crochet

A few weeks ago while we were skiing at Hunter Mountain, NY, I was distracted from the laborious task of putting my boots on by a strange little library. The local library uses the base lodge at the mountain as a fund-raising used book shop. I love libraries so much, so I enjoyed a few minutes browsing, and was so excited to find an old Better Homes and Gardens crochet book for just one dollar. The book contains some great and some really bad patterns, but I was most struck by the lace crochet patterns.

My grandmother and her sisters did this type of crochet, and I always thought they were nuts. It just looked sooo much work. I enjoy the process of crochet, but I also really like to see some progress and that tiny hook did not look like it was going to get anywhere fast. Well, in a moment of insanity, I decided to try one of the patterns for a lace doily. I'm actually enjoying it so far.

It is so amazing to me that this 1000 yard (!) piece of string can be knotted over and over again to create such an interesting pattern. Sometimes I have this crazy urge to tear it out, just to see it be string again, a different tangle of knots. Believe me, it's not an urge I will cave to. I'm hours and hours into it, and have a bunch more to go. I'll post photos again when it's finished, hopefully before Mother's Day.