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.