Something from nothing...

 

I finally started crocheting again. I’m not sure why it has been so long since I made something. I guess I got to a point where I just didn’t think anyone needed anything. I like crocheting. It’s a relaxing task that reminds me of my mother and grandmother. It gives me something to do in the evening besides fall asleep in front of a screen. And as I watch the little strand of yarn transform into the uniform stitches that will eventually become an afghan, I am thrilled by the process of creating something from nothing.  

My parents and grandparents were skilled at recycling and re-creating “something from nothing” before it was the politically correct thing to do. One of my earliest memories is of helping Dad and Gran make a quilt from clothing scraps and an old army blanket. My mother made aprons from flour sacks. My grandfather carved toys from scraps of wood. My grandmother made my aunt a lovely dressing table from a board and two apple crates. She covered it with a beautiful pink ruffled skirt and topped it with a used mirror from the flea market. And of course Mom and Gran and every other woman I knew crocheted and sewed and quilted and embroidered.

 

My family was creative with what they had on hand because we were poor and often didn’t have the money to buy something new. Now most people just like to be creative because it’s enjoyable and rewarding.  I love those extreme recycling stories about people who build houses out of soda bottles or make sculptures from old car parts. I wish I was more like them. But I do my little part.

As we start off the New Year I am busy organizing and de-cluttering just like everyone else. We accumulate far too much stuff. We own too many things. One way to make sure that we aren’t wasteful is to think of new uses for some of our old things. You remember how happy I was a few weeks ago to recycle the base of my fan into a new birdfeeder! We all need to do more of that kind of recycling, not just the kind where we collect and sort our paper and plastic. I even saw a cute idea yesterday for using leftover yarn from my crochet projects: stuff them into one of those little suet cages in the spring and let the birds build nests with them.

 

So…start looking at some of the things sitting in the closet and get creative! Make something from nothing. It will make you smile!

 

P. S. I uploaded the photos from Hagerman and they are on the left.

Comments

[Megan]

Does making children count as something from nothing? Or making new dishes from leftovers or only using stuff in food storage to make as many meals as possible without going to the store?

Well, it's certainly not an afghan.

I love your blog! I cross paths with your stories and it feels comforting. It gives me roots. And that is totally something from nothing.