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9/16/09

The rhthyms and generations of knitting

I believe that in the quiet, repetitive, hypnotic rhythyms of creating craft, the inner being may emerge in all its quiet beauty.
The rhythms of the knitting needles become as incantatory as a drumbeat or a Gregorian chant.
Susan Gordon Lydon

Last week I was gifted with a special surprise.  
During my weekly visit to my mother, I  picked up my current knitting project while we chatted after lunch.  
I am a new knitter.


My mother began to knit during WWII when I was an infant and my father was in the European theater.  She was alone in a small apartment, scared and lonely.  Good friends taught her to knit and she used this device to make it through the days, weeks, months of my father's absence.  

As craftswomen do, my mother collected a 'stash' of knitting needles in every size and type for all the various things she did make and would make.  Now at 86, with failing vision due to macular degeneration, her life long passion no longer brings the pleasure it once did.  In a bitter sweet moment, during this visit she gifted me with her knitting needle case that holds her lifetime of the tools of her craft.

I am honored to have them.

10 comments:

Deb G said...

What a treasure to have loved ones knitting needles. I think knitting is incredibly meditative.

Pat said...

yes, deb, a treasure, indeed. and i do feel it to be ......

t said...

This is incredibly special Pat. A gift of love from your mum, that you will treasure always.
xt

Pat said...

such gifts are worth so much more than something purchased -- little gifts of great personal value and sentiment are so much more .... and treasured

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Yes, bittersweet, but best YOU have them xx

Pat said...

yes. bittersweet. and do love having them. my mom knit for over 60 years for everyone but herself. a little bit of my mom now in what i knit.

gunnelsvensson said...

What a lovely post ! and I am sure you take care of your mothers knitting needles well!

Pat said...

yes, i am honored to have them. she was a wonderful knitter. i will never equal her ability or quantity. thank you, gunnel.

justme said...

What a wonderful gift! My grandmother taught me to knit when I was 10. I remember what a mess of holes my first few pieces were. Ha! My grandmother has been gone many years now. I would have liked to have all her old knitting needles. I wonder what happened to them all. I do still love to knit. Its "repetitive, hypnotic rhythms" are very soothing to me, too.

Pat said...

hi sally!
thanks for visiting. knitting is a wonderful new - to me - craft and i love having my mom's needles

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