this is such a touching post. and so thoughtful. i hadn't considered what we learn about others through the creative efforts they leave behind. i hope this doesn't sound flakey but my sense is that your grandmother did in fact know who you were when she saw you last.

it was my grandmother who taught me to knit too and i wish i knew who it was who taught her to knit. i still remember how uninterested i was the day she taught me to knit, i wanted to play in the trees with my brother instead. she died long before i returned to knitting but i think she would be pleased now.

thank you again for this post.

Great post about your Grammy and her knitting. I treasure my knitting connection with my Gram.

What a beautiful post. One of my grandmothers was also a knitter, but sadly none of what she knit for my father and his brothers has survived the passing years...doubly sadly, I was never able to meet her as she passed away long before I was born. But when I started to knit seriously, my father told me how much the socks I made him reminded him of her, and that he cherished them all the more for it. These kinds of links, through families and through the ages, are part of what make handcrafts and handmade gifts so very special.

Such a lovely post. You're so lucky to have these pieces that your grandma knit for you. It means so much to have treasures like these, to remember loved ones by. The connection is undeniable, especially, I'm sure, when you can touch and hold these special garments that she also held and created.

I really enjoyed reading your post~ I'm the first person in the family knitting really, but a few of us like to work with our hands. While many of us in the country don't really appreciate these little things that are handed down from generation to generation, I have a tabletop shelf my father made when I was a little girl and it's sitting in my bedroom today. since I won't be the recepient, I hope one day my handmade projects would be passed down in my family too.

I know exactly how you feel on this one. My grandfather just died before Christmas, and my grandmother (on the other side of the family) is slipping deeper and deeper into Alzheimer's. She was a crocheter and a quilter, fabricator of beautiful items for my family for years. I think I've already missed the opportunity to thank her for all of the things she made for me, to tell her how my boyfriend and I use the very first quilt she ever made on our bed, and how we're loving it to pieces (literally). I can only hope that the same feeling that I have when I give something I've made to someone who really loves it is something that she's felt. Then it won't be so bad.

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

I love this post, and love the hand knitted piece your grandmother did years ago... My mom still has some dresses from where I was a child.... however, my little fabric doll, my mom did for me, is gone .... I used to carry it wherever I went! I did remember some beautiful sweaters my grandma knitted for me... Not sure where they are... Those little treasures are completly priceless... I am glad you have yours.

What a very sweet story. Thank you for sharing some of your knitting history.

Such lovely family heirlooms! I hope you will share some more of them in time.

Quick question: how did your grandmother knit raglan sweaters if not on circulars? Do you think she avoided them by primarily knitting cardigans?

Ah, what treasures! I often wonder what my mother would think of my knitting, so different from her own.

Thank you for sharing such lovely thoughts about your grandmother. Your story made me tear up. I learned to knit from my Great Aunt Dorothea Kelley and I still have a few of the Barbie doll outfits she knit for me when I was a little girl. She died when I was still in grade school, long before the seeds she planted bloomed. I too wish she could see what a gift knitting is in my life. She would be so proud and happy as would your grandmother. I have a feeling they are guiding us even now :)

Thank you for such a lovely post. I lost my grandmother about 25 years ago and still think of things I'd like to talk to her about. Your grandmother's handwork was exquisite, regardless of the "mistakes."

Eesh, I wasn't expecting to choke up so early in the morning. Her pieces are just lovely and I search almost every handknit for little signs of their maker's idiosyncrasy. It's such a personal thing to find those missed decreases or uneven tension but it's also what makes those items special.
I am sure your grandmother would have been honored to know what you've done from her initial teachings.

thanks for this post. my grandmother is quite close to passing on, and while not a knitter, she did teach me the value of handmade heirlooms...it was wonderfully timely to read this.

Thank you for treating things I've treasured and saved for many years with such care and reverence. How splendid that you have the knowledge to correctly care for them. (I would have been afraid to take out the string for fear I wouldn't know how to get it back again!) Your grandmother would love that. But grandmother would have told you about her mistakes - because she told me about them as she gave me the coat. All I could see was a magnificent coat. She was a bit disappointed that her labor was not perfect. It's another gift that you not only treasure the coat, but all of her that is stitched up in it. Beautiful post.

My maternal grandmother taught me to knit, but it was my paternal grandmother that was the genius knitter. The whole time my grandmom was teaching me, she talked about how talented my nana was. I remember that we all had aran sweaters and ponchos and knits in general, but I have no memory of her knitting, which makes me sad. I've long surpassed the grandmother who taught me to knit (her words, not mine) and like to think that it's my paternal grandmother who speaks through my needles.

Thanks for sharing your grandmother's knits.

I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's 8 years ago (after a 12 year battle!) She was not a knitter, but was one of the funniest people I've ever met. I wish I had something to hold on to of hers--you are fortunate!

Beautiful post. You must have felt like the archaeologists opening King Tut's tomb untying that drawstring! It makes the mind boggle to wonder if decades from now one's descendants were to inherit some of today's knits; what would they be able to know about us?

this is what knitting gives us, isn't it? that instant connection to her, that knowledge of her motions and actions that were specifically for you, preserved now in your hands. what a beautiful post.

This tugs at my heart.

Take this knowing that I am still a little post-partum crazy, but this post made me cry. I lost my grandmother a week after my son was born (after loosing my grandfather and two grandparents in my husbands family while I was pregnant) and it really hurt me that I had not seen her in years and was totally unable to go to her services. I know that even if I had been to see her, she would not have recognized me, but I still wish things could have been different. But when my mother came back from the services, she brought back quilts, clothes and toys that my grandmother had made decades before, and now they decorate my sons room. Handcrafts are such a wonderful legacy!

It was neat reading this post. I lost my grandmother in 2003. I was pregnant with my first child and she never got to meet her. I think about that sometimes, but I mainly think about how she never knew that I knit. I started knitting about 4 months after Brooke was born. I pretty much took right to it, even though I have tons more to learn (patience being one). Anyway, I didn't even know that she knit, so now that I've learned that about her it makes me want to knit that much more, because I feel it brings me closer to her. I understand though about wanting to ask questions. Just to sit with her for an afternoon knitting and talking would be so wonderful!

Wow, thank you for sharing this great story...so well said. The little outfit your grandmother knit is beautiful, from the color to the style to the detailing...just really lovely. Do you think you'll preserve them or hand them on to a little one?