Eye candy…yarn!
I remember when I made that pink sweater, I loved that pink…deep fushia. A lopi-type yarn.
I also remember the stitches. They were so tight, making me ask myself, why can’t I knit looser and faster like Nanna?
I remember thinking, I am going to finish it.
I remember finishing it…. It was sooo small! It would fit a kid. I even had a skein or two left over!
I remember Nanna saying, “Oh my gosh, dear, it is so tight. I will take it out and re-knit it.”
“But, Nanna, I don’t have enough yarn”.
“Yes, you do, dear. You have lots”. And she chuckled.
I sheepishly handed my sweater over to Nanna. It looked like it was a full-size adult version that someone felted in a dryer to fit a small child of 10.
I remember when Nanna gave it back to me a week later. It was perfect. I remember looking in the mirror, “Oh, my! It is so light and so long!” It slid over my thighs. I also remember the beautiful tam she made to go with it. Out of the same amount of yarn that I had knit into the tight little sweater I had made!
There was just enough yarn left over for me to make mittens, according to Nanna. I made one with my tight tension and did not have enough yarn for another one! And that is why I wear one blue and one pink mitten! It is not because I am quirky. My mismatched mittens are that way simply because I ran out of yarn.
I remember that time so well. I am thankful when I pull it out of my hope chest and wear it again! I still wear the mittens when I ski. They are always next to my skin under my outer pair, and so warm because they are knit so tight!
I remember always knitting really tight, and I don’t remember when I stopped doing that, only that I no longer do.
I remember Nanna’s knitting.
