A SPECIAL SECTION OF THE DENISON BULLETIN AND DENISON REVIEW
SENIOR LIVING www.DBRnews.com | Friday, March 26, 2010
Lois also made the birdhouse pictured above on one of the doilies she made.
Lois Adams keeps her hands and days busy by crocheting. Lois said she likes to crochet because it is relaxing and the items she crochets make nice gifts.
Pictured is one of the doilies that Lois made.
A stitch in time
Lois Adams turns thread into crochet art by Gordon Wolf Lois Adams has a number of interests that keep her busy at the age of 90 – reading, painting ceramics, playing Euchre and Bingo. But she is probably best known for keeping people in stitches – crochet stitches. Lois, a resident of Denison Care Center, crochets necklaces, covers for clothes hangers and doilies – hundred and hundreds of doilies. Lois can’t remember exactly how many years she’s been crocheting, but said she learned as an adult from her older sister, Florence Jones, now deceased. Lois grew up in Charter Oak and also lived in Dow City before moving to Denison Care Center. For 12 years she was the cook at the Charter Oak Senior Center, retiring in 1990. Her first crocheted works were probably granny squares. She used those to make pillows and afghans. “I’m going to make a jacket from granny squares some day,” Lois added. “Kim (Korwes) gave me the pattern.” Korwes is the activities coordinator at Denison Care Center. She’s made seven afghans for the United Methodist Church in Charter Oak. About a year ago Lois started crocheting necklaces. “I got the pattern from my niece (Doris Brich of Omaha),” she stated. She has given away many necklaces and also sells a few. Family, friends and staff at Denison Care have all been recipients of Lois’s handy work. Lois began crocheting doilies about 15 years ago. She’s lost count how many
she’s made. Two Christmases ago, Lois made doilies for family members. With four children, 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, that added up to more than 30 doilies. Not long ago, Lois instructed two greatgrandchildren – Leah and Lexie Adams how to crochet when they visited her at Denison Care Center. Leah, age 7, and Lexie, 11, are the daughters of Stephanie Adams of Dow City. One of Lois’s daughters, Karen Adams of Vermillion, South Dakota, also crochets. “But she taught herself. In fact, she has taught her mom some things,” Lois joked. Lois listed many reasons why she likes to crochet. “It’s kind of relaxing, and what I crochet makes nice gifts. It’s also something to do and keeps me busy,” Lois stated. Crocheting also requires patience, especially when you miss a stitch, something that Lois admits she does lot of times, even with her years of experience. “You just have to rip it out and start over again,” she laughed. Crocheting is also good exercise for her fingers, Lois stated, but added her wrists are getting sore. If Lois works at it steadily, she can make a doily in a couple of hours. Of course, her other interests break up the crocheting time. Lois is always looking for new doily patterns. One pattern she’s having trouble finding is for an oval-shaped doily. Her advice for people who want to try the same things is to “get a crochet hook and a pattern and just try it.”
Lois Adams, a resident at Denison Care Center, shows her crocheting technique. Her advice to those who would like to pick up the hobby is to buy a crochet hook, a ball of yarn and a pattern and “just try it.” Photos by Gordon Wolf