A couple of months ago, Mom and I were talking about knitting. I was mentioning the fact that I didn’t have a whole lot of supplies but that there were certain things I wanted to try using, so I’d ask for them for Christmas. That was when Mom reminded me that she had inherited all of my grandmother’s knitting notions, as well as a bit of yarn. Well, since my mother has been knitting all her life, she already has her own notions, so never used any of my grandmother’s. So she decided to send them to me. She actually couldn’t find everything, some of it is in the attic, but she DID send me what she had stored in her closet. There were quite a few skeins of yarn, which I didn’t take a picture of. Then, there were six sets of needles:
From left to right they are: 1 pair of wooden needles, size 15 (which my mother thinks actually previously belonged to my great-grandmother); 1 pair of Boye needles, size 10; 1 pair of unknown brand needles, size 5; 1 pair Zephr needles, size 2; 1 pair of plastic needles, size 7; and 1 pair of unknown brand needles, size 3.
Also enclosed in this package my mother sent me was something very special. You see, when my grandmother entered nurses training in the early 1940s (1941, I believe) she decided to sew herself a knitting bag:
The original handles, apparently, were wooden. They fell apart after about 30 years so my grandmother replaced them with plastic handles. Those fell apart pretty quickly and so she replaced them with the metal handles seen there.
It amazes me to think that bag is nearly 70 years old. The fabric is sturdy, and you can tell the thread used to sew it together is, too. They don’t make fabric and thread that durable anymore, I fear. I’ve had thread literally fall apart in the middle of my sewing before.
Anyway, I’m so proud to own that bag. It deeply saddens me that my grandmother died when I was 13…I was too young at the time to REALLY appreciate her knowledge of the domestic arts. I mean, she taught me to knit when I was a toddler (I knitted blankets for my dolls, aww) but I didn’t keep up with knitting and soon forgot how. I was actually really into sewing as a pre-teen (she got me my first sewing kit) but wasn’t very interested in sewing practical or useful items, like clothes…I was more into sewing little pillows and the like for my friends (and I don’t mind admitting that I’m very good with a needle and thread…my Home Ec teacher in 7th grade thought I was having my mother do my sewing project.) Also, I didn’t realize until about two years ago that I enjoy cooking and baking as much as I do, which was another area (among many) that my grandmother excelled at. It just seems unfair that I didn’t realize the wealth of knowledge she could have shared with me, and tried to share with me, until too late.
What a special gift to you, these items that belonged to your grandmother!!! I can understand how you wish you had the time to learn more from her; but I’m sure she would be very proud of all you’ve learned on your own~clearly you take after her!
and that will add more love to your work!