The Story of Mum's Sweater
My Mum was an accomplished knitter, especially with beautiful yarns. I guess that is where I inherited my passion for knitting and my love of luxurious wool. I first discovered Brooklyn Tweed in 2014 and have been an enthusiastic knitter of BT patterns and yarns ever since.
In 2016, I knit “Trailhead Cardigan” by Véronik Avery in Loft held double in colour Blanket Fort for my dear Mum. It fit her beautifully; she loved it and wore it often until her recent passing at the ripe old age of 97. A life enjoyed and very well lived.
After Mum’s death, this past November, I found the sweater amongst her things and wanted to keep it for myself. It, however, had not been washed as carefully as Mum would have done when she was younger and more aware of the best way to wash precious woolens. I thought of cutting it and making a throw pillow with it, but since it did not appear to have felted, I decided to unmake it and see what I could do with the yarn…maybe mittens for Mum’s grandchildren or
if the yarn was in poor condition maybe felted clogs. I unravelled (frogged) the sweater, put the yarn in skeins, washed and dried it.
To my surprise, the sweater unravelled easily with few, if any, breaks. I started looking for patterns on BT for “Shelter”. I had obviously forgotten that the yarn was actually the fingering weight Loft held double for Mum’s sweater. So back to looking for patterns…why not the “Chainlink Tunic” by Norah Gaughan?
I completed my “Chainlink Tunic” earlier this month (June 2020). It is a beauty. I will always miss my Mum, but having this sweater will keep her memory alive and close to my heart.
Although Loft is a soft spun yarn, it was strong enough to be knit once, unravelled, washed, dried and reknit into a second sweater without breaking – a superb yarn. I even used it to sew up parts of my new sweater. Now for my next project! Wish Mum were here to help me choose.
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11 comments
Thank you for writing and sharing this beautiful post. The photo of your mother wearing the sweater you made for her is so very dear. And Loft’s renaissance into another stunning garment that will keep her close is a testimonial to the expressive power of knitting, of yarn, of every stitch and strand.
Arielle on
This is such a lovely story and illustrates so clearly the gift of being a knitter and lover of wool. My mother is close to her 97th birthday and no longer able to knit. She taught me to knit nearly 60 years ago and I always take knitting with me when I visit her at her rest home. She touches the yarn and the knitted fabric and I know this brings her pleasure. She recalls stories of knitting socks for the soldiers with rough khaki wool during the war years and baby garments for my post war older brother with limited quantities of allocated cream 3ply wool. The joy of wool.
Pauline (NZ)
Pauline on
It is all in the quality of the yarn. About 50 years back,my mom made me a sweater, it was a little bit big,but I loved the material, one of these Penguin yarns. I unraveled it stretched it over a wooden board and rewound it. I made a sweater from that yarn, and it is still in an amazing condition. It was washed with Ammonia before reusing. my mom died also when she was 97 and knitted until she could not count so well anymore. Every time when I put on the sweater ,she will be remembered.
Marthe Lablans on
trop belle cette histoire ! moi j’ai détricoté un beau pull appartenant à mon père et trop grand pour moi, fait avec une laine rustique magnifique dont je ne connais pas la marque, le pull ayant été offert à mon père par une de ses chéries de jeunesse. J’ai refait le pull à l’identique mais à ma taille, je l’adore ! J’adore détricoter les pulls pour leur donner une nouvelle vie avec l’âme de l’ancienne!
Cécile Gatter on
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story! It’s a reminder to us all to remember the power of our knits, especially during our current pandemic. Wear your Chainlink tunic proudly! It looks great!
Nancy on