A Mother's Day Reflection

As Mother's Day was approaching, I asked through our e-newsletter for customers to share how their moms have influenced their knitting or crocheting. I've never written anything about this before or even thought much about my mom's role in making me a knitter, but after she passed away in February, I thought more about that--as well as about so many other effects she had on my life. And I asked you about your moms' roles in your crafting adventures.

Lynne, a newer knitter who lost her mom before she'd taken up the craft shared with me that her mom and nana were beautiful knitters. "I recall when I was 8 or 9 seeing a lovely fall zippered, hooded, cabled jacket in the Sears catalogue (yikes, I'm old!), and I wanted one just like it," she wrote. "A week or so later, I woke up to find the exact one lying at the foot of my bed. She had been knitting it during the evenings as a surprise." 

Darlene shared with me that her mom was not the enthusiastic knitter that her grandmother was, but her grandmother sadly died before Darlene was old enough to learn, so the task fell to her mother when Darlene needed to make a square to earn a Brownie badge in the 1960s: "Mom had some leftover Mary Maxim sweater yarn in deep green and all her mother’s knitting needles. Somehow, with Mom’s tips, patience, and help, I got a fairly good square knitted, and earned my Brownie badge," she said. "My mom put the square to use as a potholder. She passed away in 2018. That square was still in use in the cottage kitchen." That's a proud mom!

My niece, Samantha, recently took up crochet (again) so she could make her mom a golf towel to match her golf bag. She said, "I want her to know I support her passion every time she's on the course." Samantha's mom supported her in her creative endeavours from a very young age, getting her a kid-sized sewing machine and many engaging fibre crafting kits over the years, although not a knitter or crocheter herself. I am touched by Samantha using her craft to show love to her mom, in the same way crafty moms, out of love, just keep wanting to make things for their children. A knitted or crocheted expression of love certainly can go both ways!

As for me, I don't remember my mom or grandmother teaching me how to knit, although they both did knit. My mom was always more of a crocheter, and I vaguely recall trying that as a kid, but I never stuck with it. Every Christmas, I got a knitted hat, mittens, and slippers from Grandma, and I remember wearing them around the house as soon as I opened the package. I don't recall many things that Mom made for me, except for this Beehive sweater but in peach and white. (I've always been a little fanatical about dogs.)

(I wish I still had that sweater! And I wish I'd treasured it more when I did have it.)

My crafting as a child and teen mostly took the form of crewel stitchery, a type of embroidery with tapestry wool. I spent many weekends creating beautiful pictures with wool. Mom encouraged my craftiness by keeping me in kits and supplies and sometimes framing my "works of art."

I eventually took up knitting, learning from a book, when I was 23, but it wasn't until I opened the store that my mom and I spent time knitting together. She joined one of our knit-alongs, attended our trunk shows, and on a couple occasions sat in our knitting circle. Unfortunately, that shared time didn't last long because of the arthritis she suffered from. Her doctor encouraged her to return to knitting because it would help her hands stay nimble, and she did for a while, but eventually gave it up. However, she always asked to see what I was working on and would rave about my "talent" to anyone who would listen (much to my embarrassment).

This Mother's Day, my first without my mom, I wanted to honour her in some way. And Yarn It! gives me a bit of a forum for that sort of thing, so this is what I decided to do--to share with you and have you share with me a little glimpse into our mother/daughter relationships as they pertain to our passion for crafting. I hope that this sharing will encourage you to reflect a little on your own entry into knitting or crocheting and how your mom or grandmother may have influenced it, even if they weren't the one to teach you.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you and to all your moms, too, whether on this plane or on another. And happy stitching to all!