Yarn as Memory and Memory as a Gift

My WIP is a "Stashbuster"

I'm an avid crocheter, and my most recent work-in-progress (WIP)  is a "stashbuster," a project where I use up as much of my scrap and leftover yarn as I can to clean up my "stash."  

Digging down into the depths of one of my storage containers today to find a few more scraps for my project, I came across a warm red yarn, soft and crooked from end to end from years and years of being packed underneath new skeins.

This warm red yarn, soft and crooked from end to end from years of being packed underneath new skeins was given to me by my grandmother when I was about 10 years old, back in the 1980's, at a time when I was a beginning avid crocheter. I was constantly making clothes for my dolls, little crocheted animals, bracelets, and little granny squares; so often, in fact, my dad and stepmother expressed concern about the amount of time I spent crocheting. This yarn, I remember, I used to make a dress for my Crystal Barbie, my favorite Barbie doll at the time.  I made her a knee-length dress with a square neckline and poofy off-the-shoulder sleeves out of that red yarn.

I made that dress for my Crystal Barbie at a time when I was determined to be as good a crocheter as my grandmother, and as I said, I crocheted nonstop. I crocheted so much I began having nightmares about everything in the real world being made of crochet, including, as I vividly remember, my teeth and my toothbrush.  As horrifying as it was at the time, I can now share that memory with my husband and laugh about it.

I'm not sure what prompted me to look in that container today and find yarn I've carried with me, packed in a storage container for 30 years, but I did, and finding it was a gift.  It's two years to the day my grandmother died, and at least for a few minutes today, I was able to hold onto real evidence of that time in my life and those memories, and I was able to laugh.  As the yarn slipped through my fingers, soft and growing smaller while the work grew larger, it felt like a hug from my grandmother, and I was encouraged to pass that hug on to you.

Want to read more about crochet?  Try

Arts and Crafts and Healing
Learn to Crochet for Stress Relief
Product Review: Lion Brand Yarn Ergonomic Crochet Hook Set

Want to leave a comment about crochet?  

Please leave a comment below, and I will respond in a day or two.  : )  Thank you!




Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Please contact the author for permission to republish.