Crochet Compulsion

Let's start at the beginning of the compulsion. I learned to crochet while I was pregnant with my daughter 28 years ago. Patterns were fairly easy to come by, and of necessity being very thrifty in those days I bought most of my crochet booklets, thread, and yarn from the Thrift Store.

Fast forward another 8 years, and I had accumulated quite the collection of Magic Crochets and 10¢ booklets from the 40s and 50s, as thread crochet is much much less expensive than anything done in yarn, and much more portable. After my stroke, those beauties were relegated to a storage shed to rot. I've shed many a tear over that lost collection.

Since I began crocheting again, earlier this year, I came to learn that my old favorites are now out of print, and after Katrina when so many lost everything they owned, the Thrift Store had meager pickings.What a joyous chore tracking them down online has become. I've managed to reassemble my old collection and expand it. I've tracked down 85 issues of Magic Crochet on eBay, and have 10 more on the way. ⅔ of of the entire print run will soon be mine. I'm rubbing my hands together in avaricious glee and cackling.

Not to mention my old 10¢ crochet booklets, of which I have 4 binders full to bursting.

And I've discovered Elizabeth Hiddleson, whose 4-A will yield a delightful Fleur de Lis doily when it arrives, perhaps 2.

Now if I can just get my hot little hands on the 1990s issue of Crochet Fantasy that has a toy dragon pattern reminiscent of Puff the Magic Dragon, my collecting days will be over.