A long time knitting

These have been a long time coming.

The fiber was blogged here.  I can't even find the pictures of the yarn. 

Telegraphic specifics:

Sheep to Shoe, merino/nylon fiber, BMFA.
Three ply, spun on a Lendrum Saxony.
Usual st st sock, without modifications.
Needle:  CP 1 1/2  (probably).
Started:  October 2008, finished February 2010. 

Can you tell I wasn't inspired?  I have yet to wash them to soften the fabric.  I DID wash the yarn after plying, beating it up in the usual fashion.  The yarn was spun with goodly twist, purposefully, to make the socks last longer.  (This is the yarn JMM fingered, thought it was uneven in the drafting, and said it would make nice, long-wearing socks.)

Even I could read between those lines.

They are fine.  They are just not transcendent. 

I went to the nursing home several weeks ago to visit Auntie.  She was attending a recreation session, where I am told that she routinely knits.  Each session produces a swatch (of sorts).  I was astonished to see her knitting seed stitch.

She has slowed, and lost rhythm.  She used to be loose, now clearly knits tightly.   There were yarnovers where she forgot to bring the yarn to the back after the purl and before the next knit stitch.  I noticed she makes a shortcut:  when she brings the yarn to the back of the needle after a purl stitch, that same move takes the stitch just made off the needle.  Does anyone else do that?

I hope I can do as well at 96 years old.

Technology allowed me to save this.  There is comfort in that.

Comments

[gaby]

beautiful old hands...

[Lynn]

They look pretty transcendent to me, seriously, but I know what you mean; no matter how much we slave over our knitting/spinning/weaving, none of it ever turns out as transcendent as we hope while we're making something. And yet we keep on trying till we're 96.

[Marcia]

Aww.....priceless! I must figure out this YouTube thing one of these days. And there's nuthin wrong with them there socks, missy!

[diane]

Awwwe doubled. Time in a bottle.
I'm a "thrower" and use that shortcut too.

[DebbieB]

Amazing dexterity for 96. We should be so lucky. Reminds me of Bill Withers, "Grandma's Hands".

[Kim]

Wow...I hope to be able to still be knitting at 96! I too am a thrower and done the same thing at times. :-)

[gayle]

Go wash your socks. And wear them with joy because the colors are beautiful.
How wonderful that you've got that video to keep. (I wish I had something like that, showing my grandmother's hands knitting.) Cherish the memory and the connection.

[Carole]

Love the socks! And the video is a treasure. I wish I could watch a video of my Nana knitting.

[margene]

The video is a treasure. Your aunt knits much the same way as I do. Stitches tight on the needle and throwing with the right hand. You captured a wonderful place in time.
Wear your socks and show them off. You spun the wool and knit the socks...not many things are as wonderful as that.

[Angie]

The colors in the socks are beautiful. And they fit you. There's a lot to love.

I'm glad your aunt can still knit. Maybe the reason she doesn't knit FOs is that she has run out of people in her life having babies. My list will keep me knitting until I'm a hundred and three...

[Anne]

I like the socks - even if you think they aren't earth-shattering. AND, they are FOs.

My great-aunt Iris (WWII British war bride) has taken up knitting again at 88 now that she's moved to an ALF and actually has TIME to do that. She's cranked out 6 Red Scarf Projects, 2 baby blankets and several baby sweater/booties sets since Xmas.

[Hillary]

I really like the colors in the socks but I get it about not being transendent. Some socks grab you and some don't.

Thanks for sharing the knitting video. I was just thinking the other day about my grandmother who inspired me to knit. I didn't properly appreciate her knitting when she was with us and didn't learn until after she was gone but I do have all her knitting materials including swatches and notes and I love to look through them sometimes.

[Sylvia]

I think I move the stitch off like that. I don't let go of the knitting on the right, though -- I do the oil derrick thing with my right index and hold the right needle continuously.

Was looking at a photo of my grandmother the other day and burst into tears. Miss her.

[Charlene]

I think the socks are lovely, transcendental or not.

And your aunt? I'd love to be knitting at ninety-two, though the odds of making it to ninety-two aren't that good for me...

[claudia]

That is really awesome. Her for knitting, and you for caring.

[Lucia]

Taking video with any old camera is such an amazing thing. And your aunt is an amazing woman.

If someone asks you how you knit, or something very specific like do you move the yarn and the stitch at the same time, do you have to actually do it to find out? I do. I never break down all the little movements otherwise. I don't do the simultaneous stitch and yarn transfer because I knit Continental, which changes all the paths a bit.

I think those are amazing socks. They tell a handspun story. Do you beat up your yarn if its worsted spun?

[Caroline M]

The socks make another pair until washday, they can't all be stellar (although they look perfectly fine to me)

I'd like to still be knitting at 96. I'd like to still be at 96 come to that.

[Ruth]

They may not feel transcendent, but they look awfully good!

How wonderful to be able to take that video. My mother and I learned to crochet together when I was little (and later I went on to knit) but arthritis forced her to give it up sometime ago. I do hope I'll be knitting at 96.

[Diane]

Hmm, I like the socks, the colors speak to me. And the video is great. I want to be able to do that when I'm 90. By then, I'll be making acrylic baby blankets and all my great-great-great-great nieces and nephews will feel guilty for throwing them out.

[Melissa G]

The socks may not be transcendant, but that knitting video is. I make socks for my aunt; love of reading and libraries is her legacy to me which I spread as much as possible.

[Pat]

Those are the socks that inspired me to start spinning - thanks Laurie :-)

[Teyani]

that video gave me a big ol lump in my throat! how fabulous!!