Yesterday Jeremy left for an extended business trip. Eight days. Eight nights of nobody to worry about but myself. Although I will miss him, I am excited about the time alone. I thrive on time alone. It makes me feel happy to come to the end of a day, put the kids to bed and have nobody else wanting something from me. Is that my inner selfish being revealing itself? I don't know. That's a job for a therapist and would probably take many years of intensive therapy to unravel.
Last night I was on my own by about 7:45. The kids were in bed and blessedly not calling me back upstairs every two minutes. I sat down on the couch and picked up my latest crochet project a scarf from Vogue Knitting's Crocheted Scarves Two and crocheted until I could hardly keep my eyes open. I was in heaven. Crocheting, American Idol (even if it is the total waste that is Hollywood Week) and then real estate shows on HGTV. That is my idea of an almost perfect night alone.
I have been in the mood to crochet for the past month. It's all I really want to do when I have some time to myself. I've made a few pairs baby booties and a gorgeous little necklace (I'll post that soon). I made a totally granny little door hanger for Kaitlin for Valentine's day. I've made progress on a granny square doll blanket for Kaitlin and now I'm working on the scarf I mentioned above. Oh, and my trip to Paris in April will totally include a trip to La Droguerie in Le Bon Marche for some delicious new yarn for myself.
Just as some people turn to comfort food, I turn to crochet when life gets to be a little too much and I just need to feel cozy. I love the smooth repetition of crocheting up a pretty little pattern. I love that I can put a project down in the middle and pick it up with no difficulty. I even find counting my stitches as the end of a row soothing. I love that when I crochet I am creating something that is useful. I love the order of crochet, but I also love it's forgiving nature. Small mistakes are rarely noticeable. Couldn't we all use a friend like that? Somebody who doesn't notice our faults? When I crochet all is right with the world. All my problems are forgotten. I am participating in an activity that takes me into my own mind and gives it room to wander.
I learned how to crochet in college by watching my neighbor, Tasha, work on a project. It wasn't long before my dorm room became the place for our little corner of the world to gather whenever we found ourselves home on a Friday night. My roommate, Leslie, had a TV/VCR combination and I had lots of good videos. Girls would gather in our room with their crochet projects and we'd watch When Harry Met Sally, taking breaks only to sing along to "Surrey with the Fringe on Top", which is still one of the funniest scenes in a movie, in my opinion. I have been crocheting ever since. Oh, there have been times when I didn't crochet for a long time. But I always come back to it. I always will. Crochet is my comfort craft. I just couldn't do without it.
