In 1970 at the age of 16, my older sister taught me how to crochet. She and her friends were making crocheted belts at the time and I wanted to be a part of it. The belts were colorful and funky, the kind that kids of my era were wearing with their faded out, hip hugging jeans. The belts were "catching on" and soon my sister began selling them to some of my high school classmates. The extra cash came in handy. The art of crochet had made a comeback during the 70s and was popular once again; it was a cool thing to do. Some people began making over sized shoulder bags while the more daring were crocheting bikinis and everything in between. It was the time of Peace, Love and Rock n Roll. It was also the time I realized my own love of creative art. This interest was bound to come naturally to me as it did for my own mother and hers as well. My grandmother was an avid needle worker and especially loved to crochet. I remember her telling me that in the early 1940s during WWII, she began making and selling crocheted baby layettes in the restaurant across the street from her home in Bucksport Maine. The extra money helped supplement her meager family income. Her little crocheted sets were displayed in the window of the restaurant bearing a price tag of a whopping $5.00 each. The sets included a sweaters, a bonnet and a pair of booties. She told me they were easy to make and they sold quite well. My grandmother passed away over 20 years ago now and my mom gave me her crochet supplies; i.e. yarn, hooks and patterns. Since then it has been my intention to try my own hand at recreating one of the sets she might have made so long ago. I wanted to see for myself how this time consuming effort could ever be profitable. So, armed with a few skeins of yarn from my stash, a hook and pattern, not to mention sheer determination I tried. I made this little crochet set below from a vintage pattern line from the 40s, not unlike one my grandmother would have made. I gotta tell ya, It took me forever to complete and I would never be able to sell it for what it is worth it, especially if I were to include labor. The good news is I don't have to, but my grandmother did. Many people back then thought her sets were worth $5.00 but not me, I know better. .....
They were priceless.
