I've written before also about my favourite aunt, who raised sheep, spun and dyed her own fleece, and made great thrummed mitts and slippers. I'm not sure if I wrote about her unexpected passing this summer. I know when someone goes too early we often wish we could have had more time. Well, knitting is, in a way, giving me more time with her. My cousin was cleaning out her mom's laundry/crafting area and brought an almost finished project over for me. First off, I loved the canvas bag it was in. It was from the community college where she taught sheep/fiber/farm courses, and it stood up by itself! But the yarn inside was a surprise. It was a bright peachy colour, of Canadiana Chunky (that's been discontinued for quite awhile). This is a 100% acrylic fiber, in a colour my aunt never wore. There were also a pattern book (a Patons one that I've temporarily misplaced), and lots of 'extras'...stitch holders and safety pins pinned to the bag, needle and stitch gauge, 3 tape measures, extra needles.
I looked through the pattern book and saw there was one pattern for a single colour sweater using chunky yarn, and counting the sts indicated a size that would have fit my mom or my aunt, but the body length of the sweater was on the short side, and my aunt was tall (oh, I HATE writing 'was'). All four pieces were knit, up to where they would be joined to make the yoke with a textured design. I figured, great, that hide any tension issues.
Upon closer examination, I found that one of the sleeves (I think it was) had an error at the top which meant it needed some ripping back...a few inches. The type of error that makes you slap your head and put the project in time out. I got that settled out, joined all the pieces, and knit the yoke. I opted to knit a single ribbed collar instead of the folded over ribbed collar as I find those too bulky. I wove in a bunch of yarn ends, got sidetracked by the baby blanket repair, then realized we were going to visit my parents, so I stayed up late to finish it and give it a much needed soak. As you can see, it looks like it was made just for Mom! This is the second time I've worked on a project for my mom that has a connection with her sister (the February Lady Sweater being the other one). I feel very blessed to be able to do this!
There is still a LOT of the yarn left. The pattern called for 50gr balls, and the Canadiana Chunky is 100gr balls, and there's no yardage info available, so I think my aunt erred on the side of caution. It's too bad we'll never know the origins or intentions of this sweater, but it just feels right to give it to Mom. I have an idea for the remaining yarn but I'd like to know first if anyone has a fondness for peach, esp. in home decor. Does anyone have any particular requests for an item in this yarn?
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