Today’s choice from the ongoing stockpile of Daily Post questions is: Name someone who deserves more credit than they get. And for bonus points, how to change things so they get more. Of course, we’re not constrained to just the literal question, but can think outside the box if we wish.
What occurs to me is that there are a lot of knitting rock stars. I tried to think of someone who really doesn’t get a lot of credit in the knitting world, and it’s really difficult. Chances are pretty good that if I spat out a bunch of names like “Stephanie Pearl-McPhee“, or “Ysolda” or “Franklin Habit, or “Jess and Casey“, or even intials like “EZ“, you’d know who I’m talking about. Knitters are pretty good at citing their references and giving credit where credit is due.
About the only person who ever seems to come up short is the family member who probably taught you how to knit. Grandma. Or maybe it was an Auntie. Or Mom. Whoever it is, you probably don’t appreciate them enough. Or didn’t, before they went away.
My Granny was stubborn and a first generation female voter. She had a hard time being around large crowds, and spent a lot of time in her home, baking for a church that she rarely attended, or making crafts for sales she very rarely went to. She knit. She knit a lot. During those long Canadian winter months, she knit like a madwoman. Whenever you’d see her, there were a set of those standard grey needles in her hands, and they were moving like nobody’s business. I’ve extolled her virtues many times on this site, I’m sure, and that’s because I came to appreciate her art later in my life, once she had already passed to the other side.
If Granny were still here today, I’m pretty sure that I’d have a lot of questions for her. Among them: “Where did you get that kick-ass mitten pattern that nobody else in the family remembers?” and “Can I get you to pinch Grandpa or Dad into making me a darning egg? I’d like to mend some socks, please”.
To tell the truth, she’d probably have had a heart attack if I’d asked such questions as a teenager. I was into Piano and Basketball. Not the type to sit around and play with string.
But I’d still like to know where she got the mitten pattern. I’ve never seen it anywhere else, and my mother thinks I hallucinated the whole thing.
Thanks Mom. 😉
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