My wife Jenny is very talented.  She is a brilliant artist, but has never called her creations art.  Her passions range from knitting and crocheting to quilting, beading, ceramics, sewing, and so much more! I have convinced her to share some of her talents with you. I call it, "Todd's Crafty Wife". She would probably call it, "My Crafty Life".  This is how Jenny developed her passion for creating beautiful things, in her own words:

My Crafty Life

It all started when I was 10 years old. Grandma and Grandpa were visiting the new house in Colorado. Grandma handed me a steel crochet hook and thread and said "you are going to learn how to crochet". After a frustrating afternoon the light bulb went on and I was hooked. I made a lot of doilies in those days, baby blankets, and started a lot of things that never got finished but loved the process. I did knit a baby blue cable sweater in High School home ec class and it even got put in the display case! One of my prized possessions is the intricate crocheted Aran Afghan I made for my grandmother in honor of her teaching me how. That afghan thankfully came back to me after she passed.

Jenny in the Gunny Sack dress she sewed in highschool
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Mom had always sewn my clothes, but I never really paid attention to sewing until I was junior high age and started making some of my own clothes. I attended at least four dances in High School, never once did I wear a store bought dress. Never even considered it, when I wanted a dress mom drove us to the fabric store where we poured over patterns then chose the fabric and notions. We made all of them together (but Mom did all the hard stuff, and still does).That was during the "Gunny Sack" days. Boy I wish I had kept just one of those dresses. I also made bridesmaids dresses for 6 years. I didn't get to keep any of them either.

I made my first quilt when I was 12 years old on Grandma's farm where I lived every summer. It's the ratty one I keep in the car now, some day I plan to repair it and give it a new life. Mom, her best friend (Wilma), and I sew every week. Our quilting has come a long way! Mom now has a long arm quilter so that we can do our quilts from start to finish. We keep very few of them, but I finally finished one that is on our guest bed.

Jenny Harding with the quilt she made
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Jenny Harding and Cam The Ram
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Other things I sew now are Halloween Costumes and every now and then CAM the CSU ram needs a new jacket. It was designed and sewn by my friend Marci and me.

You name the craft and I have probably at least tried it. Stamping, beading, quilting, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, tatting, sewing, ceramics (not pottery), leather kits, wood burning, loom hot pads, a little bit of upholstering, paint by numbers (almost forgot about that one!).

Yarn for 2012 Bernat Mystery Afghan
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My current project is the Bernat Mystery Crochet-A-Long (CAL) and Knit-A-Long (KAL). Every week the Bernat website posts the new block for each afghan. People from all over the world have joined in and are blogging about their color choices and how exited they are to get started. But more about that next time!

Happy Crafting - Jenny

 

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