1981
My Crochet Thread
August 1981


“My Crochet Thread,” Ensign, Aug. 1981, 39

My Crochet Thread

Our daughter Dianna has started to crochet. I learned at about the same age and enjoyed doing all sorts of needlework; but the demands of motherhood required me to reluctantly pack the crochet thread away until life slowed down a little.

Many times through the years I took the well-marked box off the shelf and got a ball of thread, but not for crocheting. It was used to wrap packages for mailing; mark rows in vegetable gardens; surround newly planted lawn; suspend mobiles from the ceiling; fly Cub Scout kites. Each time thread was removed for such a purpose, it was done with a little sadness and, sometimes, even resentment. That’s not what it was intended for!

Then, as the supply of thread dwindled, a thought came to me which replaced any uneasiness associated with its use. My husband and I share a common goal of reaching the celestial kingdom with our five children. We know this will require a lifetime of working, loving, sharing, studying, praying, understanding, learning, and more. For an instant, these qualities became like beautiful threads in my mind, weaving us into a solid family unit as we progressed toward our goal. My crochet thread was interwoven with these other threads, working out the most intricate pattern it had ever undertaken. Packages, gardens, mobiles, and kites became lovely patterns in the evolving fabric.

This was the perspective I needed. I hadn’t stopped crocheting, after all!

The time has not yet come for me to resume needlework; but with Dianna’s increasing interest, I can begin to restock the thread box. In the meantime there are more gardens to plant and more kites to fly!—Beatrice S. Hodson, Midland, Michigan

Photography by Jed A. Clark