Squares and Boarders

My grandmother Pearl taught me to crochet. She and her sister Rae used to knit and crochet. They knitted an exquisite set of boy girl dolls for all the cousins, and needless to say mine didn't survive my play dramas. They also would crochet blankets for all of us. One did squares, one did boarders. One did the doll bodies, one did the clothes. What amazes me is how perfectly the gauges always match. I've madly studied my sisters dolls (the saver in the family) and it's impossible to tell two women had their hands on these dolls, they are perfect. When I got older I thought about their collaboration on colors, it wasn't anything I ever talked to them about when I was a little girl. But theirs was the endlessly beautiful granny square blankets I never tired of looking at. At their house they did more complex ivory lace spreads, and place-mats and samplers. My first little afghan I made around the age of 8 or 9 survives, not too wobbly, and I can't look at it without thinking about how I couldn't wait for grandma's visit to show her the completed project. And though I eventually taught my sisters, two daughters, a daughter-in-law to crochet I don't have that perfect harmony collaborator, although we've occasionally helped just a bit!. Now that there's a new generation, there's a part of my tiny dream: someone to share squares and the boarders with!