Here a Hook, There a Hook, Everywhere a Hook Hook!

Hooks Everywhere!

When cool weather sets in, my fingers get the itch to hold a crochet hook and go shopping for yarn.  I find myself looking online for patterns, and the art of crochet has really come alive with new ideas, like using wire and beads for designing bracelets and necklaces.

Some stores have shrunk their yarn departments, and that's a heck of a deal for us 'hookers.'  We like new colors and textures.  Without a good selection, we find ourselves in the car driving to a city where there are craft and hobby stores.

There was a nun in grade school who taught us kids to crochet, and I'm so very grateful to her for sharing the thread art with us kids.  I remember it was boys against girls.....who could make the prettiest doily.  We weren't taught to read patterns, but were told what stitch to make and how to make it.  We sat outside beneath the shade trees during recess time and were taught how to hold the thread in our left hand and maneuver the crochet hook in the other.  Years later, I taught myself how to read a pattern, and once a person can do that, well, the sky is the limit.

At the office, on coffee and lunch breaks I taught one of my co-workers to crochet.  We started out with the simple chain, then the single crochet, the double crochet.  Her first project was a pink baby blanket.  Before I retired, she was comfortably reading a pattern on her own and crocheting beautiful doilies that even amazed me. She made me proud.

I feel it's good to pass on our skills to those who follow behind.  Only because they, too, will reach junctions in their life when they'll want and need something to pass time, whether waiting in a hospital or whatever the situation.  Seems at some time or other we all end up waiting, and it's good therapy to keep our hands and our minds moving.  Otherwise, worry takes over, and that's not a good thing. I'm always available to give free lessons to anyone interested in learning how to crochet.

If you'd come to my house, it's pretty much impossible to open a drawer in any room and not find a crochet hook.  They're all over the place, every size, many duplicates, just different colors.  The tools of one of my many trades! 

Today's Trivia:  The French word "crochet" means "hook."