A chat with my older daughter the other day had me really thinking about my crochet and knit that I do. How I love it. How doing it calms me, most of the time. Seeing my grandson smile when I give him a silly little turtle I crocheted ‘just because’. My friends and family using the sweaters or blankets I make them. The plushies that fill my youngest’s bed. All of it fills my heart. But, what ‘qualifies’ as an heirloom? Who gets to decide? I started with a definition from Merriam-Webster:
Heirloom noun: something of special value handed down from one generation to another
Ok, value is in the mind of who owns something, I guess. So, it could be as simple as a stuffed toy or as extravagant as Grandma’s engagement ring. But was I making heirlooms? According to my daughter, I was.
Me: My afghans are kitty approved I guess 😂
Daughter: They always are! At my house too!
Me: I’ve come to enjoy making them again. People don’t want to pay what they are worth but I’m willing to gift to friends
Daughter: I don’t blame you. It’s a time big and money investment, and they’re worth a lot!
(Son) and I joke that you’re just over there CASUALLY making family heirlooms between your afghans and the sweaters you make lol
Me: I never thought of things I make that way.
Daughter: But they are! When you and I are BOTH gone, Oliver will have the sweater you made me, and all the blankets you’ve made the three of us over the years
My family really plans to pass these things on? They value them that much? Huh.
Well, how’s that for a confidence boost! I thought about it for a bit and made me realize she’s right. I mean I think about the quilts and afghans my aunts and Mom have made me. The many handmade blankets I got as gifts when I was pregnant with my youngest All things I will keep and hand down, why not my own creations?
But to me heirlooms are also a feeling, not just something made and valued for that. I’ve always told my kids when they are down, and I can’t be there, to go wrap themselves in a blanket or sweater I made them and think of it as a big hug from me. Isn’t that what heirlooms are for? To help us feel connected to our family and loved ones? Even ones who ae no longer with us? We have an afghan that my husband’s Oma made that we still use. It helps me and our daughter feel connected to someone we never met since she was gone before I even met my husband. It reminds me she’s here with us even though she’s been gone for a long time. Then I think of the blanket I crocheted for my grandson before he was born. When he’s older will he look at it or show it to his children and think of me?
For several years I had been trying to make a business out of my hobby. I was disheartened by strangers not finding the value in my work. Hearing “I can make that myself” or “That is just too much for a crochet plushie” while at craft fairs. I stopped crocheting and knitting for a few months. Then I decided that I was going to be doing my craft for me again. To make things for those I care about and not just to sell sell sell. Trying new skills and improving others. Little did I know I was making heirlooms.
I ended up making 2 cable knit sweaters, doing a crochet square a month afghan, finally knitting the Stornoway Throw kit I bought years ago, and many (MANY) plushies. Being inspired by doing what I love again. And now looking at it as I’m making heirlooms, something someone in a generation or two will cherish, makes me not feel like I’m not wasting time and money.
Knowing my loved ones will cherish those afghans and sweaters and plushies for years to come makes me happy. Now looking at the things I create, with my own two hands, and knowing someone, somewhere, will someday look at them and go “My Grandma/ Aunt/Mom/friend made this. Isn’t it wonderful?” makes me not feel like I’m wasting my time.
So go out there and make some heirlooms!
