First Person
Marjorie’s Yarn
We extend a warm welcome to new MDK contributor Martha Gershun. Martha is a nonprofit consultant, community volunteer, and writer; she is also a devoted “rectangle knitter.” Her story of spending time with Marjorie’s yarn resonated with us, and we hope it will resonate with you, too.
—Ann and Kay
There is something deeply intimate about knitting with another woman’s yarn. A special bond is created when you work the very material that she chose to work herself. There are revelations: she liked browns and greens; she bought on sale. And there are unanswered questions: what was the plan for the dozen twists of forest green? Was she planning a special gift—or did these yarns just strike her fancy?
And when that woman is dead, intimacy becomes infused with added mystery. For the past nine months I have been knitting with Marjorie’s yarn. Marjorie was my dear friend Rick’s mother, grandmother to his adult son Josh who is also my friend. I only met her once, five years ago at her adult daughter’s funeral. We spoke for a few minutes; knitting did not come up.
But I learned about Marjorie from Rick. She had been a nurse back before women routinely worked outside the home. She was devoted to her husband, packing up and moving their family six times without complaint each time he had an opportunity for career advancement. She was Germanic and Nordic in both ancestry and character, Rick told me. She didn’t hug her children, and she never tucked them in at night. She took care of their needs in a functionally maternal way, and they were left to figure the rest out for themselves. And she was an accomplished knitter.
That last trait, the most important from my point of view, was casually divulged. One day I complimented Rick on a particularly nice sweater—green, soft, cable knit. “My mother made it,” he said. Up until that very moment, I had no idea that his mother knitted, let alone knitted well.
Then this past Christmas I got a surprise—a garbage bag filled with Marjorie’s yarn. She hadn’t been able to knit in years; fibromyalgia had inflamed her hands, making it too painful to hold needles. Josh came across the stash in a closet and asked her if he could share it, and one cold December night he handed the yarn to me.
I accepted that first distribution greedily. Browns and greens and variegated skeins with deep purple strands mixed in. What a treasure!
For weeks Rick had been reporting that Marjorie, now 88, was failing fast. I sent a handwritten note to this woman I had only met once, thanking her for the generous gift and promising to be a good steward of her yarn. In a frantic race against time, I knitted like a madwoman—a scarf of muted browns for Rick, another from those skeins with the purple for Josh. I wanted Marjorie to see something beautiful created from her yarn one more time before she died. I wanted this woman I barely knew to see that her yarn could represent just a little bit of immortality.
I don’t know if that deeper meaning got through, but Rick reported back that his mother liked the scarves a great deal. The urge to rush had been prescient; by April both Marjorie and her 87-year-old husband were dead.
Tackling the monumental task of clearing out his parents’ stuff, Rick discovered two more bags filled with yarn—more than double that first stash. Now the rest of Marjorie’s yarn is mine.
For the past two months I have been knitting squares of brown and green and beige, each worked in a different stitch: the easy mistake-stitch rib that is my go-to, the cable stitch I found in a knitting magazine I also inherited from Marjorie, and a tuck stitch I had never tried before—because I felt it was important to try something new with this old yarn.
This whole time I have been knitting with Marjorie’s yarn I have been thinking about her. What was it like to be a woman of her generation, when pursuing higher education and seeking a career were the exception and not the norm? What does it mean to never hug your children, while devoting night after night making beautiful garments to keep them warm? Was she lonely, packing up and moving, leaving friends and community to follow her husband, year after year after year? Is that why she knit?
When I finish this blanket, I will give it to Rick. He is living in his parents’ home now, and I like to think of this blanket living there, too—his mother’s gift to his best friend given back to him. I like to think Marjorie and I will both be keeping him warm.
Like all of us, Marjorie expected to live long enough to use every skein herself. I have been honored and blessed to share the textures and colors and weights that called to this fellow knitter, and to work her memory into the pieces I made for my friends, her son and grandson. I hope, when my time comes, someone will do the same for me.
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digital photo illustrations by cristina shiffman
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I identify with Martha, friends give me leftover YARN they know I will treasure and make into garments for someone to hopefully treasure.
What a beautifully written, heartwarming, story. Thank you!
Simply and perfectly said.
A beautiful story. Thank you for sharing.
What a beautiful heartwarmiong story. I think it is time to make plans for my stash.
A beautiful story. I think it’s time to make plans for my stash.
I inherited my friend, Judy’s yarn after her death. After 30 years of friendship, I took up knitting again. I taught her to knit and we merrily knit together, talking, pondering aloud, in comfortable silence, laughing ourselves sick!
Her death was sudden and wrenching. She had been churning out socks for her whole family and left a partial second sock on her needles. Knitting her final sock and using her yarn has been comfort laced with memories.
Thank you for this letter!
What a beautiful sharing – thank you.
So beautiful! It’s great that yarn doesn’t expire and can be passed on and lovingly used.
What an interesting story and what a thoughtful and kind project!
Thank you for sharing this story of appreciation and love.
What alovely story, thanks for sharing! I had the privilege of finishing two baby sweaters that an aun of mine has started, for her grandchildren, and could not finish before she died of
lung cancer. It was a special journey both fo rmyself and my counsins.
Beautiful story and I can relate so well to. Makes me wonder if I should specify in my will what is to be done with my stash? It will likely outlive me! The potential emotional value of it is almost as important to me as my grandmother’s engagement ring.
As a T&E lawyer (snd this is not legal advice) I see people provide for homes for all things they care about – and making the gift to some i who will appreciate it- I have dealt with my ever growing stash in my will and i suggest that you consider it as well. Thanks for this lovely story and for reminding us that generosity is possible pre snd post Morten.
I have a younger friend who will serve as my ‘yarn executor’. She’s not in my will, but her name and phone are with my things, and my husband knows to contact her. He knows nothing about the value of my fiber stash and equipment, and I don’t want to saddle him with finding homes for it all. And my friend will find places where it will be used and loved.
We had this discussion about yarn at my LYS. It started when someone’s late husband had a hobby collection that needed to be cleared. . His widow called in a friend who knew the value of the pieces and could see that they were worth and helped find buyers.
Consider it an honor to look over and caretaker someone’s stash as you know the care taking in making those acquisitions. Finishing an uncompleted item for the family of an incapacitated or deceased individual is also an act of love.
I too identify with this story. I have knitted with a blanket for the my best friend’s husband when she died unexpectedly. And years ago a member of our knitting group died unexpectedly in the middle of knitting an afghan out of squares. The remaining members finished the squares and then I put it together. I made a different border for the squares she knitted and when done we gave it to her daughter as a wedding present. A collective piece to remember her mother from all of us. These acts of making and giving we’re very healing for all of us.
How wonderful!
Such a sweet gift!
Beautiful story that warmed my heart!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful story. I hope we will get to see the finished afghan.
I also was gifted with yarn many years ago. I never liked knitting with acrylics but when I had eye surgery and couldn’t do my lace work with wool I dug the acrylic yarn out. I crocheted 80 dog blankets and gifted them to our animal shelter so they would be something for the dogs or cats to take with them when adopted.
What a lovely thing to do for the animals living in shelters, Pam. Bless you!
A beautiful,touching story. Thank you.
While I like to think the reaper won’t be looking for me for a long while, I have looked at my stash and more than once thought, ‘Who would get the stash?’ Would they understand the randomly bought single skein, the bagful of Rowan denim, my self striping yarns bought in a sock phase and the lace weight yarns bought in a lace phase?
Thankfully I have three close knitting friends. If I predecease them, they get the stash. I know they’ll appreciate everything there. If they predecease me, I’ll have large stashes to look through, the joy of seeing their picks, and hoping I could best honor them.
Welcome Martha! We look forward to reading more from you
A beautiful story. My aunt Lily was an accomplished knitter- no lace pattern too challenging to her. She gave me a silk lined lace cardigan that I cherish to this day. When she died I inherited her collection of lace weight yarns. I have yet to knit anything with her yarn but your story has inspired me to get moving and knit something.
Thank you!
Remember that you can hold 2, 3, 4 strands of lace yarn together and knit as though they are one heavier weight yarn. Charts of how many strands of what weight(s) combine to equal thicker yarns can be found on line.
What a lovely story. I am finally finishing an afghan started by my best friend who died of breast cancer twenty years ago. However, Anita was a casual knitter but a dedicated needle pointer who made pillows galore for her long white sofa. When she died, her husband offered me first choice of pillows. Instead, I took the unfinished pillow she was working on, finished it, added both our initials and a photograph of the two of us sitting on her couch and had it professionally framed. It hangs on my bedroom wall where I see it every day.
What a heartwarming, inspiring story! Thank you for sharing it.
I was moved as i read this with my morning coffee. My yarn comes from special people, places and businesses. I am reorganizing craft space in my house and I’ve decided that I will put notes with yarn to describe their special origins and knitting qualities. I’m also going to move projects that use unique yarn from stashes I have inherited to the top of my queue. It will be a pleasure to add one more satisfying dimension to my knitting.
This is such a beautiful story. I, too, have inherited yarn from departed knitters. I will think of this every time I knit with their yarn.
Thank you for this heartwarming story. If I was Marjorie I would be pleased.
Welcome, Martha! Thank you for sharing this story of knitterly kindness.
Thank you for sharing this lovely story, Martha. I look forward to reading more from you!
For years I knit from the collective stash of my mothers weaving group. They had their “clubhouse” in the loft space above the garages of one members home, set up with two looms for communal projects, some spinning wheels, and a large table where anyone could leave yarn or fleece that they no longer needed for others to take. When the group disbanded because of old age, and their”home” was to be sold as the owner moved to senior housing, my mother scooped up everything on the table and sent it to me. As a child I knew most of these ladies, and many of their stories, one had been my choir director and knitting mentor, some I knew only from my mothers stories about them, and I truly cherished the chance to put all of their contributions to the table to meaningful use.
I also ended up passing on ordinary skeins and scraps of synthetic worsted that l knew l would not use to a mother/daughter who made mittens, afghans,and hats for charity. I can’t EVER pass on a ball of yarn whether I need it or not.k
Beautiful story. Thank you for sharing
❤️
Like so many of us my stash will inevitably outlive me, I’m closing in in seventy, and still making random purchases ~ variegated sock yarns galore, some only a single skein while others became groups of 2 or 3. My obsession is of not interest to my 3 daughters so I too have pondered to whom I would bestow my yarn trove to…. I’ve 2 lovely women neither of whom I’ve met personally but are deeply connected by our love of creating with yarn!! My first friendship began when I was learning to crochet just after my own mother passed leaving behind her stash of acrylic yarn ~ ‘Red Heart Super Saver ~ America’s ‘least expensive choice’ of yarn. I came to know this lovely woman when I came across a FB photo of her smiling face mid twirl in the eye catching crocheted circle vest she was wearing!! I had to leave a comment on her post and she responded with the pattern. When we started chatting routinely I learned she was the maker of State Fair blankets of gigantic proportions that almost always won 1st price!!!
My second acquaintance: is a master crafter: as a spinner, weaver, quilter, knitter maker of hand sewn pieces. This woman is a knitter who uses only the most glorious yarns and patterns using mixed yarns of weight and color that are like nothing else I’ve ever seen! We talk each year about perhaps finally getting g to meet face to face at Rhinebeck! These two women will be the recipients of my lifelong collections!!! Thank you for sharing this heart moving story!!
Loved this! I hope my stash is equally loved when it’s my time.
I knit with the Prayer Shawl ladies at my church. We often get bags of yarn from children cleaning out their parents home. We say lots of prayers while knitting and give these shawls in memory of these kind people.
Yes! I do the same with yarn that has been given me by well meaning friends who think I have more time to knit than I actually do, lol. I have 3 particular donations I’ve received that are especially meaningful. The first one got me started on using wool and natural fibers; a woman from church who I didn’t know very well gave me 2 big bags of wildly assorted luxury yarns. She had severe carpal tunnel and couldn’t knit any more. The yarns were all in amounts she would have made a sweater with, but that would only be half a sweater for me. So I made prayer shawls and baby blankets. The next one was 3 big trash bags of acrylic intended for Warm Up America; when my store discontinued working with them, the manager was going to toss all that donated yarn, but I wouldn’t let him. I took it home to make up and to bring to a Project Linus get together. The last one was just a couple weeks ago and this article really resonated because my dad got 3 big boxes of yarn at an auction house for only $16 and he said there were at least 10 more. It’s mostly wool with some blends, and a few vintage yarns. Everything is in large project amounts, even. I wonder about the original owner of this yarn. What were her plans for the 25 balls of fuzzy ivory wool? And what is the yardage of all these unlabeled gorgeous yarns? It’s fun looking for patterns made for these vintage yarns and trying to incorporate some of those elements. To me, knitting is more about the process. I give away more of my hand knits and crochets than I keep.
Thank you for this lovely, moving remembrance. I have both inherited yarns and given away yarns and FOs when I was having trouble knitting. Sharing wool is so powerful; it makes such a powerful connections. Thank you.
Beautiful story. A friend of mine who lives a couple of blocks away wrote me into her will to inherit her stash. She’s only 5-6 years older than me, but this felt like a very great honor when she did it a couple of years ago. She’s become more of a quilter of late, so I’m actually going to encourage her to destash it and cash it while she’s kicking. I mean, I have SABLE all on my own…
Cristina, gorgeous art to accompany this essay!
(SABLE, if you’re wondering, is Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.)
SABLE, love it! I probably have SABLE x3, lol.
SABLE! I love that!
I love this story.
I can relate. I’ve been given yarn and even partially completed projects (usually blankets). I’ve been sitting on some partially completed blankets, thinking I should complete them. Anyone have thoughts on what they would do in my position?
I have a couple boxes of granny squares from someone who donated them. I started sewing them together but I always seem to lose interest when it’s not my own project. Of course, now is a good time to pull out unfinished blankets to work on, it’s pretty chilly now.
What a lovely story. I have some of my late sister’s yarn… but have knit very little of it!
Beautiful story; beautifully written. I am in tears.
Ditto to all the above comments — what a heart-warming story. I am sure Rick and Josh appreciate you very much. Thanks for sharing — and looking forward to more of your stories.
A lovely story! Thank you for sharing
A lovely, lovely story. I look forward to more from this contributor.
Welcome Martha!!! What an excellent story to start my morning and enjoy my coffee with. Thank you. Looking forward to reading more. Sue.
Beautiful piece. Many years ago, the colorist from my hair salon, Larry, lost his grandmother, with whom he was very close. Larry had seen me knitting at the salon many times and he spoke to me about how much she loved to knit. At my next appointment at the salon, Larry gifted me all of his grandmother’s needles and knitting accessories. He asked me shyly if I could give them a new home. Of course!!
Martha doesn’t mention it but what a gift of Her Own Time to knit so much of someone else’s choice of color and fiber type. I wonder if she has sacrificed her own projects in the process, a real act of Devotion. I was given a small stash of someone else’s yarn and was able to honor their beautiful persona a tiny bit with a small blanket but haven’t done much with it since, The idea of dog blankets sounds perfect to squeeze in between more personal projects and also provide continuance of what was still on her needles – a perfect-gauged garter stitch project of some sort. Her beautiful knitting elevated that acrylic yarn into a work of art. Luckily dogs won’t be picky with my less evenly worked garter stitch continuance. And that I happen to love that particular shade of variegated brown.
Thank you for this beautiful and thoughtful post. XO
A lovely story I can relate to. I’ve told my husband that if I go before him, “call the girls and tell them to take the stash.” He knows who “the girls” are, and that stash will no doubt outlive me.
“Squeeze in” sounds begrudging, More like “happy to find a useful and joyful palate cleanser.”
What a beautiful memorial. Thanks for sharing this lovely story. I love the line near the end- like all of us, Marjorie expected to live long enough to knit up all that yarn. So true!
Lovely story! Would love to see the finished blanket in another post.
I am 51 and finding it a particular kind of graduation into middle age that I am becoming the (grateful) recipient of things from the generation before. It’s beautiful, sad, and comforting all at the same time.
Love this story! It warmed my heart so much. I, too, can relate to inherited yarn. Thank you.
Choked up a bit when reading this beautiful story. It brought to mind several close knitting friends and the gifting of their stashes that outlived them. The wool lives on, as does their memory.
Welcome, Martha. I look forward reading more of your work.
Beautifully written!
Great post. Made my morning. More please. And I think it’s a story we can all relate to.
A beautiful story. Thank you MDK for providing a place for it to be shared with those of us who can imagine ourselves as both Martha and Marjorie.
Lovely article. A year ago my SIL sent a blanket email asking for needles, hooks, yarn for a charitable group. I knew no more, but had recently switched to square wooden needles after breaks in both hands. (I’ve been knitting for almost fifty years.) I packed all the metal circulars in ziploc bags with cables and keys, and bundled the DPNs in sets labelled with their size. I was amazed at how much I owned; far more than I needed. I added some yarn that I knew I wasn’t likely to knit; my preferences have changed. I heard back that this had gone to a women’s prison. I know how little teachers get to equip their classrooms, and I can’t imagine the scarcity for volunteer programs in less scrutinized provincial institutions. Many knitters have reminisced about finding yarn at Goodwill or Value Village and how grateful they were. I’m happy to imagine some unknown younger person revelling in my treasure, putting it to uses I can’t imagine.
I did the same thing! My friend’s mom passed a few years back and she gave all of her knitting paraphernalia to me. Soooo many needles, crochet hooks, yarn, etc. One of our guild members was involved in teaching refugees to knit, so I donated it all to her. She made great use of it. Always try to pay it forward ❤️
I volunteer in a women’s prison. Your gift was so appreciated!
Just lovely…thank you
Heart warming and uplifting story that illustrates yarn and knitting are such a wonderful way to gift love.
What a beautiful article you have written. I’ve often thought of all the tarn I will undoubtedly leave behind one day. Hopefully, someone like you will be able to care for that stash.
What a beautiful story! Thank you!
This article touched me very deeply. A member of my knitting group passed a few months ago. Our group has agreed that if there were a stash competition Linda would have won, no matter how much the rest of us accumulate in our lifetimes. She was not only a knitter but also a quilter and did machine embroidery. Several members of the group helped go through her stash. The fiber was donated to a local quilters’ guild. The yarn was sorted and partial projects were taken by several to finish. Her daughter is a knitter and crocheter but does not live nearby. Things are in storage until she has an opportunity to go through them. Her husband is in the process of selling her machines. At some point I will have some of her yarn, which I will cherish deeply.
This is lovely!
What a great story, thank you so much!
I inherited my grandmother’s knitting needles and then my mother’s when she passed. My mother was working on a sweater for me when she died. She taught me to knit when I was 5 years old. So I finished the sweater she was halfway through. I cannot even begin to tell you the huge range of emotions that accompanied the finishing of the knitting of that sweater!
Thank you for sharing. MDK, thank you for your variety of information and articles that entertain and educate. Crafters are the BEST! I feel they are generous – and so noncompetitive. Seems we are too busy criticizing our own work, of which I can be guilty. Hopefully I am getting better – because of generous writers and designers such as Casapinka and her “snacks.” Thank you!
What a beautiful and generous story.
Although I didn’t get my friend’s stash when she died, she gave me one of the best gifts ever. She taught me to knit, a skill I use almost every day. And when I knit I think of her fondly. She was my elderly neighbor and although 40 years separated us in age we remained friends until she died.
This is such a gentle, sweet story. Thank you.
I loved this..what a great knitting story!
What a beautiful thing to do. I recently discovered a Facebook group in my area that finishes partly done projects and gives them back to the intend recipient.
I love everything about this story! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Martha, for this heartwarming story! I love to read accounts about personal experiences with knitting. This one is especially beautiful, and is now in my “saved articles” page.
Enjoyed this story so much. Thank you for sharing. You are a lovely person who understands the value of love shown through the art of our hands.
Welcome Martha! Beautiful story, thank you for sharing.
I have Joan’s yarn and I think of her and smile as I use it and hold it and make what I hope she would approve. There are others too, and I hope someday, someone will hold a skein of deep ruby red and say, “now Afton, what shall we make together with this?”
Please show us the finished blanket! This is how yarn creates closely knit friends.
I love this story, thank you.
Such a lovely story! Thank you so much. I just completed Stephen West’s “Dustland Shawl” with yarn that was discovered in my 81yo Mom’s garage last summer. It was Jaeger DK 100% Merino Wool in a beautiful teal color. The mystery was that the box — sent from Harrod’s of London in 1984 — was found unopened! My mom did not remember what her plans might have been way back then but she did remember stopping in London after the Cannes Film Festival! (She founded and ran for many years the Alaska Film Office.) Anyway, the yarn was a dream to work with and the shawl is beautiful. So while not a posthumous project, I connect with with this story very much. I had the honor of knitting something for my mom with yarn she purchased 40+ years ago, long BEFORE I was ever even a KNITTER!
Beautiful story, thanks for sharing it
I primarily do charity knitting – specifically hats. We accept yarn donations from many sources, including a friend who buys up yarn at estate sales for us. Often there’s a pattern in the bag. Because I am always trying to knit love and care and fun into my hats, I also think fondly of the folks who have donated the yarn, and hope they’ll be pleased to know (or will look down from above and see) that it has been put to good use.
When my niece died all too young from breast cancer, I inherited some of her yarn. She and her mom, my sister, were the people who inspired me to knit, after being an avid crocheter for decades. Knitting with yarn I got from her stash is a very special way I keep Ceri close in my heart.
Thank you for the gift of this story and the honor you showed Marjorie’s stash. I hope that my stash goes to such a great steward since we all know I have plenty.
Thank you, Martha, for such a touching story so eloquently told.
Beautifully written.
A heartfelt story beautifully told. Thank you for sharing.
So moving – thank you for sharing.
Wonderful story. Thank you for sharing
What a beautifully-written, thoughtful story. Thank you for this. I think all of us have a connection to the yarns in our stash…the hopes for each skein, the plans, the dreams. I also hope someone receives my stash with the same love that Martha has shown.
This is a lovely story. Thank you for sharing it.
I also have been knitting with another woman’s yarn. Her name was Deb and she was coworker/friend of my mom. Deb died of pancreatic cancer yet she was buying yarn up to the end. She liked browns, yarns from local craft shows (made in PA alpaca/wool blends featured several times), and common things like KnitPicks. Like Martha, I’ve spent time trying to figure out what Deb had planned for her yarn. She probably bought things that struck her fancy like I do but it would have been nice to ask her. And like Martha, I only met Deb once. I couldn’t take all of her yarn after she passed as my own stash is getting out of control (soon it’ll be hidden under the floorboards and drive me mad like Poe’s Tell Tale Heart-jk) but I’m trying to be a good steward of what I inherited.
What a beautiful story of connections. And it resonates with me: I just finished a mystery knit-along shawl using yarns from my friend Julie’s stash; she died almost 10 years ago (hard to believe that much time has passed). I’m hoping to give it away as a gesture of spreading Julie’s love.
What a wonderful story! A member of our local knitting guild passed away recently. She was an avid knitter and left a huge stash, which her daughter generously donated to the Guild. We sold about half of her yarn to fellow guild members at our annual yarn auction, and raised over $2,500 to donate to her favorite charity in her name. We plan to auction off the rest at this year’s auction, again donating to another of her charities. Win-win for everyone! Members got beautiful yarns and the charities got a sizeable donation. Its not in my will, but my brother knows to donate my stash to the Guild as well.
Yes, a wonderful, heartwarming tale. As a good friend was dying of cancer, in her last days she asked me to finish a blanket she was knitting as a wedding present for her niece and husband. It was a very special request. I was able to deliver it to them at the dinner after her memorial service.
Bravo! What a beautiful gesture! So kind of you to honor her family by making items for them from their mom’s stash!
You’ve inspired me to complete my squares for a blanket I started. Don’t want lots of my stash being dormant. The blanket will be used. I have 3 adult children who could benefit form one. The Vermont group!
My mom was a Margery. She was an expert knitter. 5 years after her death and her grandchildren (and others) are still getting ‘Grammi’ gifts! There is double the love in every stitch.
Such a nice, thoughtful story
Beautiful
Lovely story. I inherited my Mom’s yarns, and have used some of them to make a skirt with knit and woven panels. I think she would approve of the skirt, although I can almost hear her noting the flaws in it too. Still, I feel close to her when I wear it.
Such a beautiful, heartwarming story. Thank you so much for sharing!
oh what a beautiful piece of writing- welcome to MDK Martha!
Thank you for such a beautiful story. I had to wipe tears from my eyes to finish the last paragraphs… thinking of a dear friend who passed a while back, leaving an enormous stash. I am fortunate to now have a portion of that stash, and it holds wonderful memories of my friend. She taught me to overcome my hesitation to try socks, and among the yarn I have some unfinished socks to complete with her memory deeply ingrained in every stitch. Handmade with love!
Beautifully written, loved it.
You are the type of person this world needs. One filled with love and generosity. Because of you, Marjorie will live on for many more years. If possible, could you create a label marked with “yarn created by Marjorie ___, knitted by Martha Gershun” to be attached to the garment? This would help fix the provenance of the article should it end up in a museum some day and further act to keep her memory alive.
My late mother was not one to acquire stash, but when she could no longe knit I took her needles and what yarn she had at home… including some variegated, multicolored yarn tinged w black that I remember buying that she was going to make a sweater for me from. I am sure I will have similar feelings when I finally use the yarn. I’ve saved the sweaters she made my boys, and have pieces she made my father and herself. Treasures, all.
The thoughts and feelings that are going into that blanket will be a treasure.
What a beautiful life. I’m now going to finish a blanket of many squares and stitches that was started about 10 years ago for my Vermont family. Unfortunately none of my girls knit and I would be devastated if my stash was wasted. Thanks for sharing.
This year I have been finishing sweaters that my mother started in the 1980s, when she lived in New Zealand and couldn’t resist the beautiful materials and persuasive owner of her LYS in Wellington. Mom is still very much with us, so when I finish a project I get to give it back to her! And we consult: some of those boxy sleeveless pullovers and some hopelessly matted mohair went out with the trash. She is down to one banker’s box of yarn!
PS: A few years ago I finished a cardigan she started for me when I was in middle school. That was the most fun of all.
I have a fair sized stash of yarn. Someone with more perseverance than me might use it all up, which would be a good thing. But since I’m not that person, I’ll make it clear to my family that I do not care what happens to it when I die. My daughter and some of my friendsare knitters but they have their own stash that they chose for themselves. My daughter may want to invite them to come and pick what they’d like or she may decide not to bother and donate it all to the Salvation Army and that’s fine with me. I’ll have had my chance to use it; I don’t need to control what happens to it after I’m gone.
Thank you for sharing! I also inherited a friend’s yarn after she passed. In the amazing collection were also WIPs… some I had seen over the years and some I had not. I was able to turn the pieces into gifts… the back of a sweater became a pillow, the bottom few inches of a vest knitted in the round became a cowl, the magnificent intarsia backs and sleeves became matching throw pillows. The yarn that had been purchased to knit a sweater for a grandson became hats (ran 3 strands together for a superbulky) for 6 grandsons. The unfinished dress for her great grand daughter was finished at a tunic length.
Thanksgiving week, 4 months after she passed, I invited the local family over. There was something for everyone in my friend’s beloved family, and a letter explaining how these Christmas gifts were made with love from their Mom, Grandmother, Greatgrandmother.
Thank you for being my friend, Cathy!
What a beautiful post. I could feel the love and generosity that is such a big part of knitting, as I read this post. Thank you for sharing.
Love learning new stuff lovely blackit
I love this story – and like many others can relate. When I knit with gifted yarn I think of the original owner during the creation of the new item, and hope that owner would be happy with what I’ve done.
Loved your sharing of feelings of gifted stashes. I’ve been the recipient of several stashes and I love holding the same yarn they did. It makes them and their memories a little closer.
Knitting always leaves a legacy. In November of 1974, my only sibling, my 15 year old brother took his life and on my birthday in February my grandmother sent me a beautiful hand knit pullover Aran sweater which I still wear and at the time it was a big hug of love from her and I will never forget how much she meant to me
I have just received my sister’s yarn , after her death this year. I agree so much with the feelings you have while working with her yarn. Was this for her husband? Granddaughters? Or just loved the yarn. I feel closer to her and am honored to continue her passion.
What a beautiful story. My MIL is in her late 70s, and while she is in good health, she and my FIL are downsizing and moving into a condo about 1/3 the size of their current home. A couple months ago, she texted me: “Do you want to come shopping in my yarn store?” I have decided that I will take whatever yarn she chooses to gift me from her stash and what I can’t use I will either give away or sell to benefit a favorite charity of hers.