As I sit under this old crocheted quilt, I am reminded of teaching my grandma how to crotchet. She was a single mom and worked all her life in the box factory making boxes to feed and raise my dad. Grandma had retired about a year earlier. In the summer and on late afternoons during the rest of the year when I was young, we sat on the porch talking and I crocheted blocks. She said all her sisters and friends did this, but never could teach her since she was left-handed.
As I was looking into the mirror, I realized my reflection was in reverse and this was the key to teach her. I told her of my discovery and asked her if she wanted to try. She said she would give it a whirl since she had plenty of spare time since now retired and it would give her something to do. She said that “I am never too old to learn and with God all things are possible.”
I sat in a chair facing her, telling her to watch and copy what everything she saw. In less than 1 hour she was crocheting blocks. During the summer as we sat on the front porch, we raced to see who could finish first and she went faster trying to beat me. I encouraged her and as she practiced, she got faster and better at crocheting. We also raced to see who made more blocks for the week. We kept all the blocks until we had enough for a blanket.
When I was in school, she won the weekly block contest. Back then, the neighbors would take walks in the afternoon. As they stopped by when passing us for a drink of water she offered, she proudly told them that she was over 70 years old and her 10 year old granddaughter had taught her how to crochet; when everyone told her all her life that she would never learn. They liked her work so much, she often received orders and had a waiting list.
In the late fall and winter, I laid the blocks out on her old feather bed and pinned the rows together. Then we took the rows to the front porch, sewed them together and covered with them as we went. Grandma continued to make blankets till the end of her days; getting more orders then she could keep up with. This gave her a lot of extra money and I made money too while enjoying my time with her.
I was so proud of Grandma. I thank God for letting us enjoy her end of day together and showing her something that she loved and always wanted to learn.
By Kathy Bourg from Jefferson, LA
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What a wonderful story, thanks for sharing!
I love your story, what an amazing memory you have to remember your grandma by! And she was smart to realize it's never too late to learn - a great lesson she probably passed on to you.
My mom learned to crochet from her Grandma. I wanted to learn when I was a little girl, but my mom couldn't figure out how to teach her left handed daughter to crochet, so I gave up. When I was about 20, I was determined to teach myself, so following instructions from a magazine, very carefully looked at the photos & figured out how to use my left hand to make those stitches opposite from what the photo showed. I made a baby blanket for my daughter while I was expecting, & I don't know how many times I had to tear it out to get it straight. And the stitches were SO tight because I held the hook in a death grip. Once I taught myself the basics, I figured out that I could have my mom sit across from me with her crochet & show me how to do the more advanced stitches.
I'm also left handed but I was taught to crochet and knit by a right handed person. Funnily enough, I can't do anything in a right handed manner except knit and crochet!
That is a touching story. My grandmother taught me to crochet and knit when I was a young girl. The funny thing is she was a lefty also but I am right handed. So I knit and crochet left handed but nothing else. Thank you for the flash back memories.
I loved this story, as I spend so many good times with both my Gramma's. Thank you for sharing such a touching story!
Love your story. I can picture you and Gramma sitting on the porch crocheting.
Loved the story, so sweet! My grandmother was also a lefty and she taught me, a righty, basic crochet. The way we did it was instead of me watching at her work from her perspective, I watched facing her as she worked and copied what she did from that angle.
Love this story
This is a great story and reminded me of when I was 8 or 9 and my dear favorite great aunt taught me how to crochet. We were in a hospital waiting room and her beloved husband was very ill. I hold that memory close to my heart and to this day, love to crochet and every time I do I think of her.
This is probably my most favorite story I have read in the years that I have been enjoying your precious newsletters! Thank you!
I so enjoyed reading this. How sweet! What a special memory to have of your grandma. Sounds like she was a lovely lady.
I am always amazed at how some of our member's solutions are so simple. Imagine using a reflection to teach your grandmother to crochet. Simple, yet brilliant.
And the memories you shared of time spent with your grandmother are priceless. Thanks so much for this post.
I was taught by my grandma at a young age, but didn't do it, so forgot it. Several years ago, we had a major stockpile of plastic shopping bags. Saw the use of 'plarn' on the internet. Used internet sites to relearn crochet and have made many bags out of plastic bags (plarn). Have begun to experiment with t-shirt yarn (tarn??). Very versatile craft skill to know!
That was a beautiful story, Kathy. And of course the special part of sharing time with grandma. I aught myself to crochet, but my dad taught me to knit. I was 13 then, and I'm 82 now. Working with our hands is always rewarding. Thanks again for sharing.
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