G as in grandma, or in my case, Grandmama. We, my siblings and cousins, called my grandmother Grandmama until we started having babies and she renamed herself "G". She said it was to avoid confusion because my aunt's grandmother name is "Mamama," but I think it was because she was a little bit gangster.
When I was little, there was a corner of her living room that was stacked high with yarn and crochet projects. She gave handmade blankets, pot holders, dish cloths, and slippers for Christmas and birthdays. I still have a pink afghan she made. I think it was part of a set she gave to all the girl cousins. I've been thinking about her projects and how they used to be in everyone's houses when we were kids. Crocheted articles were just a given in the family and it made me a little sad that those handmade things disappeared over time. Coincidentally, I was also looking for something to do with my hands to replace my habit of mindlessly scrolling through social media. I often find it necessary to have busy hands.
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| My first afghan. |
I was briefly interested in learning from her way back then, but it was a very long time ago that she taught me to chain and single stitch. Thus, I went to Pinterest and Google and I've started teaching myself. I made this blanket. It's too small and a little wonky, but it's also beautiful and it makes my heart happy to see my kids snuggled under it on the couch. I've started a new, more complicated project and it is teaching me a lot. One of these days it will be finished and Dave will have his very own blanket.
We are a pretty creative family, but I think most people are, even when they don't give themselves credit for it. I like to write, draw, paint, cook, crochet - all obvious creative endeavors. I'm also pretty good at dissecting a business process and using software to make it fancy and magical - not obvious, but creative nonetheless. Dave generally channels his creativity into words - poetry, prose, teaching, finding the most appropriate (inappropriate?) song lyrics to relate to a Bible passage, and sometimes speaking in Pig Latin for days at a time. Occasionally, he can be convinced to build something and sometimes he'll draw or paint if we're all doing it.
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| Family Project |
Ella does all the things - writing, music, painting, drawing, cooking, and anything else you might classify as "arts and crafts" and always has. An assignment with a creative element is her cup of tea and she is completely uninhibited when making things for her friends and family - bookmarks, birthday cards, art for the walls. When we moved into this house, I gifted her my cabinet of art supplies and she has made good use of them - much better use than me in the last few years.
Luke is less obviously creative, becoming frustrated while painting, but killing it when he draws a comic strip or rigs up a zip line for his stuffed animals or designs a hamster transport out of Legos. He might be the funniest one of us and he can write a very detailed and crazy story. He wrote and presented a poem during Easter lunch - I think he has Dave's talent with words. I've also learned to ask clarifying questions like "What part of this plan makes you think you need my permission?" and give very clear instructions like "You can try it, but you can only jump feet first." As I write this, he is designing a putt putt course in our yard.
This quarantine has given us the time and just the right amount of boredom to practice our creativity, sometimes together, sometimes at risk to our limbs, sometimes stretching into hours of quiet time while we lose ourselves in it. It feels good to lose myself in a project again, and maybe that project might end up draped over the couch or hanging on the walls. Maybe my friends will get pot holders for Christmas.
