Linking my mom, cousins, grandparents and crochet
It’s coming in November to my what would have been my mom’s 85th birthday. She’s been gone now for almost 20 years, and I still miss her dearly. Maybe more now than ever, because I’m continuing to use “play as therapy” in the domain she occupied well… that of art, what they’re now calling “fibre art” which is wool and fibres and making yarn and paying attention to sheep breeds (which Mom was most curious about). And, of course she was an artist. Mom was a skilled illustrator, loved colour, mastered many different sorts of hand-stitching and was always creating something beautiful while living a life filled with purpose. A life of creativity.
Interestingly, the more I’m quiet and listening and attuned, the more I’m drawn to chatting with my elders. And who better to spend time with than my family elders, my great-cousins and my aunties, those in my family who hold anecdotes and knowledge of people we both knew from our past, and those I hadn’t but wished I’d known, too.
Yesterday, I spent a lovely day with my mom’s first cousin, Lorraine. They had only met once as adults in the 1950s. Lorraine wishes she’d known my mother, they would have had a lot in common and we think they would have enjoyed sharing their lives.
Mom would have been a year older than Lorraine. Their fathers were brothers. [For family’s sake: my mom’s dad was “Louie”, Louis James Carson (1906-1970); and Lorraine’s father was “Lloyd”, born Ernest McDuff Carson (1911-1967) but changed his name to “Lloyd Carsen” in late 1930s per numerology. Long story.]
Lorraine and I had a lovely day together yesterday. She loves to chat on many subjects, including needlecrafts and yarn and colour! She is such a special and fun person to spend time with. She holds many stories of family that I didn’t get to meet, including her grandparents (my great-grandparents) Robert Crabbe Carson (1874-1936) and Laura Jane McDuff (1886-1952), who in later life lived for a long time only a block away from where I live today. In fact, Lorraine and her parents also lived just two blocks away, and the area where I am now was where they spent time walking and living their lives.
My great-grandmother Laura taught Lorraine how to knit, for which Lorraine is still grateful.
This first picture is of my great-grandmother Laura’s fine crochet work. This doily is about 15 inches across. It’s quite fine work and perfect, a treasured heirloom first displayed on dining tables by Lorraine’s mom, and now Lorraine has it and puts it out from time to time. Lorraine also showed me Laura’s hand-carved ivory crochet hooks. They are simple and quite small. They look well loved, and it was wonderful to hold them in my own hands.
These days I’ve been working on honing my crochet skills to cement them in. You see, I’d stopped for a couple of months and was relegated back as a beginning learner for a time before I could pick up any steam. Now, I’ve decided to always have an easy crochet project on the go, to keep me crocheting and using my skill to try to get a little bit faster. I am determined to master crochet and become proficient as before, and stay that way. Then, when the time is right, I would love to move on to Silk and making art pieces… but that’s still down the road a ways.
This picture is the bottom of a simple market bag and 10 inches across for context. It’s quite a bit finer than the chunky woollens I’d been working on last winter… it’s great practice (only counting to up to 6) and the cotton is soft and gentle.
Love. ❤️
