Knit one, purl one.

I couldn't believe how busy my mind became when I recently picked up a pair of knitting needles and a skein of yarn. I felt the need to fill an artistic "void" I began to feel after being away from my scrap booking and card-making while down in Florida. we didn't have much room for all I wanted to take, so, I took nothing, which turned out to be a big mistake.

So, memories of my grandmother surfaced and of the days of when I used to hold the large skeins of yarn between my wrists while she rolled it all into a ball.  For anyone who has ever knitted "back in the day," that was, and continues to be, the first requirement to prevent those dastardly annoying tangles and knots.  In order for me to perform my duties, I needed to stand a few feet away from her and watch while she sat and rolled and rolled a tiny strand of yarn into a large ball. As she wound, I would twist each hand inward in order to allow the yarn to pass. Difficult to explain, but hard to forget.

The exact ones Mama used to knit.

My mind continued down Memory Lane as I envisioned all the knitted hats, scarves and slippers my grandmother created. My sons loved the hats and slippers and wore them all the time. Each Christmas, everyone would get a new pair to replace the worn out or outgrown pair from the previous Christmas.

This year, I was able to complete my first knitted cap that that I had intended to bestow upon my son. A sizing error preventing it from fitting my son's head, but thankfully, my grandson's head was just the right size. He seemed to love it - or was that just my wishful thinking?

The knit hats my grandmother made.

My second project, a pair of soft pink slippers, has been completed with lots of attention to detail and love. The whole time, I remembered Mama's slippers and wished she were here to show me how to make them. I went from memory and apparently, my memory wasn't perfect, but the slippers are practical - if not perfect.

While my brain was racing a vision of my mother sitting in a chair, knitting, came into focus - then quickly blurred from tears. It's been over 50 years since I saw her knit, so naturally, the vision was fuzzy and faint.

Another vision flew in and out as quickly as the previous memory, and that was the memory of watching Rose Fusco, my childhood landlady, knit at breakneck speed. She was a seamstress by day, but knit up a storm at night. I have never witnessed another person knit at that speed before or since. She probably could have held a Guinness World Record.

The '60's version that was my doll.

Rose sewed and knit outfits for her daughter's Barbie Doll. Back in the 1960's (Barbie debuted in 1959), you only owned one Barbie doll and outfits were purchased to fill your wardrobe. Roseanne's Barbie doll clothing collection was magnificent and she let me play with her and sometimes shared her doll clothes. I don't remember Roseanne liking the hand-made outfits, but she never did share those with me. I would have given my eye teeth for what she had. If she remembers those clothes today, I'm sure she would treasure each and every item.

Slippers are done and Memory Lane had come to an end. I can't wait to get back on the "knitting" road again to re-visit those who filtered in and out of my early life and sprinkled so many memories in my mind. 

Had I known our time together wouldn't last forever, I would have savored each memory even more. 

How innocent we were as children....