I love granny squares. When Grandma taught me to crochet, it was a granny square that she used. Even now *mumble mumble* years later, granny squares are my first choice and if all else fails, my last. :)

This is a lap aghan I recently finished (okay, I haven't trimmed the ends off yet, I'm lazy and it's tedious) using Red Heart. It's based on the quilt pattern "Around the World" which is a lot of fun to quilt, being quick and easy.


This is a square I'm doing for a friend as a birthday/I'm sorry I keep forgetting important dates gift. Red Heart, like granny squares, tends to be my first choice in afghans.

When I took her to the store, I fully expected to be in there for while, since my friend is not known for her quick decisions, but within five mintues of me saying 'pick five colors' she had these picked out and I really like the way they go together. I'm planning on taking two of the interior colors - the pale blue and green, most likely - and using them as a border, otherwise that dark pink is a bit overwhelming.

Crochet, quilting, beading, sewing....the important things in life

I love the irony of crafting. It's ultimately a solitary pursuit - after all, only one person can hold a crochet hook or a sewing needle or press the foot on a sewing machine - but it's learned most often from another person and most crafter feel compelled to pass on their skills, knowledge and ideas to others.

I learned to crochet from my grandmother when I was a child. I seem to remember several irritated, impatient glances - I was an annoying child, always with the questions and wanting to jump to the end result instead of going patiently step by step - but whenever I would ask for a lesson, she always put down whatever she was working on and obliged me.

Quilting was something I picked up from my coworkers at the fabric store where I worked after college. In many ways it was easier than crochet, since with quilting I had a picture of the finished project there in front of me, while crochet always seemed to exist in some nebulous 'mental' place that did not compute for my child-self.

For several years I played around with the idea of beading. I loved the colors and the components and the little tools, but never could quite 'get it'. I could not see how the pieces went together and I did not understand where to start.

What's more, I could not see where it ended. I'm that annoying person who reads the end of the book first. :)

One day, it just 'clicked' and I could see the end, which meant, I knew how to begin.

Crochet, quilting and beading are my three major interests, with a bit of cross stitch and tatting thrown in for variety. I started cross stitching when I first went to college about 10 years ago, but it's more a stop-gap than a true passion. I cross stitch when I don't have anything else to do. :) Tatting is something I am just now trying. My great-grandmother tatted and I still have some of her pieces and it's always been on my list of 'things to learn' but it's only recently that I've sat down and started studying it, trying to find that key that will show me the end and how to get there.

I also sew, but I don't really consider that a hobby, since anymore I make most of my own clothes. :) I never considered 'shopping' a proper hobby, so it's equivalent isn't either.

Grandma and Mom taught me to sew and after working for several years in a fabric store, I have a closet full of patterns, two sewing machines and enough material to keep me busy for several years. :)

I make clothes that fit my personality and my body shape - exhuberant and pleasantly rounded, respectively - as well as clothes that make me feel *good* to wear. I also make costumes for Ren Faires and Halloween, not to mention the odd book and/or movie release. Yeah, I'm a geek on top of everything else.

Most days, I walk out of the house wearing at least one piece that I have made myself, sometimes my entire outfit is of my own creation. Trousers and tunic from my stash of fabric, necklace and bracelets of my own creation, crocheted pouch for a purse, handmade poncho or jacket...those are good days.

Someone asked me once *why*. Why bother, why spend the money,the time, the effort on what they called a 'pointless hobby'.

The easiest answer is 'because I can'. The true answer is because everytime I pick up a crochet hook, I think of my grandma, gone for four years. She taught me to crochet and sew, as well as that fragile sense of *me*.

Everytime I sew or quilt, I think of the women I worked with, women who meant a great deal to me and taught me several very important lessons about what it meant to be an independent woman.

Everytime I string beads or graph a new design or everytime I look at something I have made, I think about all the other people who are doing that very same thing and I think about all the people who have come before us and all those who will come after us.

I step back and admire what I have created and I think about all the amazing things others have created and know that while crafting is ultimately a solitary pursuit, we are never alone.