Squares 29 and 30 of the february blanket completed.
Crochet Memory 29: this blanket will be celebrated with brownies and champagne… And all the tears and fun of february will become part of the memories of the February blanket.
Crocheted Square 28 completed for February blanket.
Crochet memory 28: Ways in which I have celebrated the completion of crochet projects: chocolate cake, night at the cinema with large box of popcorn (half salty and half sweet), peppermint ice cream, champagne and/or sundry drinks with friends, theatre tickets, bookshop shopping sprees and a weekend in Vienna.
Square 27 of the february blanket completed.
Crochet memory 27: I think the completion of a project ought to be celebrated properly… It is a habit which started with the completion of my very first piece, a doll’s blanket. My gran baked a small chocolate cake and put a festive candle on it. It started a tradition of festive behaviour as opposed to quiet pride and joy when a project reaches completion :-).
Square 26 of the blanket completed.
Crochet Memory 26: different projects carry with them forever the memories which came into being while they were created, especially those which took a long time. So each item of clothing or blanket or creation crocheted has a series of associations; its very own memory bank.
Square 25 of the February blanket is completed.
Crochet memory 25: I once picked the colour of a project to match the shade of grey the sky was one morning in February when my cat was run over.
Square 24 of February blanket completed:
Crochet Memory 24: In Thessaloniki, outside the houses near the Kastra women sit outside talking and crocheting in the approaching dusk. They are making tablecloths and antimacassars for dowries or for gifts, but the most important aspect of the activity is the socialising and the gossip..
Pic of 23rd square of February blanket.
Crochet Memory 23: In the aftermath of the war in Bosnia Herzogovina, with piles of rubble clearly visible on the streets of Sarajevo, pictures of women sitting together on straight backed kitchen chairs on the pavement, crocheting lace…
Square 22 of the blanket completed.
Crochet Memory 22: Favourite album of gypsy music: Taraf de Haidouks Honourable Brigands Magic Horses and Evil Eye - a superb album which makes up many memories and accompanied a number of projects, including some of these squares…..
Square 20 of the Febraury blanket completed.
Crochet memory 20: When I was small and first learnt to crochet I kept my yarn, hook and project in in an old handbag of my mother’s. The bag had been cleaned, but it still smelt of lisptick, face powder and L’Heure Bleue perfume, and so did the doll’s blanket when I eventually finished it.
Square 19 of the blanket completed.
Crochet memory 19: There are certain pieces of music I associate with crochet projects for all sorts of reasons, but usually because of hits being repeated on the radio, or new tapes or CDs bought at the time. There is Johnny Hallyday, and Angie by the Rolling Stones when I was learning to crochet, and later Brahms’ A German Requiem and Handel’s Messiah, an assortment of gypsy music and Dylan’s album Modern Times to name but a few, and last but not least because of a friend in London Punjabi music on Desi Radio…
Square 18 of the February blanket completed.
Crochet memory 18: Although I had heard of men crocheting, the second man I ever saw doing it was at a wonderful shop in South London called “I Knit”. The first was at a village on the mediterranean, where I saw a man use crochet techniques to mend and strenghten fishing nets. It made me think that men could find many macho uses for crocheting, if they only thought about it..:-).
Square 17 of the February blanket completed.
Crochet Memory 17: Sitting round a table crocheting or knitting, perhaps because the hands are occupied and one needn’t look up, everyone becomes a lot more open and forthcoming, even the shy ones. This memory is dedicated to everyone who found courage while crocheting and knitting with others.
Square 16 of the February blanket completed. Pic can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cearaprojects/2269269335/
Crochet memory 16: The other day I was crocheting on the train when a little boy asked his mother “what is the lady doing?” and his mother answered “she is weaving…” and he asked her “can you weave?” and she sniffed “we don’t have to weave, we don’t use handmade things”.
15th square for the Februarey blanket completed.
Crochet memory 15: While crocheting on the bus a man said to me “I didn’t realise that anyone still did this…My mother used to crochet, and so did my grandfather who was a train driver..he crocheted during the long waits in the sidings..it was ok for men to crochet in those days”.
Square 14 completed for the February blanket.
Crochet memory 14: Women around dining room tables, kitchen tables, pub tables. Thousands of tales, shared stories, anecdotes, secrets, complaints, bitching and giggling. And of course support. And a lot of heart.
This is square 13 of the February blanket. Pic can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cearaprojects/2263167155/
Crochet Memory 13: In bed with mumps there were tulips next to the bed. When I wasn’t sleeping I crocheted the doll’s blanket in reds and greens and yellows, and although I was more or less free to choose the colours I wanted to use, there were some choices I could not make. I learnt early on that colours had meanings, and that many people feel they are defined by them, or rather by which colours they are not.
Square 12 of the February blanket is completed.
Crochet memory 12: During school holidays sitting around the table with grandma’s friends during one of her tea mornings: some knit, others crochet or embroider. I listen to the gossip and conversations and don’t always understand them. One elderly lady says to a younger one:”the trouble is that you young women will insist on telling men everything - the secret of a happy marriage is never tell them anything at all”.
Square 11 of the February blanket.
Crochet Memory 11: At her wedding my cousin spilt red wine on her crocheted wedding dress, and my aunt was most upset. She eventually managed to remove the stain - she had worked so hard on the dress that she thought it ought to become an heirloom, not realising that the fad for crocheted wedding dresses wouldn’t last :-).
Square 10 of the February blanket. Pic here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cearaprojects/2255559709/
Crochet Memory 10: The smell of dinner slowly cooking in the oven or on the hob while crocheting at the dining room table on winter afternoons: oxtail, haricot beans, casserole, roast root vegetables, ham and pea soup - smells of winter evenings.
This is square 9 of the February blanket. Pic can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cearaprojects/2252898003/
Crochet memory 9: Watching an aunt crochet the wedding dress of an older cousin. It took ages but it looked beautiful on the day. My aunt would visit Gran in the afternoons and bring the dress with her and work away while chatting. She was very pleased about the coming wedding, because “a girl het age should be married”. The fact that her own marriage was the stuff of endless gossip and speculation wherever family members gathered did nothing to change her firm belief that every woman should do it as soon as possible.