion style of the 70s worked a bit better with crocheted vests and the like.
Mom eventually stopped knitting, so my son never went through the homemade sweater thing (though I bet he would have handled it with more grace than I did - he's good like that). When she died, there was a lot of stuff put away, yarn and needles and patterns and such - I donated what was worth saving and tossed the rest because I never have had the patience for projects that took more time than maybe a potholder.
The last mom/grandma made apparel bit the dust many years ago and I don't believe the whole crocheting/knitting thing had crossed my mind since.
But today I was in one of those home furnishings outlet places just to get some exercise and some ideas and I came across some granny square afghans made in China and on sale for fifty dollars each. They weren't made particularly well made (being the daughter/granddaughter of crafty women means you notice the details). But I found myself thinking that it would be really nice to have an afghan in the reds that I love so much.
So maybe I am my mother's daughter after all.....
it *is* a nice relaxing and useful hobby...!
ReplyDeletemy mom has just decided to take up knitting again. i think maybe i'll have her teach me again---for about the 20th time. crochet i can do, but can't seem to knit for the life of me!
Yeah - I got taught both - but my problem with knitting is that you have to be careful when you put it away to make sure none of the stitches fall off the needles....crochet, you only have to worry about one loop at a time.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmothers both crocheted. Mom and one of my great grandmothers were quilters. Luckily I do have some of mom's baby-sized quilts and great grandma's full sized quilts are safely preserved. WIsh some of my grandmothers crocheting had survived the decades!!
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