08/12/2026
This is a tough one that really pulls on the heart strings. I'm making another afghan for hospice in honor of my mother. The yarn I'm using was from the last project that she worked on. We didn't know it at the time, but she was sick....and she was aging and having trouble seeing and bored. She asked me to find a simple pattern for her to knit, something very basic, no hard stitches. I found a basic sweater and ran out to get her some pretty blue yarn. She loved it and passed many long, lonely hours knitting. She'd stop every now and then to get me to help her with the counts, increases, decreases, etc. Boy, what a mess, mistake after mistake, so hard for me to grasp because she was the one who taught me to knit, she was once the expert. It truly crushed me to see how much of a struggle it was for her. I humored her, fixed what I could, never commented on her mistakes and urged her on.
Long story short, she didn't live long enough to finish her sweater. I brought her knitting bag home with me after she passed. Recently I've been pulled to make some Afghans to donate to hospice. I've gotten to the point now, after using up the skeins that she didn't use, that I have to pull apart her unfinished work to finish my work. Wow, just holding that unfinished sweater is like holding her. Like she's giving me a hug. What an awesome feeling to have my hands holding something that she held!
I'm calling this one Mom's Gift. I miss you Mom. Thanks for teaching me to knit and crochet.
