Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

There is a thread connecting us all as humans. A loop of crochet has me intertwined to many in different and satisfying ways. I am all about crochet. It lays on the coffee table in the living room and drips from the arm of the couch ~ works in progress abound. To-Do projects fill a basket and UFOs wait on my desk.  As the introduction of my blog says, "My life and my crochet are inextricably linked." It is uncanny how I can often weave a connection between mylife experiences and how my crochet is a part of it. First off, I so firmly believe in the value of crochet as a therapeutic tool and healthy activity. I learned to crochet 46 years ago and I had been married to Alan for forty eight and a half years when he died on July 1, 2016. We were together when I learned to crochet while serving as Peace Corps volunteers in Honduras, Central America. I learned from the aides who worked with me in the clinic I started in our small village. Although Alan is no longer with me ph...

These beautiful hands with hooks ‘aflying  tell a story. They tell of cancer survivors who have risen above the trauma of their experiences to give love and support through their talented hands to others. Preemie babies receive hats crocheted at the hospital where we meet twice a month as the Cancer & Crochet Support Group.

Monday, October 28, 2013 Soon it will be one year that I started my volunteer job as coordinator of a Cancer & Crochet Support group at my local hospital. Today, I want to celebrate the life of one of our members who died last week. Even though Judy was in hospice, she continued work on her goal of making 100 caps for the premature babies at the hospital. She reached and exceeded the goal with 125 hats! During her last ten days of life, she attended a special event hosted by my CGOA chapter in her wheel chair with oxygen; she also came to the support group. She was one strong and determined woman and we will miss her terribly! I've long known the value of crochet as a healing tool and a method of relaxation. I reviewed books that cover this topic beautifully: Crochet Saved My Life and Contemplative Crochet. Recently my friend Rita, an art therapist, came to share with the group. Rita, Art Therapist, leading group This was the group's first attempt at thread croch...

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 Do you spend time in online crochet communities? Is spending too much time lurking or surfing the Net your weakness? I disagree with those who insinuate that spending time on Facebook means one has “no life.” Sometimes a stand-out person comes along in an online version of a cocktail party and the sharing of our interests/passions and knowledge creates a sort of click that resonates with the heart. Kathryn Vercillo is that "click" for me. I can’t remember where or how we “met", but I do remember that in December 2011 she honored me with her “Awesome Crochet Blog Award” for Free-form Crochet on her blog, Crochet Concupiscence . What’s not to like about Kathryn for doing that for me? Seriously though, I feel as though by virtue of our interests and our spirit of needing to shout crochet from the rooftops, we are friends even though we have never met face to face. When I did the following interview with Kathryn by phone, she was working on he...