Ka-nitting and Crotch-etting

I learned to crochet when I was 13. I was in "lock-up" for lifting a baseball hat from Caldor's. What security didn't know was that I also had clothing,a jacket, makeup, plastic jewelry, etc. stuffed into my winter coat. I was arrested (along with my "foster sister", Sam), cuffed and arrived at the Worcester Police Station via paddywagon. Sam and I were placed in a holding cell about 3x3', where we ditched everything else we had hidden on us. When they frisked me, they found nothing :)

I spent the night locked into a cell at the station with NO blanket, NO pillow and NO toilet paper! Sam and I got into a screaming match with an annoying girl in cell at the end of the hall - she kept crying and wailing and we were acting tough. I got a stale piece of bread with a runny egg and sour milk for breakfast. I was brought to the juvenile court and placed in another cell with a ton of girls tougher than I was. I stayed in the corner and kept my mouth shut, waiting my turn. One by one, the girls were taken into court until I was the only one left. Finally, I asked the twenty-something dred-locked guard when I was going to get out of there. They had forgotten about me and since I didn't have a probation officer to come get me, I was left there.

Late in the afternoon I was finally brought before the judge and I saw my mom in the courtroom. The judge asked her if she wanted him to send me to detention and she said YES! I was shocked...because she was never very tough when it came to punishment. All she had to do was pay $50 "bail" and I could be set free, but she chose to let them keep me.

I went to some detention center in Fitchburg or Leominster...where it was like a retreat. The worst part of being there was that I couldn't shave my legs. A few of the girls had beastly legs. They kept me there for two weeks. We basically just sat around watching television or drawing or reading. Once, a woman came to teach us how to crochet. I ended up making a little green and purple blanket that is now lost to me. I've moved too often and I don't currently have anything that's more than say, 5 years old.

I recently started to crochet again. So far, I've made three hats. A group of women from my church is making as many hats as we can and we plan to donate them to women who have lost their hair from chemotherapy. I made a white one, a blue one with a white brim and a green one. I bought this great fuzzy burgundy yarn to make one for myself but I am not yet adept enough to work with the fuzzy stuff because I can't see my stitches. The ladies taught me to knit also, so I'm knitting John a scarf that is brown, green and black and he's going to look so hot in it.

I hope you're all happy to have read about the time I learned to crochet back when I was a gangster youth!