Can I start by saying that it’s 6:00 PM and it’s dark outside? We felt sorry for the commuters in the highway cameras they show on the news as they will be driving home in the dark for the next few months.  Winter seems to come with the time change. More time for indoor sports, including something I love to do: needlecrafts ranging from crocheting to knitting to sewing with the focus mostly on crocheting.

I have been a crafter all my life. My grandmother taught me to crochet. She also sewed. My dolls had unique, homemade clothes. If she were still with us, my grandmother would be a hit on Etsy.

I love making things. I find crocheting to be both challenging and relaxing at the same time. It involves math and patterns. I also make pop up cards where I learn a little bit about physics, I think.

So, I was happy to see that Craft is included at Make, the website devoted to DIY and how to projects. The focus tends to be on digital and electronic gadgets. But there, in the midst of Arduino boards and 3D printers, are crocheted crew members from the Enterprise and a quilted Kindle cover. These may not be the typical Martha Stewart kind of crafts but they show the fun of creating stuff.

The maker movement reminds us of the pleasure of creating by hand. There is a sense of being connected to a long tradition of folk artists and basement inventors. And, in my case, to my grandmother, who was never very far from a crochet hook or knitting needles.