Until a few weeks ago, I hadn't picked one up since I was a teenager.
A crochet hook.
Lately I've noticed that I am not content to just sit and watch TV or sit and watch soccer practice. I need to be doing something. (perhaps I need some relaxation classes or something, but that's another topic). Often that need finds me on the computer or reading, which distracts me to the point of missing the TV show or the conversation in the room or the potential conversation with a fellow soccer mom. Not good.
So, when a group of women from church decided their quarterly craft project would be to crochet chemo caps for a local cancer center...I knew it was a perfect solution for me. Something to keep my hands busy. And Pickle wanted to learn and help too. (smile) I bought some hooks and cheap yarn to learn on and I re-taught myself how to crochet. I even made this in the midst of the flu:
It's a flower in case you can't tell. I want to put a few seed beads in the middle and put a pin on the back and wear it on my coat or purse or something. (My husband asked me if I had turned into an old lady. Maybe. But he obviously doesn't follow trends or shop on etsy...just sayin'.)
I started to teach Pickle too. She didn't really want to learn the stitches so she made this super long chain...
Tonight we went to the meeting to get the patterns and the yarn info to make the caps. A friend of mine sat with Pickle and taught her the stitches. (Amazing how willing she was to learn from someone else.) She's doing great. We both came home with the beginning of our first caps--and we hope to make many.
Here is Pickle's beginning of a cap...
It feels good to keep my hands busy. To feel like I am creating something useful. To feel the soft yarn, the smooth hook. It's so tactile. To get in a rhythm of knotting and hooking. The patterns are calming. To be working on something like this with my daughter. Sharing a joint purpose that can be hard to find sometimes.
As we make these caps we will be praying for the person who will receive the cap one day. In that way we are not only giving the gift of warmth and cover for a smooth head, but also the gift of our prayers for healing, for comfort, and for true peace that comes from a relationship with God.
It feels good. So simple and so meaningful.
If you are interested, you can go to the Knots of Love website and find out how you can help too.
Linking up with Tuesdays Unwrapped, and celebrating this little gift of yarn and hook and cap and prayer.
Although I've only crocheted a handful of projects, I found it very relaxing. We call my mom the Queen of Crochet. She is a whiz. Keep it up.
ReplyDeletethanks for this info, I wonder if I can find something similar here .
ReplyDeleteI know my MIL would love this.
I started sewing pillowcases for children in hospital with cancer, and love it, but it's not really a portable thing.. this is cool
What a wonderful thing you're doing! And such a great thing to model and get your daughter involved in at a young age. I wish I would have done more of this with my daughter when she was younger.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't you just hate it when our men pretend to know fashion? As if ... ;0)
This is awesome, Dawn. On many levels. I haven't crocheted in years either - I made my husband a hat without a pattern when we were first married --I"m LOLing at the memory. It looked like a knight's helmet. But he wore it with pride!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think it's great that you're doing this, and that you're doing it with your girl. Post pics when they're done!!
That's lovely! I took up crocheting in college and haven't picked up a hook since graduation. But I'm with you in the need to be "doing something" while watching TV or a game or just relaxing in conversation. It sure would beat emptying the dishwasher or folding laundry!
ReplyDelete