Today is bitter sweet. I have knitted the last stitch, sewn the last button and woven the last end of Nanny's sweater. This project has been two years in the making. It's not that it was that difficult a sweater to make, but rather it was a project with a lot of emotional ties that had a long time to sit until I was ready to face it again. This yarn and pattern was purchased with the last Christmas gift from my mother-in-law. I began it in the hospital and worked on it in the rehab facility and finished most of the body back at the hospital. Noreen really seemed pleased to see it's development. If truth be told, I was unsure I'd ever be able to finish it. It's only the third sweater I've ever made. Noreen never got to see it completed.
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/cleary/nannys-sweater
Last year I tried to finish it but realized that sleeves I made were two different sizes. I could have fudged a bit and lived with it but I couldn't bring myself to settle for that. I ripped them out and again it sat. Around Christmas time, i realized that we were coming up on two years since Noreen passed and I really had to get the sweater out again. It would not have made Noreen happy to see it sit wasted. So I began again.
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/cleary/nannys-sweater
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/cleary/nannys-sweater
Yesterday I spent the day with good friends and learned how to 'set in' sleeves and I got them set in and seemed up. Today I knitted the collar and button band, sewed the buttons on and wove in all the ends. And that's it. That is the end. This is the end of my time with Noreen. I know intellectually that every time I wear it, I'll think of her and know that she's with me. It's just that the process of knitting this sweater always helped me to remember her and feel like she was still here. Another ending. Another change. Something else is about to begin!
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/cleary/nannys-sweater
I'm so glad you persevered and finished it. It looks great!!
ReplyDelete