This Isn't Your Mother's Knitting Project

Who here learned to knit from their mom? You always started out with a scarf, am I right? Once you managed to get the basic stitches under control -- Knit and Purl -- then you could branch out into what inevitably became oversized sweaters (because you hadn't mastered doing test patches to determine the measure of your yarn and needles). Still, it was okay because when you were young over-sized sweaters were cool.

My mom taught me to knit, and sort of sew, when I was a little girl. I could make clothes for my stuffed toys, my brother, my folks, anyone in my sphere really. Over the years I made all kinds of kooky things. I even went feral in university buying fleeces (right off a sheeps back) I then had to wash in the bathtub, card (pulling at it with a brush to straighten the fibres), and spin to make my own very 'natural' yarn for some really funky sweaters. I loved those. Felt like a warrior.

My mom never made colour-blocked purses, but she could knit a child's sweater in 2 nights for a local charity. Not quite like a machine, but pretty close. Then her hands got so they couldn't knit anymore and she gave me all her needles and yarn. It was a barrel full of material and every size kneedle you could hope to have.

And I started knitting again after decades.

Knitting wasn't fashionable during the majority of my adulthood. But the pandemic brought the craft back to life. And this project, while it was ongoing for years prior to those shut-in days of the pandemic, it finally feels like something I can be proud of. I hope you all enjoy it.