Well, we know I love wire. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm pretty darn good at it.
Now, let's bring in the topic of the day. Wire Crochet. We already went into the wire part of it. Now let's cover the crochet part. My grandmother and my great grandmother were avid crocheters. Mostly these days you seem to see knitters. There is just something about that crochet needle for me though. I have seen and cherished many crocheted masterpieces over the years all created by my maternal grandmother. I have a table cloth that was given to me as a wedding gift from my Nanny (my mother's mother). She sat in the house that my parents live in now and worked her little, frail fingers to the bone making that tablecloth. She made it especially for me, just as she had done for many other women in my family. To bring more meaning to this story and this event in my life, you must know that all of these one of a kind, gently created with REAL love tablecloths, were given as gifts for a bride at her wedding....from her grandmother.
Well, my grandmother, Vera Jeanette Henegar, passed away in February 1999 from lung cancer. It was extremely unexpected and and happened quickly. I always wished for a tablecloth of my own, but also knew it wasn't a possibility. I loved her so much and wanted to have that one special gift that symbolized both the love between me and my dear grandmother as well as the newer yet forever love between my husband and I. I guess I accepted the fact that I wouldn't get one a little easier since I knew Nanny would never know my husband since at that point in my life, I didn't even know him. And then I went through the emotions of guilt that it was my fault for partying too much or not dating seriously early enough. Maybe if I hadn't screwed around so much, I'd have had a husband in time for me to get a tablecloth. I guess all these selfish thoughts were just part of the mourning process following the loss of my grandmother. And the extreme sadness of my mother following the loss of her mother. All things I just couldn't imagine.
Now let's cheer things up a bit. So, I did find that prince. We got engaged. We got married. Somewhere between the last two, I had a bridal shower where I was given the gift of all gifts. A tablecloth. A tablecloth made by my Nanny. Specifically for me.
Needless to say, when my mother handed me the gift 6 years later, I lost it. One of the most amazing and significant moments in my life.
So, I went to the chapel. I got married. Had the honeymoon and the babies. I was given my Nanny's crochet needles by my mother. I was determined to learn to crochet. Two words: Miserable Failure. I just don't have the logic, or something to pull that off. I was disappointed. I had planned to make baby blankets for my kids and my friends kids and anyone else open to the idea.
So years pass, babies turn to toddlers, newlyweds turn to parents. Mom decides to try her hand at jewelry design. She really digs it. Has a lot of fun. Learns a wire lace technique that uses the crochet hook to create, although very basically. Still the favorite thing I've ever seen done and done right. I feature this technique in my Etsy shop. Here's a link if you are interested in seeing it:
My collection using this technique is named Juliet. Juliet was the name I would have given my little girl had I had one. I didn't, so the name is given to my new feminine love, my jewelry, and more specifically, my jewelry using the crochet needle that was indirectly put on a pedestal in my youth by a very brave, honest, hardworking and such a spitfire of a woman.
Nanny, had you met my boys, you would have fallen in love immediately. But I know that you see them from where you are. I hope I'm loving them and caring for them in a way that you would be proud of.
Moral of the story? Not really a moral, I guess, but more likely why I started this blog post in the first place... I am taking a wire crochet this week. Maybe all I ever needed was an updated material and a teacher. As for a teacher, I should have asked Nanny earlier.
