Adventure for a New Year

I crocheted my first little purse, with a lot of help from my long-suffering mother, when I was 13. It certainly wasn't an impressive piece, but I was terribly proud of it. I'd been playing with the paper bands from Mom's skeins of

Red Heart yarn since I could toddle, all the while feeling that whatever she was doing with the strings and her shiny metal hooks was a combination of alchemy and modern dance. To finally complete my first piece of crochet magic was wonderful; for a 13-year-old, it was much more fun than the process of creating it had been. That was mostly frustration, dropping stitches, ripping out rows, finding extra stitches that seemed to materialize from thin air, and constantly wondering where my hook went. I loved that purse; I didn't crochet another thing until I was in college.

During the intervening years, I experienced an emergency gallbladder removal, saw my father suffer a massive heart attack, and watched my mother's health deteriorate as lupus progressed through her body. I lost two high school friends to car accidents. By the age of 19, I had come to understand the joy of peaceful contemplation, of engaging my mind in a simple, quiet task. That appreciation for peace only grew as life became a constant round of 20-page papers and mid-terms, interspersed with urgent visits home because a parent was once again hospitalized. My return to crochet was not a continuous one; I have periodically picked it up again over the years, learning a little more and becoming a bit more proficient each time. It has nursed me through the loss of parents and grandparents. Crochet brightens days when my own parenting skills feel pushed to the limit. It grants me many happy weeks spent preparing handmade Christmas presents each year.

Now I embark on a new venture, MBR Crochet, through which I hope to share my love of crochet with all of you. I take orders, and am willing to take on many types of new projects, should you have an item in mind that you wish to commission. Check out my slowly-growing Gallery, and email me for further information. In the meantime, I wish us all cozy blankets and plenty of pretty new yarn with which to play.