The Dungeon Prompt for this week asked us to identify a life pattern, one that we see repeating again and again.  Since I already write regularly about the patterns in my life, I decided to answer this prompt in an unusual and fun way.

As I looked for a pattern to explore, I realized I have a nearly fifty-year-old pattern (something that happens in a regular and repeated way) of making items that are patterned (a repeated decorative design) and/or are made from patterns (a set of instructions to be followed in making a sewn or knitted item)!  While I certainly don’t have pictures of everything I have made over the years, I do have a good sampling.

In the late 60’s and 70’s, I knit sweaters for myself and people important to me.

I also liked to sew.  I made my blue wedding dress and the dashiki Al is wearing.  I also made shirts and other clothing items for us.

I believe I crocheted the outfit Chaitanya wore when she came home from the hospital.  I made the three sweaters below when Sreejit was a baby and have loaned them to friends with new babies many times.  They still look as perfect as they did in 1975!

In the 70’s, I made several blankets.  Two of them I still use.

In the 80’s, I made quilts for my daughter and my mother.  When my mother passed, the white quilt was returned to me.  It took me many years to finish Chaitanya quilt.  By the time I completed it, she had moved to India where a quilt wasn’t needed.  Both quilts are still used from time to time.

Sometime during the 90’s, I started making tiny Gods and Goddess dolls. They are sold during Amma’s tours as a way of making money for her humanitarian projects.

Saraswati

In the 2000’s, I worked with other Amma devotees to crochet blankets for homeless women who were moving into transitional housing.

Some years later, we worked together to crochet items out of recycled plastic.

Made from coffee and chip bags, strap and newspaper wrapper

Made from grocery bags

I can see that patterns are even a factor in the gardening I do now!

This has been a very interesting prompt for me to write.  I am realizing how important projects such as these have been throughout my life.

It has been a very long time since I have immersed myself in any of these crafts.  I hope to begin some of them again in the not too distant future!

Written for Dungeon Prompts: Patterns