Late in the winter of 2010 when I decided to begin blogging about crochet, one of my goals was to educate people as to what crochet is — it’s not just “not knitting” — and to teach them to recognize it and all of its intrinsic beauty.

And while the road has been bumpy at times, it would seem that I have been successful in that part of my endeavor.

Not only do friends from high school and beyond routinely tag me on Facebook to various links and posts about my beloved craft, but sometimes someone will come to me with photos of something they have found to see if I can offer any insight.

My mother is another important component of my outreach.

She wears the scarves and cowls I’ve given her and uses the various purses I have made for her. When asked if she made that (whatever “that” might be) she dutifully explains to friends and strangers alike that her daughter made it, and she passes out my cards on a regular basis.

And it was through one of my mother’s contacts that I recently got to view a crocheted piece unlike any I had seen before.

A former neighbor of my mother’s had gone to upstate New York to visit her brother, and while there, she came across an afghan that had been on her parents’ bed.

Thanks to my incessant outreach, she immediately recognized it as crochet and took a photo which she then texted to my mother who then forwarded it to me.

To say that it was breathtaking does not do it justice.

Composed of nine panels of Tunisian crochet bordered with single crochet and extended stitches of varying lengths to add both texture and design, it was crocheted by the great grandmother of the current owner on the occasion of the current owner’s parents’ wedding, and if you were going to own just one piece of crochet, this is a masterpiece.

It was my good fortune to see it, live and in person this past Sunday.

Unfortunately, it was a rainy overcast Sunday, so there was nowhere for me to spread it out, but I was able to get a series of photos including this overview:

this detail of the panel:

this detail of a corner:

as well as this detail of a seam:

and this final photo which to my mind accurately captures much of the beauty of the piece:

My quest for crochet to have what I see as it’s rightful place at the crafting table is not yet complete, but I think that over the past seven-and-a-half years, I have made progress, and I will continue to work as I always have, one stitch at a time.