Blue Daisy Crochet

Last week, my sister-in-law stayed with us for several days, as she is awaiting her visa clearance to travel to India, to lay her husband's ashes to rest in the bosom of the mighty Ganges River, as is their Hindu custom.
Her husband's death was sudden, a shock to everyone's system, and for her has left behind an ache that has not yet begun to lessen.

I could not find the right words, and my husband and I could only help her through the paperwork, stand by her while she grieved, and offer whatever condolences we could. She and I shared tears, and we also shared  tiny, shining bits of humor wherever we could find them as the days passed. One of the things I shared with her was a nudge of instruction on how to crochet. When I am stressed or depressed, or juggling both of these emotions, I find that tapping into my creative soul, and finding something for my hands to do so that my brain can work out the bigger stuff in the back of my mind, soothes me in ways that very few other things can do.

Well, she took off with crocheting like a spell had come over her! She picked it up quickly, as her mother- my dearly departed mother-in-law from several years back- used to crochet around her when she was a young girl, but never had the patience to teach her. Now she coiled the yarn around her finger like an old pro, understood immediately what I meant by 'yarn over in the back' or 'only put the hook through the front loop', and with very little effort on my part, her hooks began to fly.

She has since made a few blankets in the granny-square style after mastering single- and double-crochet on scarves. She even made my son a throw that he loves. When she came to stay with us, she saw my gift to my good friend, Kani, sitting there, waiting to be shipped, and was intensely interested in learning how to make the daisy granny-square block.

To make a long story, well...of a medium length... From teaching her this new block, she made me my own little throw pillow which will go up in my girly space in my bedroom.

Above is the front, and below is the back. As you can tell, the blues and greens are one of my favorite color palettes!

 I, in turn, created a smaller lined bag that she can take with her to India, to move her own crochet project from house to house as she re-visits her friends and family to share the grieving of her husband's passing.

Above is the front, below is the back and closeup of the button and loop closure.

I lined her bag as well, so that no hooks or small tools could fall out. She had already begun to stash some of her balls of yarn as pictured... 

From tragic ending, then, comes a glimmer of peace, and from one of her creations after another comes a semblance of hope, of future, to remind us all that the end may not be as final as it feels at first.

This post is dedicated to my 'Didi' (which means sister in Bengali), Sarmila. May the Gods and Goddesses bless you and look over you and your family on your journey to bring Partho back home. We love you.