Comfort Project

[Graceylue]

I know many of you make comfort 'ghans and prayer shawls to comfort others but I was wondering if any of you have a particular project you work on when you've had a particularly stressful day.

I have an afghan that I went through a lot with started making it for someone I thought loved me and put hours of work into it having to restart at least a dozen times to figure out the pattern, some of you may know this particular afghan as my five foot by six foot double strand single crochet afghan of death and insanity, after many trials and tribulations both with the afghan and in the life surrounding it I decided that all the person I was making it for wanted was someone to manipulate and abuse. I left him and soon started seeing someone new, started work on the afghan again with the intention of giving it to my new man, then he broke up with me. Even though we got back together I decided the project was cursed and vowed never to touch it again.

After a particularly stressful day that lead to a near sleepless night I picked up the afghan again, after a while I was able to sleep. That night the afghan and I came to an understanding. It is not cursed, far from it, it is a symbol of everything I've gone through and come out the other side of, a symbol of strength, and it will be there for me long after any man.

It's still my afghan of Death and Insanity, but it's a good insanity, the insanity to take this world and it's relationships with all it's pain and suffering and continue to press on and keep forming new relationships in spite of past pain, and the death of weakness.

 

If you do have a project like mine, I have but one wish, may you never finish.

[Robi]

Yes I find crocheting theraputic also. In the last fews years there have been several deaths and I crocheted up a storm. Hugs to you.

[eyrthmother1]

please don't hate me but i sorta had to laugh towards the end of your story. not out of maliciousness or meanness, but out of joy. that you came to a new understanding of it, and I'd suggest that it's not meant for a man. that it's meant for you. for you to have something when times are difficult (whether due to a man, or anything else) to wrap around you, for it to give you a hug w/ your own abilities and strengths and to comfort you and keep you warm.

 

i usually like to make dishcloths when i'm overwhelmed w/ things. they are simple so mind doen't get further insane, quick and simple.

 

Sandy

[PBLKNP]

I like doing certain stitches to relax. I love the wattle stitch, so I love doing any project where I get to use it. I think it's also called a slanted V stitch...

 

http://www.getcreativeshow.com/Crafting_Sewing_Conference_Center/craft_sewing_seminars/crochetworkshop4.htm

[lindy]

Yes, I find that crocheting when I need to relax or get my mind off of things, is a big help. Just the feel of my yarn in my hands can be so comforting.

[NanaBugs]

Crocheting is a stress reliever for me too. A couple of years ago I was visiting with my parents. I was crocheting some squares for charity while I talked with them about something in my life that I was pretty upset about. As I talked, I noticed my dad was smiling and his smile was getting bigger and bigger. "What?" I said. He laughed and said "Did you know the madder you get, the faster you crochet?"

[mardar]

I have an afghan, that I made most of it in hospital waiting rooms when my father in law was very ill. After he passed away I put it away unfinished in a closet for years because it reminded me of that terrible time. I eventually took it out and finished it and now using it is such a nice reminder of what a nice man he was.

[bgs]

 

i usually like to make dishcloths when i'm overwhelmed w/ things. they are simple so mind doen't get further insane, quick and simple.

 

Sandy

 

I either do dishcloths or potholders when stressed!

[RaggedyAnn]

I usually have a travel project so I can work on it when I'm waiting somewhere. Several years ago I spent a lot of time working on projects while one of my elderly relatives, parent, inlaw - was in the hospital or I brought them an appointment. It helped me pass the time waiting. I noticed that if I was visiting while they were in the hospital or nursing home, that the repitition of my working seemed to calm them & we talked about what I was making & for who. Sometimes just watching seemed to relax them enough to nap a bit. When I took a relative for chemo treatment I would make caps. When the cap was done I would leave it in the box they kept there for that purpose. Sometimes I would finish a cap that I'd started when we got there for treatment. There are a few projects that I put away for a time, to finish later or I just didn't want to see for a while. Now I've taken them all out & gifted them to other family or have them here for myself. Guess what I'm trying to say is that it is therapeutic, for both myself & whoever was with me.

[Valsey]

Crocheting to me in general brings me comfort, it is very calming for me. When my world goes crazy I turn to my hooks.

 

I usually always have a project with me to work on and it always makes me smile when I look up and see someone hypnotized by my hands going back and forth.

 

I am glad you made peace with the afghan Gracehue, it was meant for you all along.