When You're Hooked, You're Hooked

Craft shows are so much fun, and yesterday's Haddonfield Craft Show was no exception.  I find the imagination and talents of the artists incredibly inspiring.  There's always something cool to watch in the making, like a silk scarf or hanging lamp from recycled plastic pieces. There's often an item that makes me ask Is this for real?  and this time it was an expandable hat made from heavy-duty paper.  There was also something so beautiful that it stopped me in my tracks...a most amazing quilt caught my eye, and then once I entered the kiosk, the one to its right was just as fabulous. 

But what I was drawn to the most was what I've always been drawn to the most...from 14 to 54 and all the decades in-between...all that tie-dyed and batik stuff.  It doesn't even matter what it is. Tie-dyed? I want it.  Batik? I want it.  I was in my glory to see 5 or 6 kiosks with an exciting inventory of these shirts, socks, dresses, sweaters, scarves, hats, bags and a whole bunch of other items in far more vibrant combinations than what I used to make in my basement with RIT dye packaged in small cardboard boxes the size of instant pudding.

So it may come as no surprise to you that once again, I couldn't resist...I bought myself a tie-dyed infinity scarf and even went this route for a baby gift with onesies and socks (why not start them out early).  I'm not sure if I'll enjoy wearing my scarf more or draping it over something in my home office so I can glance at it throughout the day.  Had I been to the show alone, I probably would've purchased the very large tie-dyed T-shirt that I could've worn to the beach or to bed, but my husband shook his head "no," probably afraid - with good reason - that I'd start living in it.

So what is it about these designs that I find so appealing?  A "tie" to my past?  The hippie in me?  Freedom of expression?  Bursts of color?  Somewhat simpler times?  I have no idea.

For years - maybe between my 30s and 40s, when I'd be out shopping and would see a tie-dyed shirt, I'd tell myself, You've outgrown this, and I'd keep walking, most likely looking back longingly.  But then the greatest thing happened.  My kids went to day camp at the JCC and, for a couple of years, the camp shirts they were given were tie-dyed.  Sometimes they even made tie-dyed shirts during the art period.  My younger daughter loved them and would tell me all about how she made them with rubber bands, etc.  She started to want other t-shirts and long-sleeved shirts and sweatshirts with the tie-dyed motif. She was hooked.

She commented to me last year, when she was going into her third year of college, that she thinks she's outgrown the tie-dyed look. I was sad but understood where she was coming from (been there, done that).  

But guess what? On the Ocean City boardwalk this summer, I caught her looking at them again.