Overlooked my Knitting

Poem 748

Autumn—overlooked my Knitting—
Dyes—said He—have I—
Could disparage a Flamingo—
Show Me them—said I—

Cochineal—I chose—for deeming
It resemble Thee—
And the little Border—Dusker—
For resembling Me—

~Emily Dickinson




My knitting has not gotten much attention lately, due to some pretty enormous preparation for company! One of the interesting things about cleaning, though, is that you find things you'd "put somewhere" and forgotten about. In my case, what I found was a stack of knitting booklets attached by ribbon to a Christmas card, from a friend who has passed away. It was bittersweet to find these here, under a mass of papers on the dining-room table. Obviously, when these first arrived, I couldn't face the thought of losing my friend and after shedding tears just put the package and card away. Now that two years have passed, I can look at these thoughtful treasures with fond and happy memories.



My friend was a great knitter. She was one who made those elaborate knitted flower afghans that you see in vintage booklets and wonder "who would ever be able to make that!?". It was nothing to her. She was a nurse and enjoyed the challenge that kept her mind sharp during the long dark watches of the night shift.



Her favorite knits were intricately cabled Irish sweaters in cream yarn. She made these quickly and easily and gave them away as soon as they were finished. Almost every woman and man she knew had one of her cardigans.



Except me. To me, she gave her pattern books and said "Make these and remember me."