Annie's Attic - Meet the Dilley Sextuplets!

Meet the Dilley Sextuplets!

by Sue Reeves

The editor and staff of Crochet! magazine had the opportunity to teach the Dilley sextuplets to crochet last year. The experience was every bit as delightful as the kids themselves.

When Doris Stauffer of Berne, Ind., found out her daughter and son-in-law, Becki and Keith Dilley, were pregnant with sextuplets, she decided to crochet six pairs of baby booties. The only problem was she didn’t know how to crochet. Other people had tried to teach her, she said, but she just couldn’t seem to get it. So she picked up a crochet hook and a book and a cassette and proceeded to teach herself.

The Dilleys are the first surviving set of sextuplets in the United States, born on May 25, 1993. They live in Decatur, Ind., with their parents, six cats and two dogs. Decatur is located near the Crochet! magazine editorial office, also in Berne, Ind., so we invited them in for a quick crochet lesson.

Doris was all smiles as she walked through the lobby with Becki and the kids to the photo studio where the lesson would be taught. “This is House of White Birches, where all my favorite crochet magazines come from!” she exclaimed. “I’m a crochet addict!”

Skinny scarves in fancy eyelash and boa yarns are so popular now, Doris said, and the girls, Brenna and Claire, always ask her to make them. “Of course, I’ll make whatever they want!” she said.

Becki said Doris has made a “boo-boo” animal for every ear ache and every tonsil attack the kids have experienced. “Whatever animal they’re into at any given time, she’ll design it and make it for them,” she said.

“I’ve made all the kids sweaters, stuffed animals, afghans, mittens, scarves and hats,” Doris said. “I crochet for my girls now, because the boys think some of the things are too feminine. They’d rather wear sweats than sweaters!”

Nevertheless, the boys—Adrian, Ian, Julian and Quinn—are just as enthusiastic about the crochet lesson as their sisters.

“It’s keeping them quiet!” exclaimed Becki. One suspects this is an event that doesn’t happen too often, although discipline is not really a problem, Becki said. Infractions are met with loss of privileges.

“They have a lot of freedom and we trust them,” Becki said. “If they don’t do their chores or are disrespectful or break the rules we take certain privileges away.”
It’s not really grounding, she said, because they aren’t really into the phone and that sort of thing.

“Peer pressure means a lot in this family,” she said with a laugh. “It’s really hard for them to lose a privilege and then see their brothers and sisters getting to do it.”
In the fall of 2004 the Dilley kids began a new adventure—homeschooling. Becki has committed two years to the experiment. Four of the six are into the arts, she said, and there isn’t enough time for that in the regular school day to keep them interested.

“They’re bored and they want to go off and do their own thing,” she said. “Some are procrastinators, some are Type-A personalities that will have their homework done by 9 a.m. and be ready to move on to something else.”

Because the parochial school they attended was a 20-minute one-way trip, “They do love that we’re not living in the car,” Becki said. “The pets love it, too. It’s pretty nice to take a spelling test with a kitten in your lap! They are much more contented and calm young people now.”
During the December 2004 crochet lesson, the children were at the fifth grade level and moving ahead quickly, Becki said. “At this rate, they’ll be done in February! It’s so easy to continue a discussion during dinner, and before you know it, you’ve completed another war.”
Brenna, with her brown hair pulled back and wearing a light blue turtleneck sweater, chose a light cream variegated yarn for her scarf. She is compassionate and quiet, said Becki, loves animals and is very laid back. She is also the only lefty of the bunch.

“When grandma tries to show you how to do a stitch, you should face each other,” said Brenda Stratton, editor of Annie’s Favorite Crochet and Hooked on Crochet magazines, and a volunteer teacher for the lesson. “Whatever her right hand is doing, your left hand should do.”
Julian, wearing a multicolored striped sweater, is making a green scarf. He likes having so many brothers around to play with, he said, but thinks they can be annoying when he’s trying to get to sleep at night. The four boys share a bedroom.

He is an animal lover and likes to go off and do his own thing, like swimming or playing basketball or soccer or learning to play the trumpet. He is an avid reader who loves math and has a great sense of humor.

Adrian is challenged by ADHD and is outgoing, athletic and has lots of friends, according to Becki.

“He’s best described as a blur,” she said. “He wants to do everything. He doesn’t drowse off to sleep at night, he just crashes, but he’s the first one up in the morning.”

Quinn wants to be a police officer and is a good role model for the rest of the kids.
“If you’re going to break the rules, you better make sure Quinn’s not around, because he’ll tell mom,” Becki laughed. He has a strong sense of right and wrong and does a good job of following the rules, she said. Quinn likes to be “plugged in,” Becki’s term for electronic pastimes like playing video games or surfing the Internet.

He’s also very interested in Roman history and learning to speak Latin. “He’ll do anything if I can relate it to Roman history,” laughed Becki. She is also learning to speak Latin, reading ahead a couple of chapters and watching DVDs so she can help him as needed.
Claire, in a red and black, nordic-trim sweater and skirt set and her chin-length blonde hair neatly braided, is working on a maroon scarf. “Claire is the trendiest and will probably be the one to stick with crocheting,” Becki said. Claire is already planning to make ponchos and scarves and wants to be a fashion designer or a teacher. She enjoys creative writing and likes to read historical fiction.

Ian, according to Becky, is very intense. “He’s my scientist,” she said, but noted he’s also into ballet and painting. He’s very creative, she said, and journals more than the rest of the children. Like Julian, he excels in math. He’s an introvert, not a joiner.

Becki and Keith have encouraged their children’s individuality by allowing them each to develop their own hobbies and activities.

“We’ve always had one-on-one time with them, doing whatever it is they enjoyed doing,” Becki said. They all sing in a local children’s choir, but each plays a different musical instrument and each likes a different style of dance, from ballet to clogging.

Carol Alexander, editor of Crochet! magazine, headed up the lesson.

“Every piece of crochet starts with a chain,” she said. Noting that every teacher is holding their yarn in a different way, Carol pointed out that there are many different ways to hold the yarn and hook, and they needed to discover what is most comfortable for them.
Betsy Ross and George Washington Carver crocheted, Carol said. “In case you think this is just a grandma thing, it’s not. In the last year crochet has really become a hot, trendy craft among young people,” she noted.

“You kids are really lucky; you’ve got a built-in, ready-made teacher with your grandma right here!” Carol said.

Doris helped Claire and Adrian start the chains that would eventually become scarves. “Remember, you want to wrap it over and pull it through,” she said to Adrian, showing him how to make the stitch. “Claire, you’ve got it, you’ve made a perfect chain!” she exclaimed proudly.
As they completed the next rows, Claire began to crochet tighter and tighter. “They’ll loosen up as they learn, when they don’t have to concentrate so hard,” Carol said.
Ian crocheted his scarf into a square.

“He needs to learn to count stitches!” laughed Doris.

Quinn started unraveling his scarf, because he wanted to start over. Adrian told him to make the chain longer, but quit before his own project was scarf-length, producing a red, white and blue wristband instead.

“How did you do that?” asked Carol, because the lesson had not yet progressed to ending off.

“I just crocheted the ends together,” he said, slipping the completed wristband over his hand.

“I’m so proud of all of you!” Doris exclaimed at the end of the lesson, hugging each in turn. “I’m going to take you all out for dinner!” ••

Thanks to Brenda Stratton and Carol Alexander (editorial), Linda May (wholesale), Tammy Nussbaum (photography) and Doris Stauffer for teaching the crochet lesson.