Carroll Barlow, of Marlinton, may be well- known for her quilting skills, but that’s not her only talent. Barlow is an avid crocheter – from the time she was nine – and now she is passing on her skills.
Barlow is offering a beginners class at the McClintic Public Library in Marlinton every Thursday from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
All Barlow expects her students to bring to class is an H or J crochet hook and a four ounce skien of yarn – no prior knowledge necessary.
“You can make anything if you can do the first four stitches,” Barlow said. “I have done a class up at the Senior Center and I had a couple girls who could crochet but they couldn’t read patterns. I said ‘we’re going to learn to read patterns,’ and now they’re making anything they want.”
Barlow learned to crochet at the feet of her grandmother, who had no use for patterns.
“I’ve been crocheting since I was nine-years-old, so it’s something I just love doing,” she said. “My grandmother would come to visit with us when I was probably seven or eight, and she would sit and make doilies that had little spirals. I’d say ‘where’s your pattern?’ and she would just point to her head. I don’t have any of that. I have to have a pattern.”
After retiring from the Department of Health and Human Resources, Barlow’s crafting came to the forefront and has been her focus.
“I work with the Pearl Buck Quilting Weekend in the summer,” she said. “I’m one of the four with Cranberry Piecemaker Quilt Guild that does that.”
Barlow has also spent years teaching others to quilt and crochet, saying there was only one student who couldn’t catch on.
“I could teach anyone but my mother,” she said. “I think she had a mental block.”
For more information on the class or to register, call 304-799-6000.
Suzanne Stewart may be contacted at sastewart@pocahontastimes.com