The Busy Hands of a Maker

Posted by Susan Caplan Oct 8, 2009

Some people may call me antsy. Whenever I have to attend a meeting (particularly an all-day affair) or a workshop, I bring along yarn. I have knitted and crocheted scarves, hats, gloves, afghans, and even once, a cat bed while in meetings. Non-crafters may think that I’m not paying attention but I actually feel better attuned to what is going on around me if my hands are busy.

If someone else is driving and we’ll be in the car for more than an hour, I’ll be working on something simple. This is a bit of a challenge because I can get horribly car sick. I have difficulty reading map directions in a moving vehicle. So, I look for easy projects that require little or, preferably, no, reading. Looking down at a project can be queasy-making. I feel the project with my fingertips and hazard quick glances at the fabric.

Obviously, this means easy projects – which is probably why everyone I know owns a hat that I’ve made. A lot of people I don’t know own hats that I’ve knit or crocheted because I donate them by the bagful to charities. I once knit a hat from my yarn stash that earned $40 at a silent auction for a nonprofit organization.

Soon I’ll be heading on vacation. My boyfriend plans on doing the majority (if not all) of the driving for a 400 mile trip to Pennsylvania. Once there, some of the places we want to visit are an hour or more away from where we’ll be staying. He will groan and roll his eyes when he gets into the car and sees the dozen skeins of yarn crammed into a tote bag.

But crocheting means that I can carry on a conversation and watch the scenery in ways I couldn’t do if I was reading a book (which really isn’t going to happen in my case). I have requests for fingerless gloves. Actually, someone who watched me crocheting gloves at a meeting last year just requested a few pairs to give as door prizes at this year’s meeting/holiday gathering.

Crocheting projects has the advantage of filling idle time. I also enjoy sharing the results with others (surely I’ve met new people this year who’d appreciate a hat or a pair of fingerless gloves). I do have a few projects lined up that require a little more focus (movie night at home?) – a draft stopper for a raffle table, a few small Christmas presents, maybe some cat toys. My crochet hooks are at the ready.