Call Me, Anytime!

(Girls Night Out - Wicked, love Elphaba)

A few days ago my daughter said, “You are to crochet, what I am to sewing, what Pigpen is to cleaning.” I laughed until I almost wet myself. She’s right!

We were sitting in the airport departure lounge, watching a woman crocheting an afghan, sweater, or some such. Her hands were a blur as she whipped her crochet hook through, around, and under the yarn! It seemed possible that before boarding was called this crochet-capable lady was going to have blankets for everyone on the plane.

To explain. I have miles of yarn. I bought junk yarn, convinced that eventually I would progress to silk and bamboo blends. I bypassed perfecting any skill and just bought beautiful yarn. Every once in a while I pull out a skein or two, crochet endlessly for a few days and then put the unfinished project in its hidey-hole.

Last summer, my fashion-capable daughter decided to learn to sew. I am a demon with the sewing machine. My seams are sown straight, folded, top stitched; after the fabric has been painstakingly matched my pleats are perfectly distributed. Naturally she asked me to teach her. I was ecstatic. I envisioned hours of sewing together, prom dresses constructed, dollars saved, original designs!

She bought all she’d need to sew a beautiful yet simple summer dress. After a few hours of lip biting, she completed a complicated bodice pleats, then looked at me, face flushed, sweat on her upper lip, and announced, “I hate this.”

“I know honey. I could tell you weren’t having any fun.”

“But I want to be good at it.”

“Really?”

“No.”

“Want me to finish it?”

Her eyes sparkled, “Would you? Please, yes, that would be great!”

I promptly took the heap of materials, put it in a hidey-hole, then took her out for frozen yogurt. My plan was to finish it in secret, present it to her, she’d get to wear it without any negative feelings. So… a few days ago I found the bag of materials, fitted the dress on her, and well, she’s grown! Those bodice pleats! They are our undoing.

We laughed.

Time goes way too fast to worry about you what cannot do. Focus on what you can. My daughter makes great macaroons.

What do you do best? What do you enjoy? I love to write (obviously), read (also obvious), but more than anything, I love human interaction. So, I invite you to contact me via this blog, on Twitter or Facebook. Maybe together we can broaden our horizons! I know a lot about plants (I am a Landscape Architect), the aforementioned sewing, how to travel on a shoe-string budget, many things. I’ll warn you up front, I know nothing about Physics. That’s my husband’s department.