I have been crocheting a lot since Covid started. I find it fulfilling to create things with my hands. I have never thought of myself as crafty or creative, but I enjoy using my hands to create. My Mother used to knit and crochet. She taught me how to do both many years ago. It is both a visual kind of memory and a tactile memory.
Shopping for yarn, was a time that we spent together at stores. Feeling the different textures, looking at the patterns on the labels and colors, oh so many choices for colors and color combinations. We would set skeins next to each other and review the color combos talking about what we liked and what we didn't. When I was little I gravitated towards the bright colors. She was a little more subtle in her color selection.
When we got home, each skein was opened up, unfurled and I would hold it between my two hands while she wound the skein up into a ball. We would talk about life, the world, friends, family and just really anything that came to mind while she wound that yarn.
I remember her sitting in the chair with her feet up and a large blanket in her lap.
When she got older, she suffered from arthritis in her hands and she couldn't crochet as much. We would still sit together on a Sunday afternoon after eating dinner together. That was a family tradition even after I moved out of the house. Church together on Sunday morning and then Sunday dinner with my parents. After I was married, my husband joined me for Sunday dinners.
When my husband and I got pregnant the first time, we wanted to let our parents know right away. I bought yarn and a pattern for a baby blanket. Wrapped it up and gave it to her to open asking her to make it for me. We all cried tears of joy together. It is still a treasured blanket to me.
When my Mother passed away, I got some of her left over yarn and a blanket that she had started but never finished. I recently got that out. I made a couple of pumpkins with some of the variegated yarn. While making those pumpkins it was a connection I hadn't felt in a long time. I held the yarn in my hand, ran it through my fingers, knowing that she had held that very yarn in her hands. Memories flooded back and I felt a real peace. I love that connection I have to her in my crochet work.
What traditions do you carry on from your parents and family?
