Knitting

I grabbed another bag of something to dejunk. In it were a few jerseys/sweaters that my Mom had knitted for me, circa 1980. I hardly, if ever, wear them now. They're a little out of date fashionwise, so I can't imagine anyone wanting them. I can't bring myself to relegate them to the Goodwill bag.

I consider knitting a craft. These are handcrafted sweaters. Custom knitted to my exact size from a pattern in my Mom's head. She never used any patterns for her knitting. She knew how to knit those fancy cable stiches. She must have learned it from someone else. I can still picture her now, sitting in the shop knitting while she waited for customers to come in. I'll also never forget the sweater that I roasted in the oven because I HAD to wear it immediately. That was in my teens. Ruined it, of course.

My mother-in-law, Mum, used to knit too. She crafted my sons' beautiful sweaters with 'knit-in' designs. She is 87 now and has just recently de-junked her knitting needles and passed them on to her grandaughter. Knitting is fashionable again, I hear.

My best friend knitted a dress for me. She used a knitting machine. Now that might sound like it made things easy, but I think there is a LOT of talent involved in knowing when to increase/decrease the number of stitches and how to fashion an armhole.

I have a lot of reverence for knitting simply because even though I know how to knit, I've never 'really' knitted. I have knitted 1 scarf and 2 caps eons ago. Rather piddly compared to the sweaters and shawls and afghans some women I know have crafted. When my Mom passed away, I brought home her knitting needles. I have since knitted a 6" square potholder. Let's just say, that I don't have any staying power for knitting anything. After about 10 rows, my interest starts to waiver. And 10 rows doesn't a sweater make.

Sweaters are going back into my closet.