Gifts for My Granddaughter
I was twelve years old when my mother's first grandchild was born. Mom began crocheting baby blankets and she made blankets for every grand baby that came along. Mom had six grandchildren in all and five great-grandchildren. She would make four or five blankets for each one. I was Mom's youngest child and it would be awhile before I had a baby of my own so when I was sixteen Mom made a blanket for me that covered my entire bed. I can remember her sitting in her chair for hours and hours working on that blanket. My mother passed away on January 28, 2011, I am 42 now and I still have that blanket. It is a treasure that can never be replaced. I now know how much love went into making that blanket for me and I cherish every stitch. 
My daughter told me in March that I will be a grandmother. Addison Ray is due November 10th. Like my mother did I began crocheting baby blankets. If anyone had told me before March I would be crocheting I would have said they were nuts! But.... here I am five blankets done and still going and I love it! I learned a few basic stitches and have experimented with a few others but not quite so successfully. I am sure I will try some other techniques in time but for now I just use the simpler stitches. I had never crocheted anything more than a single chain before these blankets. Mom tried to teach me when I was young but I didn't have the patience or the desire to learn. When I reached the age that I wanted to learn Mom was no longer able to do it. Most of the blankets I have made were either single stitched or made with a granny square.
This is the website I used to learn to make the granny squares http://www.wikihow.com/Crochet-a-Granny-Square. It's really easy to do once you get started and there are so many different colors and textures to choose from.
These blankets are creations of my heart and gifts made by my hands for those I cherish. With every stitch I thought of the new addition coming to our family and how much I am looking forward to meeting her. At the same time I thought of my own mother and all of the 'stitches' she made in our lives. I played in my memories talking with her, choosing yarn colors and watching her take the yarn and turn it into a precious token of love. I wonder if she knew then how precious these blankets would one day become. Perhaps one day long from now these blankets will be as cherished by my daughter and granddaughter as I cherish the one my Mother made for me.
~ Sharon
