Crafting Monday

I've been spending time "stalking" blogs that I love. Reading almost everything I find while thinking about why I love them so much. These women are no different than me. They are crazy busy, just like me. They want to be creative, just like me. They love God, just like me. I guess what is comes down to is they are JUST LIKE ME. So I thought I would do something fun with my blog and write about one of my passions for each day.  From now on Mondays are Crafting Mondays.

Today I'm going to tell you about my main passion and that is Crochet. My aunt Karen tried to teach me how to crochet when I was 7 years old and for some reasons my fingers just couldn't manage the hook and yarn. She eventually gave up, but I did enjoy watching her work her yarn. I have a few of her pieces and when she passed away she gave me all of her yarn, needles, patterns and unfinished projects.

Fast forward 13 years and I'm a married woman. A dear friend, Nancy was pregnant with her son. I wanted to give her something special and set my mind to crocheting an afghan. I turned to my mother-in-law, Joyce, to once again try and teach me how to crochet. She pulled out an old pattern that was her mother's and taught me how to chain, single and double crochet. Looking back, there were a lot of mistakes, but Nancy loved it and I was proud and hooked. :D Yes pun intended.

My passion escalated while I was in Pennsylvania when I met the women of the local Crochet Guild of America. Jane, our fearless leader, is not only an amazing teacher, but a great encourager. She does amazing work that is truly beautiful. Not only is she our leader, but she is a member of the board for the Crochet Guild of America. We met once a month for our meetings, but we got together weekly to chat, crochet, drink coffee and develop friendships. We visit amazing yarn shops, learned new techniques, and I learned how to take my crochet from handmade to a hand crafted art. I'm not at the level of the ladies there, but I'm learning and as Jane keeps reminding me, I'm trying to climb out of my pattern box.

This leads me to today. As I'm expecting baby number 5 I begin my journey to find the perfect pattern and yarn to crochet their own special afghan. I stopped by Hobby Lobby and found a beautiful baby yarn called Baby Bee and the color is called Charming. It is a lovely variegated of purple, pink, green and white. Since I have my yarn I had to begin my quest for a pattern.(I don't know if I'm having a girl or boy, so I will make two afghans but decided to start with one for a girl.) I looked over my stitch books and couldn't find a stitch that I loved. I turned my search to the Internet and found something that inspired me. For a girl afghan I found a pattern that is textured and though sounds complex is relatively simple. Picot Stitch Baby Blanket, is what I found. It is solid white, but will look just as lovely in a variegated.

I began this yesterday while taking care of my sick family. If I work on it regularly it shouldn't take me long, but I will tell you now it is delicate and is lovely to the touch. I can't wait to finish it and show it off.

Until tomorrow,
Give life to those you meet,
Samantha