Dear Friend and Fellow Maker,
As I spin light-filled fibers into yarn, I’m wishing I had asked her when the very first time was that she learned to knit. Perhaps I did ask her at some point but I cannot bring up a solid recollection of whether mom learned from her mom, who was also an avid knitter and crocheter before she went blind in her later years. The memory I do have, which will forever live with me in the realm of awe, is that mom used to tell me how she sat cross-legged on her dorm room bed at UNC-G (the University of Greensboro in NC) as a freshman, knitting a fair-isle yoked sweater whilst also studying for tests. Mom said she would have the pattern on one knee and the textbook on the other and knit gorgeous fair-isle yoked sweaters in this manner as a young college gal.
I believe it too. My mom was a brilliant knitter, as was her mom. I have seen a gorgeous mohair baby blue sweater that my grandmother knitted, as well as a large granny-square crocheted blanket that I have, and a cherry red sweater as well that mom used to pull out to show me from time to time that her mom had made. I know I have photos of these somewhere….but I am only able to lay my hands on the crocheted blanket to share a photo with you below. How I would love to have a photo of my red-headed, long-haired mom as a college girl, knitting away in her dorm room! I can only imagine.
Knitting and all things yarn, was something we both shared and loved. It was a common thread throughout our lives, weaving lovely memories I can stack up like hank after hank of delicious yarns. We used to make trips to yarn shops together, sit in mom and dad’s living room knitting and talking, perusing knitting books and magazines, oohing and ahhing together, deciding which ones we were going to knit next. She could completely remake a pattern to fit her slim yet long-armed body, and I could help her with crochet if a pattern went beyond the basics. The last time we knitted together was about five or six years ago and she could only retain the knit stitch down one row, not really remembering how to turn the work and go again. Alzheimer’s is a mean disease, taking from us what we love to do as well as those we love.
I do have in my possession a lovely fair-isle yoked sweater she knitted for me when I was a child. It may have only been worn once by one of my own children, but I’m thinking I will get it out, see if it needs any repair, and perhaps allow it to be passed around among our grandchildren, if temperatures here ever call for an all wool sweater. Or maybe I will just display it in some way as I do the quilt she made using all the fabrics from dresses she sewed for me when I was a child. These things are evidence of love throughout the years and I am holding onto that even in these last days with mom.
(This is the photo of my grandmother’s granny square afghan sitting on top of the quilt my mom made out of my childhood dresses she had sewn for me. 💖)
I may share some more knitting memories with you…as they are plentiful and hopefully not too sad in the reading of them. Though I myself wipe a tear, these are happy memories I treasure with mom and will always do so. We are both artists and both knitters, not really thinking there was much difference between the two. Colorful yarns were/are our palettes just as much as paint was/is. I continue to crochet and knit, to spin and weave yarns as this is my legacy, not only from mom but from her mom too and perhaps even for many generations back.
The thing I’d really like to know, along with when mom first learned to knit, is this…just what kind of grades did my mom make on the tests she was studying for while knitting? 😍
With gratitude,
Jennifer
P.S. As of this writing, mom is still with us, daily wearing a sweater she knitted years ago! Even in this difficult time, she exudes the loveliness of handmade goodness and beautiful yarn! ❤️
To study and be able to knit a fair isle design sounds amazing! These are beautiful shared experiences between you and your Mom that will always be treasured. And beautiful heirloom quilts too!
You bring to mind a college dorm mate (60 years ago, was it really?!) who always knit while she studied. She was a guitar playing Greek major from Vermont. A woman of many talents!