My mother is an artist with yarn - she can knit and crochet with equal skill. As long as I can remember she was always working with yarn. Many, many people have been gifted with gorgeous afghans, delicate baby dresses, cableknit sweaters, etc. Carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists have slowed the "afghan machine" somewhat but she still can crank out the handknitted washclothes in every color and stitch imaginable.
I have gobs of them and use them everyday! Mom taught me to crochet when I was small and I will admit that it always makes me feel womanly to work at something with my hands. Anyhoo, the one thing that I made that mom never did was potholders. That's because I rarely had the patience to finish big projects - while mom has literally made hundreds of afghans I only have made two.
Mom has a drawer that has lots and lots of my handmade potholders and while some were definitely saved because her daughter made them many of them have been in daily use for over 30 years and are in fine shape. Handmade items definitely last better than storebought! I've gone through so many oven mitts/potholders over the years and when I am at mom's house I always say that I need to make some for me but never get around to it.
I had a hankering to play with yarn the other night so I decided to just make a plain potholder with maybe a "m" on it. Many of my old handmade potholders were in afghan stitch that are cross-stitched with geometric designs and fruit/flowers. Did you know that afghan stitch is called Tunisian Crochet now? Fancy. . .
I got a wild hair and thought it would be more "me" if I attempted to stitch a girl onto it - so I grabbed some red yarn and just went for it - no real plan and no pattern at all. Just free stitching. LOVE how it turned out. Now if I would only commit to making about 3 more I'd be in good shape!
I still put the "m" on the back though.
