ABOUT
PICS
 One of the few pics I like of me. This one's from 2009 |  Me & my Hubby in 2016 (He's so handsome!) |
|---|---|
 Mom knitting. Her "pet" reindeer loved sitting in her knitting basket |  One of the few things I ever knitted. Mom loved it, but thought it was too nice for her! |
 Mom at Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, MS |  Mom's formal Air Force pose. She was one of the first WAF's! |
 Pete was NOT behaving for this "formal" pic! |  #1 Grand loves his first crocheted gift from Grammy! It was fun making Baymax, but wow did my hands hurt after this one! |
 Me at the Dundee Library Crochet Club |  Pete at the Grand Canyon 2015. He so wants to live in Flagstaff! |
 Me at the Grand Canyon 2015 |  Random Cat Picture. How awesome it would be to only have to be awake for 2 hours a day! |
 Mom's funeral service in New Hampshire. Just before and immediately following this graveside service, two Air Force "fly-bys" soared over. We didn't realize there was a base next to the cemetary. Very Cool. |  Mom's last salon visit. I miss her. |
 My first crocheted bear hat. |
I'm Cheryl Semick and I am a self-taught crocheter. I learned how to crochet from YouTube videos, which entailed much pausing until I got the hang of it - and now I'm HOOKED!
Crocheting became my therapy as I cared for my Mom during her last six months. Mom was a knitter from the age of 10 when she and her mother and many other dedicated ladies in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, knit "soakers" for infants escaping the Nazi regime on the Kindertransport to England, and undershirts for British soldiers overseas during World War II. She knit throughout all my years growing up, mostly afghans for us kids. Sometimes I resented her seeming obsession with those needles, but now, I totally get it.
​
In 2015, Mom lived with me and my husband and could no longer knit well. She had Alzheimer's and, although she could hold the needles and knit for a while, she would soon get disgusted with all the holes in her work and unravel it all.
​
I was unraveling, too. Her knitting was the only craft she could still do that kept her occupied and happy, and so I tried and tried to learn how to knit so we could do something together - if not for just a few quiet minutes. It was a welcome break from the continuous questions: Who are you? Where am I? When do I get to go home? But I just couldn't hold two needles AND the yarn. That's when I decided to learn how to crochet.
​
Crocheting filled several needs for me, bot one big need I didn't know I had: sanity! Yes, crocheting is instant gratification. I could produce a completed project much faster than I could If I was knitting. Plus, I only had to hold one "needle" (hook) and the other hand held the yarn. But sanity was the biggie. I held onto that hook and yarn for dear life, but to anyone watching, I was just crafting.
​
Somehow, in the midst of my therapy-by-hook, I really got into it. I created a Ravelry account, I joined the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) and a cozy little group of crocheters at my local library. I checked out books with crochet patterns then really got addicted to Pinterest.
​
But after Mom died in late May, 2015, I could touch neither yarn nor hook for over six months. I figured my crocheting days were over and tucked it all away.
​
Then, in mid-2016, the nack was back. I un-earthed my yarn and hooks and crocheted like the wind! I crocheted so quickly that I accumulated a stash and that's when it hit me - I can sell these! Of course, I crochet for our Grands and for my own pleasure first, but why not sell? I am also seeking crochet friends in Peoria where we move to in April 2015 to hang with, but I'd really like to get with crocheters to create gifts for seniors in nursing homes, for the homeless and babies. If you, or someone you know would like to connect, let me know!
