Your Knitting or Crochet Hero 3KCBWDAY3

~Blog about someone in the fiber crafts who truly inspires you. There are not too many guidelines for this, it's really about introducing your readers to someone who they might not know who is an inspiration to you. It might be a family member or friend, a specific designer or writer, indie dyer or another blogger. If you are writing about a knitting designer and you have knitted some of their designs, don't forget to show them off. Remember to get permission from the owner if you wish to use another person's pictures.~

This may come off as corny and cheesy but, my fiber craft heroes are my mom and maternal grandmother. Both of these lovely ladies are always striving to learn and try something new; always improving on their skills. Can’t isn’t even in their vocabulary, which makes them awesome role models in the crafting world.

My grandmother is the one who taught me to crochet. When I was 4 she handed me some yarn and proceeded to teach me how to finger chain. Once I mastered that she upgraded the lesson with showing me how to chain with a hook. By the time I was 8 I knew all the basics of crocheting and with a little help with reading patterns and charts was able to make my own FO’s. 

She doesn’t crochet much anymore, mostly focusing on her painting, but she still works on expanding her knowledge in her craft. My grandmother is a watercolor artist and recently she has informed me that she is taking up acrylics.

Two charcoal sketches my grandmother gave me.

 My mom is the type who has many, many (and I mean many) irons in the fire at once. Her first love is all things sewing. Embroidery, cross-stitch, plastic canvasing, etc. And when I was a child she taught me these same skills; including trying to teach me how to use a sewing machine. To me they are a necessary evil and I only use one when I can’t talk her into doing it for me.

Cross-stitch and crochet items my mother has given me.

The baby blanket my mother made for me 34 years ago. It fits a full size bed and I still use it.

She picked up crocheting again in my pre-teens and I remember how odd it was that she would ask for help from me from time to time when she would get stuck on a stitch or reading a pattern. Recently, my mom has decided to learn knitting. And again there are these moments when we are talking over a pattern that it strikes me how odd it is that I’m the teacher.

Also, I blame her for my penchant of having multiple projects going at once. Every time I talk to her she has some new endeavor she’s working on. Last month she was making feather and ribbon hair barrettes and now she is doing something with a laminating machine and peacock feathers (don’t ask, I don’t know). My mom has given me a sense of wonder at what I can accomplish if only I set my mind to doing it; there is nothing I can’t achieve.