Beginning Adventures in Crochet

So it's Memorial Day and I can't post without first saying thank you to all our armed forces who work so hard protecting our lives and liberties both past and present and future.

Crochet has always been something that I thought old ladies did once they couldn't do much else physically.  I know that is awfully judgmental and shame on me but there it is.  I have since come to learn otherwise.  For me it started in December right after Christmas when I was finally able to come home from the hospital.  My sister-in-law Ana Burton who is super talented and who I have always admired for all the crafty things she does gave me three
of the cutest pairs of crocheted shoes for my baby girl.  Didn't she do an amazing job?  You can follow her on Pinterest here.  These shoes got me thinking.  If a talented woman with a young daughter of her own can do it then just maybe it isn't just for my great-great grandmother.  So I asked her to show me some basics while she was here helping with my kids while I recovered.  And I learned a couple of things.

First Wing Needles for sewing machines actually do have a purpose; something I had never understood every time I passed them by in the sewing department buying my quilting and sewing needles.  Second they made this amazing thing called "Wonder Invisible Thread"  That when used together with a wing needle and the star stitch on my sewing machine will actually do the edge punching for you so you can crochet those fancy trims on baby blankets without all the fuss of prepping and piercing the fabric.  I was stoked and ready to give it a go, convinced I would never want to crochet anything else except baby blanket trim. HaHa!  Then she went home and all I had managed to do is sew a ring of stars on a 4x4 piece of fleece to practice with and learn how to start my thread around the edge.  Where it is still sitting to this day six months later.  But I promise I have every intention of getting back to eventually.

 Not long after that I had a wonderful gift given to me by my friend and visiting teacher Nadia Taylor at the time.  It was a beautiful handmade crocheted white baby blessing dress.  I was stunned.  Not only that she (who I would never have guessed actually crocheted) would actually have taken the time to make something so beautiful for me.  Immediately I knew that this was the dress we would bless our daughter in at church and the little white shoes would go perfectly.  Again this loving gift inspired me to reconsider my thoughts on this hobby called crochet.  I knew then I had been hooked and crochet was going to be a new hobby for me for a while and I would be learning more then just blanket edging.  So now to all those men and women out there young and old who have known for much longer then I how lovely, relaxing and fun crochet can be, I have seen the light and my eyes have been opened.  The yarn drawer I added to my craft room is already overflowing and I have oodles of projects in mind for the future.