Beyond Crochet

Hello, Sunshine!

Here is a little back story to start this post…

My Grandma and Mom were the very special people that gave me my crafty start. Many summers of my youth, I spent a week or more at my Grandma’s house. While I was there, I gathered a vast arsenal of knowledge. We took care of the chickens, ducks, cows, pigs, and other random farm animals. I was, also, introduced to the world of growing our own food, canning it, and many recipes for both baking and cooking. However, I cannot claim that I learned to measure ingredients with the proper kitchen tools. I did get used to cooking with my heart.

Cooking and baking were not the only things that I became well versed in doing with my heart. Indoors, I was introduced to a wide array of crafting and creating techniques. My Grandma bestowed the basis of my crafting skills upon me. I was acquainted with sewing, embroidering, cross-stitching, crocheting, and knitting. While at home, my Mom was always nearby to help with my expanding skills. She took me beyond the basics by showing me new stitches, pattern reading, and anything that I forgot along the way. Our house had an old style picnic basket that sat near the fireplace. I was full of yarn, thread, knitting needles, and crochet hooks. Creating was always at our fingertips.

After a steady 30 years of crafting, I still possess the skills for all of those amazing techniques. My most used and most preferred one of them all should come as no surprise…it is crochet. I am easily able to carry with me, pick up and put down, and only a single hook to manage. I seem to have started this part of my crafting knowledge backwards, however. I began with doilies and moved on to dishcloths. I, normally, hear that people establish a basis in repeat patterns, i.e. dishcloth or blanket, and progress into more intricate patterns, i.e. amigurumi or doilies. My crochet expertise greatly exceeds all of my other crafting abilities. Currently, I am dipping into the art of pattern writing. It has been an enlightening path. Putting my mind to paper is not my strongest point. I will get there and plan to use this newly developed skill in my business.

My knitting is a little rusty, but I can do it if needed or desired. When knitting, I usually stick to simple scarves or blankets. Although my skills in knitting are limited, I did teach myself to do a simple cable a couple of years ago. That is a big achievement for me. I keep my knitting at home; so, the projects take me more time to complete. My Mom said, “don’t you ever knit in the car! You will put that d@*& needle in your chest!” I never pushed my luck with that advice.

Embroidery and cross-stitch are two things that I would love to get back into doing. A couple of years ago, I taught the old kid to do a simple outline embroidery project. I stuck with her, and now, she has planned to make a multi-panel project cataloging the number and genre of books that she has read throughout 2023. I started my embroidery by doing tea towels with my Grandma. I have all the material that I need to do my own today but have been putting it off. When I get back to it, I will be sure to share my creations. My Mom was more of the cross-stitcher and loved doing Precious Moment projects. I have, always, taken on the much smaller patterns. One day, I will work up to her level.

My sewing skills are used more often than all the others, except for crocheting. I, often, make small projects or hand stitch stuffies back together. I, also, have to sew a lot of my crochet amigurumi animal parts to the bodies. I made my wedding dress almost 11 years ago, which was my last big undertaking. I have done many small projects for my kids from purses to little maxi skirts. Other small creations were the masks that I made for my family in 2020. Creative families do not know how to do boring; we had everything from sloths to Harry Potter. I have knit fabric headbands on my personal and Kid’s Korner (more on this soon) to do list. I am excited to get my sewing machine back in action.

I have enjoyed telling you the history of my crafting journey. All of these skills have brought me to where I am in my business today. Even though crochet is what shines through the most, I use all of the skills that I have acquired along the way. I hope that this inspired you to get back to a long unused craft or to pick up a new one. Creating is a great way to relax. Also, I intended for this post to show that I can fulfill more than just your crocheted dreams. We can work together to make more crafted creations to suit your needs. So, let’s get creative together!

Sprinkle the world with sparkle! -Kim