Dogwood Mountain Arts

My hope for my crochet work:

“Every worker after a time should be able to work from a drawing, and until she can at least to some extent follow one the highest perfection in Irish crochet cannot be obtained.” -designs and instructions in Irish crochet

I am still young.

At the moment of the writing, I am not yet 30 and have multiple young children in the house encouraging me and pushing me to grow and do things I never expected to do, much less do well. Crochet has been my respite, my work I can do and KNOW it will be done well. Following patterns is time consuming, but there is very little time for reading a recipe, much less a book. I know I can make so many little animals that are professional-looking and adorable; I know I can make blankets that will warm many little babies without patterns.

However, all of those options are not in pursuit of the excellence I am yearning for in all aspects of my life.

It is not a pursuit of excellence if it is already well done and there is little passion behind it.

Crochet Lace is hard. Lace is time consuming. But crochet lace? It has an intrigue of excellence that  I believe can be achievable over years of 10 minute sessions. 10 minutes of reading a technique during naps can turn into 10 minutes of trying it out while the kids are playing in the library. A small motif can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 45, depending on the difficulty. But even the 45 minute motifs can turn into 15 minute motifs once my personal capacity has grown to match the difficulty and my fingers accustomed to the technique.

Housework is hard, and feels impossible to finish. Raising children is hard and incredibly fulfilling, but you don’t see the results of your work for at least 20 yrs. 

In this season, sometimes I just need one thing I can do, feel accomplished doing it, and see the job finished. I have found that in crochet lace and motifs.

I do not want to regret or believe I wasted time in my youth. I do not want to look at my life of crochet and wish I had taken advantage of my youth to use thread.

When my eyesight dims and my fingers lose their dexterity, I don’t want to wish, I want to remember. I want to be able to reflect on the mastery I was able to achieve as I craft thicker projects my aging body requires. My hope is that my mind and fingers will know so well what they do, I do not need to see to create beauty with a hook and yarn.

My desire is to inspire my grandchildren with the excellence of the work of my youth, while not hiding the reality of aging. To encourage them to make the best of the opportunities and passions. And to strive to live well. To the Glory of God.