For me, this is a piece of art. My blind Mother knit this. Since her blindness settled in for good, she has not been able to complete a single knitting project. It's been five or six years now. She took up knitting again 10 months ago but she has not successfully knitted more than three rows. Her fingers would feel some small hole or mistake and she would rip it all out and re cast to begin over. She could not sit and speak with you without picking up her needles and a few minutes later unraveling what she had done. It was as if her own thoughts were unraveling. Her days were unwinding. Her life was becoming a big knot. Knitting symbolized her current life.
I have been taking care of my mother for almost a month marching steadily towards decline, ill health, and all kinds of trials and tribulations that make her blindness in comparison seem a small and trite thing. I have been pushing her to finish more than three rows and it was with great ceremony that last night we cast off this knitting. This piece has much symbolism for me. Sure, there are holes. At places, it is inside out. It grows. It has many flaws. Isn't this true of us all? I know it is of me. But this is knit by my mother and so am I, knit together with her hands and all her hopes.
After I took a photo of this and told her I was about to share it with my scattered brothers in Asia, she lifted her head away from my voice and asked, "Do you have any thicker yarn in brighter colors?"
We cast a new piece tonight.
Beautiful and poignant, as always when you speak of your mother. Tell her I think her work is both precious and joyful, and we are the lucky ones to have seen it, but you are the lucky one to feel it, to hold it in your hands and treasure it xx
ReplyDeleteYes, it is a treasured piece of art that will warm you forever.
ReplyDeleteI am so touched by this post, it makes me miss my mum in Nanjing. She never knits, she cooks the best food but can't sew a button. The love between mother and daughter is so special. I disagreed with her on so many things, yet I love her so much. That knit piece is indeed a piece of art. Hope your mother feels better everyday. Yanyan
ReplyDeleteYou weave such beautiful words, with emotions tightly woven into the cloth. My mother and I were tied together at the heart from my birth. She has been my best friend for so much of my life. We are such entirely different people, opposites in so many ways, and yet never have there been two people closer. I know we are the lucky ones who have been able to maintain such a love for a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteThis post made me cry.
ReplyDeleteReally.
It humbled me,
and spoke to me like the
silent turning of a page in a book.
I know you love and believe in red threads.
As it happens,
so do I.
Your paintings. your words,
red threads all .
Thank you.
This brings tears to my eyes. The bond that you share with your mother is very heartwarming, and this piece of finery is a precious article. I hope your mother gets better by the day. May God bless you and your dearest mother at all times. :)
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful post! very inspiring, very moving. thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. I wish you and your mother many more moments like this.
ReplyDeletesuch a warm story, very touching - the close bond between a mother and daughter. God bless her!
ReplyDelete"But this is knit by my mother and so am I, knit together with her hands and all her hopes.
ReplyDeleteAfter I took a photo of this and told her I was about to share it with my scattered brothers in Asia, she lifted her head away from my voice and asked, "Do you have any thicker yarn in brighter colors?"
We cast a new piece tonight".
i am certain it has been many, many long months since i cried like this. many. thank you for this gift. i don't know how to name it, but here i hold it, clutching it to my chest.