Member of the Month

I can't remember a time in my life that crafts, of one kind or another, were not a part of our lives. My parents believed in a very old fashioned Xmas where everything that was given must be hand-made. It wasn't until later that store bought items were included in our giving. This tradition led me to try many different crafts over the years. A few of these crafts have stuck with me until this very day. I learned to knit the first year I was married in order to make my husband a sweater. I learned to knit from one of those "learn to knit" phamplets put out by the yarn company. I will never forget that Xmas morning when my new husband put the sweater on and all that you heard was the cracking of the thread that I had sewn the sweater together with. The book just said "sew the side seams together" It never said to use the same yarn and I had used sewing thread. While stationed overseas when my husband was in the military I learned to crochet. Because I didn't speak the language that well it was a true watch and copy process. But learn I did. It is still one of my favorite crafts. Today I knit strickly for children. I have a small local speciality shop that carries some of my sweaters but the rest I give away. I don't want to ever reach a point that I knit only to make money because the fun of the craft would disappear as the sales would go up. I don't have a favorite pattern but a neck-down raglan would be my first choice or any garment knitted on circular needles. I'm getting lazy in my old age and sewing the seams seems to get harder all the time. As for a favorite yarn, that is a harder question. I have been using a lot of acrylic yarn lately because I have found that most people these days prefer to machine wash the sweaters. I can only hope that as they get older they will appreciate a garment that lasts more than one season. I,myself, prefer a nice soft wool or wool blend. Today, with all the computers, getting patterns and help is just a click away. And I believe that anyone with a special craft should want that craft passed on to as many people as possible. We have lost too many of our handcrafts already and if we don't teach the next generation our skills nobody else will.

Lorraine is 53 years old, born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England raised in USA and lived in Spain for 5 years. Her husband is in the Navy, she's a mother of 4 and her 1st granddaughter due Oct 25. She's a college graduate and now retired by choice. Lorraine knits for pleasure and $ for a local speciality shop and is an avid reader. She has been knitting 30+ years/crocheting longer. She likes bird watching and makes birdhouses along with her husband. Lorraine loves anything outside, such as fishing, hiking gardening. She also has 2 dogs and is just learning to use computer.

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