Friday, August 22, 2008

In Stitches: Past & Present

I had the most enjoyable afternoon today helping Robin learn how to crochet circles and read crochet patterns so she can work on what is currently inspiring her: crocheted earrings!  Since Robin forgot to pack her supplies for the earrings she wanted to make, we improvised.  She took off one of the hoop earrings she was wearing when she arrived and used worsted yarn to practice the pattern on. (The pattern was in one of the Crochet Today! magazines.)  When she was done she said she loved not only how large the earring was, but also that it projected warm thoughts.  She is going to make the other hoop match and then (after blocking them) will wear the large crocheted earrings this winter with a nice sweater to complete that 'warm' look.

While we were discussing crocheting circles I took out my recently completed, fully blocked, Doris Chan "All Shawl" and had my Mini~Dee model it for her.  This made it easy to show her where key increases are made to get that curving/rounding effect.  Robin's next goal, after working on earrings, is to crochet chemo caps and hair wraps for her aunt.  I think that is wonderful!

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This evening, after inquiring about how my mother is fairing in Florida with tropical storm Fay, I asked her if she has a childhood picture of me wearing a yellow poncho -- a crocheted poncho made for me by her best friend Alice -- back when I was in 3rd or 4th grade.  That poncho meant a lot to me; I wore it every chance I got!

On the playground it was THE perfect accessory to throw over a bar (used mostly for doing chin-ups) before throwing one of my legs over the bar, then reaching under the bar with both arms and holding onto my leg for dear life before kicking wildly with the other leg.  The wild kicking would cause me to spin in circles around and around and around ... for forever -- or until the recess bell would ring calling an end to my spinning bliss.   This, along with playing jacks, swinging on the monkey bars, and jumping rope was what all the girls at my school (in Colorado) enjoyed doing at the time.   And i
nteresting enough, I learned I am not the only crocheter who enjoyed this little activity during early childhood!  I learned at the recent CGOA Conference that Vashti did it too!  I don't recall if Vashti said she also had a yellow crocheted poncho, but just finding someone else who did this on the school playground was a riot!  LOL  If we find a picture of that yellow poncho, I'll be sure to post it.  :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the earrings what a hoot! I love the poncho too the colors are fantasitic too. I still treasure that time we spent together learning crochet technique with you. Keep up the great work my friend.

Anonymous said...

Hope your mom is doing okay with regards to Fay. It's heading our direction now, but shouldn't be much of a storm by the time she gets here if I'm reading things right.

I wondered if you are going to do the 60 scarves challenge this year. Just a few more days to September...

Sandie