This project has been a journey for me, and there’s a story connected to it that I want to share with you.
In February 2015, I spent a few days in Munich, teaching knitting workshops. The weeks before, Geli, my mother-in-law, had not been feeling well and I knew she was seeing the doctor while I was away. I phoned home in the evening, and it’s been a very sad and shocking call - my husband told me that she was diagnosed with cancer.
There was nothing I could do from afar, but I thought I could bring some knitting yarn for her to cheer her up and give her some positive energy. So I chose a few skeins in colorways that I knew were “hers” and brought them home for her.
Only two weeks later she passed away, leaving all of us, especially the kids, devastated and heartbroken.
When we went through her belongings, we found those skeins again, and I took them home with me. I wanted to put them to a good use. I wanted to create something for the kids, something that would always be a memory of their grandma, and a blanket was just the perfect idea. I loved the thought that they could cuddle up into it, and that it would feel like a hug.
My mother-in-law was both - sometimes classy and a bit old-fashioned, and sometimes very modern. That’s why I made lacy squares as I’m sure she would’ve loved them.
I enjoyed knitting the squares as it was a comfort for me. Seeing all the beautiful berry colors in combination was a joy, and wherever I went, I always had a square on my needles to take along with me.
But then life got in the way. There were things to do, deadlines to meet, and the lovely squares vanished in a knitting basket. I hardly had the time to even look at them.
A few months later, when I finally had, I was shocked to see that there must have been a family of moths visiting that knitting basket! Almost all squares got destroyed, and there was nothing I could do.
Can you imagine just how sad that made me?
But I didn’t want to give up on the idea of making a blanket for our children as a memory of their grandma, and when we spent a holiday in Spain, the project was brought back to life: Susanne, a good friend of mine and a wonderful hand-dyer, asked for the squares and my progress, so I told her the whole story. And then we thought - why not start from scratch?
With great skill and devotion, Susanne recreated the colorways and to be honest, I think they turned out even more beautiful than the original ones.
And this time, I didn’t allow anything to distract me from this journey. With much joy and wonderful memories on my mind, I made square by square by square, and I enjoyed seeing the pile grow.
A few weeks ago, I bound the last stitches off, and it’s been the best feeling to see the happiness in our childrens’ eyes, because they’ve eagerly followed my process and they couldn’t wait for me to finally finish.
Now everything is done, and seeing the blanket finished, wrapped around our kids’ shoulders, it’s a wonderful feeling of completion, like everything coming full circle.
I know for sure, Geli would have loved this.
Thank you for listening to this story!
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