Hi Magnus! Yep, I think trying crochet again might be easier than knitting... Grandma taught me crochet, knitting and french-knotting as a kid. The main problem is, even signing my name 5 times in a row, makes my hand tremor start up. This is why I do not do any hand-sewing either. I can do "fine hand work" for 3-5 minutes and then the tremor starts and I have to quit. It's not degenerative, in other words there's no loss of sensation, doctors call it "familial essential tremor" and my Mom's side of the family all have it. It gets worse with age, and I just turned 50 last Sunday . I've had it since my 30's.

Hey, I'm really enjoying all your Home Ec stories and experiences!!

I love reading all the stories of your lives! I'm a storyteller by nature, so I have had to work hard to stick to highlights in list form. Otherwise, I'd write a book!

born with a creative streak
from early age through high school learned hand embroidery, general crafts, knitting, sewing clothing
after high school moved away from home in the country to the big city
business college
various clerical jobs
some dark years
asked Jesus into my heart
worked as a transcriptionist in a law office
met the love of my life (will celebrate 34 years in May)
became active in church
have a son (29 yrs old) and daughter (25 yrs old)
a stay at home mom
husband and I began a carpet cleaning business (still going strong)
homeschooled our children from birth through high school
began quilting
joined a local guild
became charter member of TQS
3 1/2 yrs ago decided to get healthy--totally changed diet, started working with personal trainer, lost 30 lbs,
more energy, no more depression , more self-confidence and less shyness than I've ever had
son lives 1 hr away, graduated with a degree in film studies, is a starving artist (writer) with 2 part time jobs
daughter will graduate in May with a masters in teaching piano
I have been in the same Bible study group for about 15 yrs
I look after my 90-yr-old mother who has congestive heart failure

what keeps me sane: church, Bible study, fitness, and developing my quilting skills

I know there are many more members out there who have not told their stories. Keep the stories coming! It's never too late!

Brink, it's good to see a post from you again! I always enjoy seeing something from you. Marge

:shock: wow now that is a life

:shock: : : : : :shock:

I am engineer taking care of 3000 bridges and and 200 ferry kays in my region. Maintenance and money:) Why do I love it? I have reinforcement on my nose and stones on my azz:)))))

Lisa, why don't you give crochet a try?
My mother taught me how to knit when I was still in elementary school. She was a superb knitter and would knit entire suits and jackets for herself in the most exquisite silk and mohair yarn from Europe. I still knit today and am currently making socks for everyone in family. My nanny taught me how to crochet and I ended up crocheting my own knee socks to go with the British school uniform!
Jeanine

I was one of 5 girls and we all did Home Ec. My mother dreaded it because it meant 5 lots of baking ingredients every week and 5 lots of sewing supplies - all of which were probably eventually discarded. Money was non-existent so it was tough on her. I remember having to make a dress and so I was given a pattern that my aunt had made and fabric from the remnant bin. The fabric was mustard coloured with white spots - sooo uncool in the hippie seventies in Ireland. And the pattern was something from the 50s. I tried to make it but I could not sustain the interest because of the 'hickey' fabric and pattern.

As for needlework, well my mother taught me to knit when I was about 7 and I was a good knitter from the beginning. I also loved to do embroidery and in fact my aunt had a little piece framed which I embroidered when I was 11 years old. It still hangs in my parents living room. I think I must have been a seamstress in a former life.

No home-ec or 4H for me. My mom taught me to crochet one summer--I must have been about 13. Every time she thought I wasn't paying attention, she slapped my bare leg. If I made a mistake, she made me rip it out even if it was at the beginning. Oh! and I was taught on those tiny needles that you can't see the hook on and thread so fine it was like crocheting with sewing thread. While this was harsh, crocheting with a tiny needle and fine thread is still my favorite and I can read a pattern (mom can't). I surpassed her skill very early. Another up side to this, I work a craft until I am really good at it before I get bored with it and I still don't hesitate to rip out until it is right. No wonder it takes me forever to get a quilt done! ;~)

I was in 4H long before Home Ec. and came from a sewing, cooking, crafting family so Home Ec. was easy but boring. The most challenging Project was knitting a stocking cap and mittens. I knit so tight it took three times the normal amount of yarn and you could have stayed warm at the North Pole with those dang things. They wore like iron. Sometime after my kids were little and our son threw the red stocking cap wet on top of a load of regular wash and turned some of my clothes blotchy red, I threw them in the garbage. I have never knitted since. I do not remember a single other thing from three years of Home Ec. but sure remember the 4H demonstrations and style shows (my least favorite - cause I was a klutz and hated to have to parade around in front of people). I am in my seventies so I either have a good selective memory or embarrassment lasts a long time!!!!!! LOL Hugs, Ann

Hi Susan! I feel your pain, re the hand-embroidery... and being forced to tear it out!

You have me beat on the knitting front! Mom was very good at it, but as a teenager I was always dropping stitches and could not follow a pattern. I finished one mohair "neck warmer" continuous circle then. It's lopsided, lol.

35 years later, after moving from warm Cali to chilly Seattle, I decided I should try to knit again.. .surely I could do better now? And it would be a nice cozy thing to do while my DH watches TV after work. But nope, I'm hopeless. Only 10 minutes of practice, and my hand tremor starts up. I should have tried this years ago, but I had absolutely no use for warm knitted things while living in California! I wish I could have done something with the big chunky needles like you did!

Neat!

LisaWantsToKnow wrote:
In 8th grade, we had to embroider a dish-towel, "huck-towelling" I think it was called. We used embroidery floss. I picked what I considered the prettiest pattern, which was also quite intricate. Well, the sides were supposed to be symmetrical and when I got to the end, I realized I skipped a row. The teacher made me pull the whole D*&^ thing out. I finished the simplest pattern after that and put her on my despise list.

I also knitted a long scarf on giant needles. That was a fun, no thought project. I still can't follow a knitting pattern.

pamo65 wrote:
Wow, you are a trooper Pam, to stick with such a stressful job for so many years! Perhaps it's my A.D.D. but I was always yearning for the next exciting change (in job, crafts, adventure activities) to maintain that level of adrenaline that is so helpful for folks like to to keep a sharp focus. I am a couch potato without that adrenaline excitement, and that's pretty bad for my waistline, wherever it has gone!

Lucky you, Pam, that your school allowed you to skip Home Ec! In the 70's in Ohio, NO ONE female could skip Home Ec! I already knew how to do the stuff, I'm sure you'd have been as bored as I was. Being a latch-key kid of a divorced mom, and the oldest child, I was domestically experienced already. My little brother became a very good cook too!

I wonder what Home Ec stories people have? I remember having to make a wrap-around "jumper" (the "dress" you wear over a blouse, not the sweater like in the U.K.). It was an ugly pattern, nobody "cool" wore them then, and we all had to wear ours to school one day, for the passing grade! I was still dumpy with baby-fat then, and always self-conscious. I remember being mortified!! Anyone else?

Keep 'm coming!