I love love love to crochet. My Grandma (the first Grandma Dot) was my hero. I was not only named after her... I wanted to BE her. Her hands were always busy. I thought she was sooo ambitious, but later realized that it was probably nervous energy. She loved to sew, and she loved to crochet. So patiently she guided my fingers and proudly displayed my masterpieces. I now own many of them and they were anything but masterpieces. How Grandma would have loved the internet with its endless images and free crochet patterns.
When my own daughter came along I wanted to pass on this tradition, with its cherished memories, to my own "baby girl". The problem was... Tracy is a lefty. I tried and tried to teach her stitches, with much frustration and little success. Then Grandma tipped me off to teach her in front of a mirror. DUH. What turned out is that my Grandma taught my little girl, and another generation keeps Grandma alive through cherished memories.
Tracy has been bit by Grandma's "crochet bug". From the time she hit the double digits, through high school, college, grad school, working and anywhere went, her fingers were always intertwined with yarn. All her friends owned homemade afghans, from traditional granny squares to unusual and unique stitches. Her cousins all have dolls and toys made with her hands, and her nieces and nephews came into the world with a yarn and thread crochet wardrobe waiting for them; shoes and booties, dresses, and of course baby blankets galore. Her roommates and co-workers were blessed with bookmarks, hats, hair bows and purses, and my favorite... Her brother's collection of the ugliest Christmas sweaters you could imagine.
Last year, Tracy's life was altered forever by a young man who drove his truck into her drivers door. Having lost the use of her left hand she can no longer crochet and thus lives vicariously through the work of others. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But she does take pleasure in seeing the beautiful craftsmanship in the colorful and creative yarns and threads available. Thus this blog was birthed, to combine her passion for crocheting and her desire to help others get "bit by the bug" by providing a place where they can find fabulous free crochet patterns. Enjoy. Get bit. Let us know what you're up to. We want to hear your crochet story.
I came across your site almost by accident. After admiring your art, I read the blog topper and was brought to tears. Thank you for finding beauty through adversity.
ReplyDeleteI am genuinely influenced by you, and look forward to making a pattern or two of yours.
I, too, am left-handed, but I learned to crochet right-y, as that what was available. I learned as a child, drifted away from the craft as an adult only to have had a happy reunion with hooking in recent years.
Thank you again.
Merry Christmas.
Denise
The flower patterns are beautiful! I crocheted cross bookmarks for the children and women of our small church for Easter. Now I want to make orchids for the Mothers for Mother's Day. Then for Father's Day I will crochet the Fathers cross bookmarks. That way everyone will have received something from me that I have made. My Grandmother crocheted also but she looked at a project, counted the stitches and made her projects that way! What a God given talent! I would always lose count of the stitches! What an inspiring story of your daughter. Thank you for the patterns.
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