traffic

Last spring I made some videos about crocheting for Madison, put them on YouTube so she could access them. 

There has been 2443 views so far and I am thinking they are not all from Madison :)

I think it is called traffic, not exactly Trending and certainly not Viral... but cool all the same.

Cursive Crochet on YouTube

by design

Roll Tide scarf

Crimson Tide/houndstooth

Go Vols scarf

Gray, Big Orange and white checkerboard

I tried my hand at design this year, making up my own pattern for these two scarves, more fun than trying to read some of the patterns out there, and more personal.

This past springI was asked by my granddaughter to make a crochet tutorial online so she could learn while at college... she learned alright! Almost everyone got a homemade crochet gift from Madison this year! I got a cool blanket, my favorite color - purple:

She made countless hats and scarfs and cowls and even a Christmas stocking, so talented.

For years now I have wondered if the sewing and crocheting would stop with me. But now Melissa is sewing and made a quilt, and Madison is crocheting up a storm. 

So my work here is done, I no longer have to worry about sewing/quilting/crocheting being dying arts, this family is doing its part to keep them alive!

summer crafting

"I have taken my last final of freshman year..."

Madison posted this on Facebook yesterday, so that means school is out, now it is play time. 

But wait, I had some lessons to do also, did I make the deadline for summer?

Yes, all crochet tutorials are done and uploaded to YouTube just in time for bored granddaughters to learn a craft this summer. 

Check out my new blog page listed above - Cursive Crochet - and you too can learn to crochet!

granny

the granny square

this is a vintage granny square afghan/blanket made by my granny! I don't know exactly when she made it, but I would say about 45 years ago. 

This is my granny - Mother Hanie. This is how she looked my whole life, always the same. She liked to garden and cook and crochet. 

The granny square blanket above is made in the traditional way of using a different color yarn for each row/round of the square, then the last round is black. Individual squares were crocheted and then sewn together to make a blanket. This one was made of wool yarn (before acrylics were popular) and the thing about wool is that you cannot wash it or it will shrink. But I washed it. So if you look closely it is all fuzzed up and sort of all melded together... which is actually a thing now, to make something out of wool and wash it, it is called 'felting'.

The granny square pattern was/is a good way to use up bits of yarn left over from other projects, it reminds me of the way folks used to make quilts - using up bits of fabric left over from making clothes or other projects, piecing the little leftover fabrics together to make something whole and new. Yes, quilters and grannies started the original recycling movement!

crochet 101

Granma Susan!

I'm putting in a traditional Granma request and I hope I am giving you an ample time slot to complete this request (if you want to/have time to, of course!).

This summer, as you know, will be spent on Avanti work and countless Bama Bound sessions. While some of my coworkers will be glad to have the freedom to spend their time engaging in stereotypical college activities, I would like to spend some of my free time reconnecting with an old middle school past time of ours, crocheting. Now I know you spent plenty of time teaching me and my siblings the art of crocheting, but as time has come and gone I have forgotten all of these techniques. But as my heart grows fond of staying in instead of going out to do the stereotypical college activities, I would love to be able to crochet (and crochet well, I might add, because my middle school self made an atrocious scarf with the number of stitches ranging from 9-15 for each row J again.

So now onto my request...since I am of no knowledge of crocheting, I was wondering if you could take the time from now and throughout the summer to video or write some crocheting tutorials for me. I know there are countless videos and tutorials online, but none of them are taught by my Granma (so basically they're pointless). I would request Skype calls with you to teach me but since I am unaware of the free time I will be having, I figured video/written tutorials would work for both our busy schedules.

Please let me know what you think and if you're up for the "challenge"!  Lots of love and missing you bunches, Madison ❤

I received this request via email a few weeks ago, wow how could a granma say no to that? Even though this granma has never made a video, or even knows how to. I felt out of my comfort zone technologically. But research and advice paid off and I posted the initial video, which just outlines the basics, with more detailed crochet lessons to follow.

When working with the video editing software, one of the options was to add music, so I clicked yes and a window popped up with all the music I have on my computer. There were a couple of good songs for crochet, like "chain, chain, chain, chain of fools" sung by Aretha Franklin and "unchain my heart" sung by Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) - you know because in crochet the chain stitch is the base of all other stitches. But when going to YouTube, I realized that those songs cannot be used due to copyright infringement. No worries, YouTube has lots of music (or sound effects) you can use that are acceptable. 

I sent a link to my debut video out to my critics (family) and received a thumbs-up. But I also received a suggestion that future lessons be posted AFTER this current semester is finished so as to focus spare time on academics instead of crafts. 

I also learned that Madison's plan is to make several crochet blankets this summer for future gifts... I know she is very ambitious and will probably do just that, but it would take me all summer to make one blanket, just saying.

A goal of mine is to hand down, pass down, not only family heirlooms (quilts etc.) but also family skills. I remember learning to crochet sitting on the couch in our little house at Fort Bragg, my mom and I keeping busy while dad was stationed in Korea for 13 months. I was probably 7 or 8 years old, making doll clothes. But it is like riding a bike, once you learn how to crochet (or knit or sew) you can pick it up again years later and know your way around. 

Of course the best way to teach someone is in person, but in this day and age, hopefully the video will do fine. Thanks Madison for the idea, for pushing me to learn something new myself, and for carrying on the family traditions. 

ripple effect

One of my current projects, ripple afghan. A friend asked me if I had finished this yet (she had seen in a few weeks ago just started). I told her this is the thing I work on when I am tired and want to sit and rest. Do you work on more than one thing at a time? Is it attention deficit or multi-tasking?

Thanks to Paula the Quilter for this inspiration and pattern, using all one color Red Heart yarn. Paula, I didn't intend to get the exact same color as you, but this was the one that spoke to me. 

Crochet and quilting, ripple and bow-tie, yep that about sums it up on my couch. What is on your couch?

on the needles

My teddy bear models helped me out during my December knitting frenzy. 

Finally I can show what projects I have been working on for Christmas!

DIY

So you receive a 'homemade' gift from a relative. What is the first thing that pops into your mind? The pink bunny suit on A Christmas Story?

Did your Aunt Clara or your grandmother make you homemade things? Did you like them? Or just pull them out when she was coming over to visit, just to keep the peace?

My mother used to make things for the grandkids, mostly sewing. She loved doing it, picking out the fabric and patterns, she was very proud of all her creations. But she was very sensitive and you better show some appreciation for the gifts. 

My girls would receive a cardboard box shipped from grandma, they knew it was from her before seeing the label, the smell of cigarette smoke permeated the box. After opening it (sometimes outside) and running everything through the laundry, the girls always liked what they got. She would sew labels in the clothes like this:

Ok, I too am guilty. I am a granma and like to make things for the grandkids. Homemade Things. Which is interesting, thinking back to growing up and only having homemade things, I longed for store-bought stuff. And speaking of ancient times, my mom taught herself and me to knit when I was about 8 years old, my dad was stationed in Korea and we had a lot of time. I remember sitting on the couch in our house near Fort Bragg, NC, knitting little rectangles that would turn in to Barbie clothes. So there is the history lesson, now back to the present...

Since I am batchin' it here at home until Christmas, I have a lot of time on my hands, so I have been knitting and crocheting things for the grandkids, again. I know they probably already have too many scarves, but I just like to do it. Sure, by the time you buy the yarn and put in the hours you could buy the item at the store (or several of them). So why do we do it?  It is relaxing, it produces an end product (unlike playing solitaire or internet surfing), and just today I read this article:

Mayo Clinic Reports That Knitting May Reduce Alzheimer'sRisk by 30-50%

I am multi-tasking - keeping up with my reading by listening to audio books and podcasts while knitting, and I just listened to the new Garth Brooks album. I don't knit well enough to do it while watching TV.

To get inspired to knit, I read books by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who shares her funny views on life and knitting and is known as the Yarn Harlot (her blog). The owner of our local yarn store calls her "the Erma Bombeck of knitting."

"A half finished shawl left on the coffee table isn't a mess; it's an object of art." ~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

For inspiration I turn to the plethora of online resources like Ravelry or Pinterest.

If when reading the pattern and confusion reigns, you no longer have to pull out the old dusty knitting books, just Google it, pick one of the many online videos and watch and learn. Just this week I learned how to make a Magic loop and how to long tail cast on. Yes, there is a knitting language to learn. 

So these days when I am not working at my real job, I will be working on gifts made of yarn. And surfing the internet for new ideas. Like these labels:

And I strive to dispell the dread and fear of receiving a handmade item and having to keep it forever 'because granma made it'. Please do not pack these things away for that only reason. Get it out, give it away, use it to wash the car or line the dog bed, get some use out of it. No, I won't get my feelings hurt, once I give it to you it is yours to do with as you want. So to that end, I am thinking of including an instruction card with any future gifts, what do you think:

does your crazy granny

really like to knit

are you tired of homemade 
gifts that don't fit

donate to the homeless

pass them on, give them away

she won't remember

what she gave you anyway

doing the dishes

Cotton dishcloths - hand made, crochet or knit. Using cotton yarn, which is cool to work with in the hot summer months, a quick summer project, fast to complete, fun to make, a good way to learn/practice new patterns.

But would you use one? I am thinking - NO way, I can't imagine getting this all dirty...

They seem to be very popular among the crafters out there. A search on the website of Lion brand yarn has 76 free patterns, click HERE.

But what am I going to do with these? A give-away is in their future.

chain reaction

Getting started on next year's Christmas presents, I think all the granddaughters need a cuddly afghan to keep warm. We will see how many I get made before the weather changes and it is too warm to hold this in my lap.

The cold weather apparently brings out the granma mode - crocheting, knitting, sewing, quilting... hey just doin' my job here!

Chain gang

The grandkids are learning to crochet, and they are all very proficient at making a chain.
They tied all their chains together and brought them up yesterday, so we wound them into this colorful - uh - thingy, objet d’art, masterpiece! When they left, I asked them didn't they want to take their chains, and they said, "No, you can use it for putting hot pots on the table!"

An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young again. Anything longer than that, and you start to age quickly.
-Gene Perret

Stockings

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.