Hello from NY

[Gem]

Hello, my name is Laurie I am a widow and mom of 5. I am 44 yrs old and live in a tiny little town in NY, population 550 there are more cows than people here I have been crocheting since I was 10 yrs old. My husband passed away unexpectedly 3 yrs ago and crocheting has been a good way for me to cope with his death. I taught my 2 daughters to crochet last yr and they are "Hooked" too!
Over the winter I have made 22 pairs or fingerless gloves, 12 hats, 8 pairs of slippers, 2 mobious infinity scarves, 4 regular scarves, 3 pairs of long mittens, 3 pairs of leg warmers, 2 twin size afghans, 2 cowls and 2 ponchos. I have 2 twin size blankets in the works right now, one is a chevron and the other is a v-stitch. I like to have more than 1 project going at a time just to mix it up a bit.
My kids love wearing and showing off the things I make them. They have been my saving grace through this difficult time in our lives, I am a very blessed mom to have such great kids!
I have been lurking around here and decided it was time to show myself lol. I enjoy all the posts and links from everyone!
Have a great day!!!
Laurie aka Gem

[Maryjane]

Welcome to the forum! You will find comfort in this group! Where in NY do you live? I'M near Saratoga Springs.

[Gem]

I am in the lower Hudson Valley in the Tri-State area a town called Unionville

[Maryjane]

I have family near Poughkeepsi and I grew up there. Perhaps we could get together sometime. I am older 57 but it way work out anyway!

[Gem]

That would be a lot of fun I am sure

[Barbara G.]

Gem,

Welcome to Crochet Talk! It is a pleasure to have you here! I hope you enjoy the group as much as I have! You are welcome to share here and take a look at the resources we have shared on site! :0)

[Foreverlefty]

Hello Laurie aka Gem

It is sooo nice to meet you, My name is Patti & I live way across the U.S. from you over here in Oregon of all places lol. I am 43 years old & a retired Mom to both my wonderful Children Victoria & Patrick & also a Grandmama to two sweet precious Grandbabies Jenny & Lilly. I have been crocheting since I was taught by my Mom & Grandma at the young age of 6 & have loved crocheting ever since. I am sooo sorry to hear of your husband's passing, it is very hard to lose someone so special. I am so glad that crocheting has helped you to deal with his passing. I lost my Mom in 2005 unexpectedly & it was very hard time for me as well. I found it very hard to crochet for awhile after she passed as she was the only one who really understood my passion for crocheting & being she taught me. I once entered an afghan I had made for her into the local county fair & took a ribbon on my first entry, so I took that ribbon along with the crochet hook I had used to make then afghan & put them into a picture frame & had my husband write a special thank you to my Mom for teaching me to crochet along with the afghan that won. It was a very special gift I gave to her in the years before her death & she loved it. When she passed away I put that in her casket as I know it had special meaning to her. I still have the afghan I crocheted for her & it is one of my most precious possesions. I miss my Mom as I am sure you miss your husband. I am so sorry for your loss. I too have taught my daughter to crochet, which is special to me passing down the tradition, isn't that wonderful when your kids take up such a special craft. My grandaughters are already intrested in learning at the age of 3 & 4 so I am excited that they may learn as well. It sounds like you have been a very busy lady making all those special items. If you don't mind me asking what do you do with all the items you have made? Do you sell your work, or have you ever thought of entering your things in the fair? I know alot of the things I have made over the years have been given as gifts, put into the fair & I've even sold quite a few things, alot of them were close to you as my sister lives in Mass. I am currently working on a bunch of baby items as well as things for my Grandbabies, & I hope to soon have enough baby things to donate to the hospital my daughter in law to be works at. I would also like to be able to donate things to the homeless, homeless shelters & habitat for humanity fairly soon & also sell more. I also need to get started on Christmas items to give as gifts. What have you found that you like making the best so far? I am game for just about anything to make & its so hard to choose a favorite. Well I just wanted to say hello to my fellow crocheter & I hope we will have a chance to become friends. I hope you have a wonderful week & get to crochet bunches. I would love to see your work sometime so I hope you will be posting pictures of all you make. I love to see others work. Happy Crocheting. your crochet friend Patti

[Gem]

Good morning all, I am so sorry for your losses Patti, my heart goes out to you. I have found that I get "hooked" on a type of project for a while. Once I master making it I go on a tangent, untill I find something else that peeks my interest. Right now I am into afghans, I just got over my obsession with fingerless gloves, lol. Being that I have the 5 kids there is always someone waiting inline for theirs to be done. I research free crochet patterns almost every day and get some emails from sites with patterns. I have compiled a ton of patterns from the web. Sometimes I find a pattern I like but will tweak it or change it a bit to better suit my needs. I think after my afghan obsession I might get into making summer cover ups or some sort of clothing, not really sure yet. I just bought my daughter Chloe a round knitty knitter loom set so am looking for easy patterns for her to try, she got it for her 13th birthday. I also go on you tube for patterns, I find at times it is easier to read & watch to learn a new stitch or pattern. You can pause the video and rewind if needed lus some have crochet along series. Well hope all have a great day! Laurie