Sorry to brag on myself, but I can knit AND crochet (if it's very
elaborate I'd rather knit, but I've crocheted shawls, tablecloths,
bedspreads, hats, and a few ponchos!). Also tat. And quilt. And
embroider (although not in the same league with Bjarne and
Lorina--hell, not on the same PLANET...). And basic weaving.
To put it very oddly, I have polio to thank for many of these skills.
That is, when I was a young kid the polio vaccines hadn't been
developed yet. Mothers kept their children indoors and quiet during the
hottest hours of the summer days--this was the accepted method of
prevention. My mother taught me to knit and embroider; my grandmother
taught me to crochet. I taught myself to sew the bizarre clothes in
which I dressed my dolls. In between, I read Nancy Drew mysteries and
dreamed of having a roadster of my own. My girlfriend Joyce learned to
tat from her mother in the same circumstances--she gave tatted
bookmarks as gifts one Christmas. I loved those long summer days at
the time, and wish I could structure my time that way again! (Glad
parents don't have to live in dread of their kids' catching polio
nowadays, though!)
When I was in college everybody knitted, even a couple of the guys. We
knit in class, at choir rehearsals, at the movies....that's when I
learned to turn cables and found myself in huge demand ("If I buy the
wool, would you knit me an Aran Isles sweater?") I pulled an
all-nighter once to finish a knitted openwork sweater for a friend who
was wearing it with a long skirt to a formal dance.
I came into my own as a crocheter while watching the Fischer-Spassky
chess match on television one grad-school summer.
I didn't learn to tat from Joyce; I taught myself from a book, which is
also how I learned to make bobbin lace.
Give me a piece of string and I'm happy!
--Ruth Anne Baumgartner
scholar gypsy and amateur costumer
On May 26, 2006, at 6:09 PM, Helen Pinto wrote:
Marie wrote:
But knitting, that's orderly and straightforward...
I don't know anyone who can do both knit and crochet.
I'm with you. I can knit, standing up in the subway even, but I can't
crochet worth a damn. I end up with a twisty thing that won't lie
flat.
Now my grandmother could do both, sort of a human perpetual motion
machine. Annual output: 2 sweaters each per son and grandchild, 1 per
daughter-in-law and other miscellaneous extended family, plus hats,
scarves, and mittens for all, including the crossing guards. And
these amazing two-piece dresses for herself that I swear she knitted
on toothpicks. The crochet haul included assorted afghans, laces
tablecloths, antimacassars and doilies. And she quilted. And sewed.
And gardened. And cooked. All day. I learned a lot from her.
-Helen/Aidan
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