Over winter break, I spent a lot of time crocheting my very first blanket while watching Gilmore Girls. I really wanted to cherish the act of creating something while the weather was gloomy and I had free time.
My grandma used to crochet, so we already had a surplus of crochet needles and expertise. She pulled out some of her old projects, small banners with beautiful designs and extreme detail. It amazed me how yarn could be maneuvered to create patterns and even clothing pieces. She had to have spent hours working meticulously, just for the fun of it. Most of her work, like blankets and scarves, she gave away to friends and family.
Senior Madeleine Stone also inspired me to start crocheting after she showed me the star-shaped blanket she made. Stone said that she learned how to crochet from her grandmother as well when she was eight.
“Last year Giada [Cucchiara] asked me to teach her,” Stone said. “She started getting really into it and I was like, ‘you’re making all these cool things. I wanna get into crochet!’ so then that’s that got me into it.”
Madeleine and I had spent our breaks in a similar way. “I’ll sit on my couch, watch TV, and crochet,” Stone said. “I was having a tough time because I couldn’t figure out what TV show I wanted to watch, [but] I started peaky blinders.”
She crocheted Christmas gifts for people, and is currently working on a blanket for her wrestling coach Ashlyn Brantley.
Besides crocheting, Stone played piano, baked chocolate cake, and made a seafood boil. It turns out that spending time at home can lead to creating- gifts, music, and food.