In October I truly lived the definition of a life ruled by my hooks and love of crochet. Creating, demonstrating, teaching and restoring crochet items and techniques was the focus of the entire month.
Many of my fiber friends and even most of my students don’t know the definition of crochet. Internet sources describe the Origin of Crochet as follows:
“The origins of crochet are shrouded in mystery. It is such a seemingly simple craft, involving nothing more than a hook and a length of yarn, that logic must assume that it must have been around for thousands of years. However, while archeologists have found ancient pieces of knitting, embroidery and weaving, no such examples exist of ancient crochet. The oldest known evidence of anything resembling crochet only dates back to the 1800s.
The word Crochet comes from the French “croche”, meaning “hook” but the craft itself was most likely developed from a Chinese form of needlework called “tambouring”. This was worked on a fabric background with fine thread and a fine needle with a hook on one end. Tambouring reached Europe in the 1700, when someone discovered that the threaded stitches would hang together without the fabric background, thus Crochet was born.”
I have a sign with that explanation on my table when I teach or demonstrate, and most people find this little bit of trivia interesting.
My month started out with completing several projects for the October demo at the Folk Art Center, which was a great idea since I had a banner weekend due to many leaf looker visitors. The Blue Ridge Parkway was ablaze in shades of red and gold!
We had 1,100 to 1,400 folks daily in the Folk Art Center and since I was in the prime spot right by the front doors in the atrium, I must have talked to every one of them! I love to greet our visitors and give them a short introduction to our Guild, the galleries and exhibitions. Some of our local hikers just come in to use the facilities, but they always say hello, because there are different artists demonstrating every few days. After 4 days of fun, I was doing terrific but lost my voice by the time I packed up and went home on Sunday afternoon.
With just a couple of days to reorganize and repack, it was time to set up at the Fairgrounds for the annual Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair. I usually have one classroom area for 4 days of teaching but had to move from one classroom space to another several times this year. Hopefully I can be back in one area for all my Workshops next year.
We were back to pre-Covid attendance and 2 buildings of vendors, as well as many of the fiber giving animals. They bring in excited visitors!
After packing up for the last time on Sunday, I came home just in time to greet my brother-in-law who had been to one of his granddaughters’ weddings on the North Carolina coast. He swung by here on his way back to Ohio and did a few Honey Do jobs for me, as well as giving valuable advice on other projects around my house.
I am currently putting the finishing touches on the Italian Filet crochet bedspread pictured in the October Musings and have a tablecloth sitting here next to me, waiting for restoration.
One of my October highlights is our neighborhood block party on Halloween. Everybody dresses up and we meet and visit in our quiet street while passing out candy. It looks like it will be cold and rainy this year but that beats the snow Ohio is expecting! Around here, nothing dampens our Halloween spirit.
As I look forward to November, the month of Thanksgiving, I am grateful for all my blessings, especially my fiber friends. So, let’s have an attitude of gratitude all month and celebrate turkey day with our friends and family.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
“I do what I love and I love what I do.”
October Fun:
My demo space in the Folk Art Center lobby
Fun at the SAFF Crochet Geometrics Class
New in the studio:
Silk wrap in Broomstick Mesh
