It all started here. Finding an afghan that my grandmother crocheted for my mother back in the 1970's. She made these for pretty much everyone in the family. I got mine when I was about 17 and managed to lose it somewhere in my travels.
My grandmother passed away many years ago and I have been searching for this pattern ever since I lost it...for almost 40 years!
I recently came across the afghan while going through some of my mothers things and grabbed it quicker than you can snatch a baby away from a harmful situation. It was in a plastic zipped up bag along with a quilt that I had made for her several years ago, I threw the bag in my truck and took it home, tossed it onto the dining room floor happy and content.
That night I continued in my quest of learning to crochet a "new to me" stitch. It was tedious and not coming to me as quickly as I would have like but nothing good comes without hard work, right?
The next morning I decided to take the afghan out of the bag, get a closer look and see if I could figure out how it was made. I had lived in guilt long enough after losing the one my gran had made me and was eager to decode the secret evasive pattern.
I could scarcely believe what I was seeing. It just couldn't be! It looked like it but surely not. No. That was just absurd. I ran into the living room and gathered up the meager practice piece I had been crocheting the night before and laid it across my grans afghan. The pattern was different but the stitch looked the same. I literally could not believe my eyes. I took a photo and sent it to my sister for verification. My gran had stitched hers with years of precision and mine was a bit sloppy but I'll be jiggered if it wasn't the exact same stitch!
I sent pictures of the front and the back because I just could not believe it. Had I actually stumbled on something that I had been searching for for 40 some odd years?
My eyes filled with tears at the irony of it all. The joy that I not only found the pattern but I had found an original blanket that she had made and to the amazing coincidence that I had been trying to learn the very stitches that it contained. Tears rolled down my chubby cheeks as I began to sob.I sat down with a pad and a pencil and began to count stitches and patterns and repeats. Not an easy task as I am a beginner at the art of crochet but I was determined! After about 2 hours and feeling satisfied it dawned on me that I could actually ask a question on Facebook in one of my crochet groups along with a picture to see if anyone knew anything about the pattern. If I had only thought of it earlier I would have saved myself some time but also I would have lost the warmth I felt in my heart as it filled with the love I felt as I deconstructed grandmas precious gift.
I did ask the question and got several responses within minutes. Apparently it is called the Navajo Diamond. I quickly scanned all modes of cyberspace to find pictures and patterns but in the end ended up using my own handwritten notes. There were a few mistakes in my initial count but my first project, a baby blanket for a friend turned out to be rather successful and a great learning project.
You just never know when life is going to give you a truly unexpected gift. 💖
