one of my favorite people

One of my biggest "make me something" people is my son. He's a teen now so I don't get it as often anymore (now it's all video games and movies!). But when he was younger I made him all kinds of stuffed animals.  I usually don't work from somebody else's pattern: I just make it up as I go along. He was always happy with the results. We have a great relationship. Every night at 8:00 he takes a shower, then hangs out in my bedroom watching TV or movies with me (usually his choice, even if I'm in the middle of a show!) until 10, then does his bedtime routine. I tell him "goodnight, you rotten kid" and he says "goodnight, you horrible mom" and we laugh.* He sticks to a pretty strict schedule because he gets a bit of anxiety if he doesn't. See, he was diagnosed with autism in 2nd grade (but I knew when he was about 6 months old that there was something different about the way his mind works). While I was working out how to make the zigs and zags in a Chevron blanket, he was working out how to get his favorite toy without moving! I'd put him on a blanket on the floor for tummy time and put the toy just out of reach and he'd cry and scream. It was terrible! I figured if he wanted it that bad he would maneuver himself forward to get it but no: he grabbed the blanket and pulled it toward himself! So I tried putting him on his bottom and putting the toy just out of reach again, thinking that he'd decide to reach for it, probably tip over on his belly, and then crawl to it.  He grabbed it with his feet and pulled it toward himself! That "rotten kid" outsmarted me every time! Incidentally, he still doesnt like to move much!

When he got a bit older I made him sweaters and even crocheted pants to keep him warm in these cold, snowy, Michigan winters. I used his favorite color, which changes every time he gets a new favorite show or video game. Back then it was Dukes of Hazzard so his favorite color was orange. Since then I've made him Gizmo (our first Guinea pig), our various rats and mice, (it seems to help him cope with their deaths when he has a stuffed version of them) and various others:  Homer Simpson, stay puft marshmallow man, the velociraptors from Jurassic world (those I used a pattern for), other video game characters, and a few failed experiments that he just wanted to keep! 

I can imagine him living with us for a long time after he graduated, but we are working toward making him independent. I wonder how long he'll keep these mementoes I've made him. 

 

*one time I said "you're a rotten kid" and he said "I know I am, you horrible mom, why didn't you raise me right?!" And I laughed till I choked! He got me again! He's still proud of that. 

the start of my crochet journey

I've been putting graphs and a few written patterns on here for years but I want to get away from that and just create. This blog is going in a new direction and I think I'm going to put my story on here to start it off. 

When I was 19 my paternal grandma died. We weren't close, but she taught me how to crochet, or at least she started to. I made a square that was more trapezoidal in shape and called it good. Fast forward a few years and I married my long-time boyfriend (we started dating a couple months after "Grandma E" died). A few months after that one of my best friends called me crying about her rotten so and so of a husband and I sped the 10 miles or so to her home, told her to pack up some clothes for her and their kid and come spend the night  with me. I won't get into the drama that caused,  but she and their son stayed with us for a few months and since she and I worked 1st shift and my husband worked 2nd, I spent my evenings with her building on what my grandma taught me about crochet. Did I mention that my friend crocheted? No, I didn't...but she did! She showed me her crochet project and I figured I'd join in.  My first finished project was a granny square blanket in all different colors randomly placed. I don't have it  anymore, but I remember the first square was probably twice the size of all the others! When my friend moved out I had something to occupy my time so I learned to read crochet patterns and made Christmas gifts.

Now I like making things, any things, all things! I love crafting. Before my friend moved in with us I was bead weaving and stringing beads for necklaces and bracelets.  But all of my projects are for a limited time until I move on to something else. Until I learned to crochet!! I've been crocheting most every day for almost 23 years now. I found my real passion. I think that we need to find what we really love to do and then do that. My husband told me he was afraid that if I started crocheting for money I wouldn't like to do it anymore. Well, there are times when I feel overwhelmed that I have a backlog of paid projects to complete and no time to try this or that thing I saw and wanted to make but other than that, no, it hasn't happened. I've slowed down a bit in the last few years, but nothing has stopped me. I may need to take a break to rest my muscles or joints, but I still love it and I still want to do it.

Go find your passion. Then do it.