My daughter is getting married in less than ten months now. Although they announced their engagement six months ago, and I should be used to the idea, I am still excited and a bit anxious. I want it to be a beautiful wedding. And I wanted to do something special for her. So I decided I would crochet her chuppah, the wedding canopy.
The cotton thread which will become the chuppah for my daughter’s wedding.
I am a crazed crocheter. I make doilies and baby blankets out of cotton yarn. Crocheting is how I relax. For my son’s bar mitzvah, I made over 60 head coverings for the married women who attended the service. Of course we bought kippot for the men. But I wanted the women to have something special as well. And even though his bar mitzvah was 12 year ago, I still occasionally see someone wearing one of the coverings I made at our congregation.
I did not make anything for my daughter’s bat mitzvah. She occasionally would mention to me what I did for my son’s event, and not for hers. But I explained that I was not crocheting as much then. And eventually I would do something for her. The time has come.
When I first suggested making her chuppah, she told me that I did not have to take on such an extensive project. Then she posted a photo of a wedding gown someone crocheted on my Facebook page. It was beautiful. But I knew I could not do that. However, some of my friends (one in particular) went crazy and started sending me lots of Pinterest photos of crocheted wedding gowns. They were stunning. But with my daughter living out of the country, I thought that would be too difficult.
So this summer I started working on a sample of the chuppah I thought I would make for my daughter to see when she came in to do wedding gown shopping. It was NOT a hit. She did not like the pattern I chose at all. I had to start looking again. She gave me some ideas of what she liked and then left it at that.
But her fiancée was more enthusiastic. His comments included: You can also make all the head coverings: kippot for the men and chapel covers for the women. How about you crochet me a new tallit. That would be great you can make me my tallit. I know how to but the tzitzi on.”
It is traditional for some Jewish families for the bride to buy her husband a tallit before they get married. I bought my husband his tallit.
I was not going to crochet a tallit. OY Gevalt. That was just too much pressure. I would like to say he was teasing to a degree. But I think a bit of him really wanted me to make one. (Actually my daughter says he really wants me to make one….but I do not think so!)
I still might make coverings for the women for the ceremony. But I do not think I am going to crochet all the kippot.
However, I am now working on the chuppah. I found a pattern my daughter likes and approves. I have started making the squares and crocheting the pattern. I am about 1/14 of the way. With just nine months to go, I have to keep busy. When my husband and I travel, I take part of the cotton yarn with me and I crochet the inner flower that will be at the center of every square.
Flight delays are a perfect time for heavy duty crocheting. Volunteering at a registration table also serves as a perfect time for crocheting. Except when people keept asking what I was making and then want to look at it. It reminds be that thread crocheting is almost a lost art. Many women, young and old, told me about someone that used to know who could crochet as I do, usually their mothers or grandmothers. And it was my grandmother who taught me over 50 years ago.
They love looking at my work and telling me what their loved one made for them years ago. One woman told be about the veil another woman made for her daughter…a crocheted veil. My heart is going there as well. But my brain says, STOP!
I get a bit anxious when I am sitting at a meeting and not crocheting. I feel like I should bring it everywhere with me. But would that be rude? I am under a time crunch. And I want it to be perfect.
I will be honest, the chuppah I crochet will not be the only canopy over my daughter and her future husband. We have the final tallit my Dad wore. When he passed away we buried two tallisim with him: his bar mitzvah and wedding ones. But this one we kept as our Mom purchased it especially when he became president of his shul. My son now uses it for services. But we (my siblings and I) agreed it would be used as part of the wedding chuppah for each of the grandchildren.
The beauty of the chuppah I am making is that after the wedding, it can be used as a tablecloth. It will have a life after the wedding. I hope whenever they use it they will feel my love surround them and their marriage.
For now, all my other projects are on hold! I will stop making baby blankets and doilies. Well that is my plan, except people I know keep having babies. So perhaps I will have to sneak a few in.
And it is possible, just possible, I might have to add some crochet elements for my daughter’s veil. We will see.
In the meantime, I am making the chuppah for my daughter’s wedding, which brings me joy.
My daughter and son-in-law under the huppah I made.
Chuppah: wedding canopy
Kippot: head covering
Tallit: prayer shawl
Tzitzi: Fringes on the four courners of a tallit
https://zicharonot.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/knitting-and-crocheting-brings-love-and-memories/
https://zicharonot.wordpress.com/2014/12/25/i-am-proud-to-be-a-cotton-thread-yarn-addict/
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