Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Most Amazing Woman I Know

Last April I was blessed with a day of knitting with my Gramma.  The purpose of our knitting was so she could teach me how to turn a heel when knitting socks.  She was knitting (on average) a pair of socks or mittens a day.  (I went with my parents and it was the first time in a I-don't-know-how-long that I was sitting in the back of my mom's car!)  When we got to my aunts house, my Gramma was waiting for me with two socks, knit to the heel flap, ready to teach me. She asked me if I wanted to learn her grandmother's way, or the right way.  I told her I wanted to learn her grandmother's way.  And then, something amazing happened. She started to talk about her grandmother.  I have a fairly decent knowledge of family history on my Grampa's side of the family, but Gramma never really told me much about her side. 
Gramma learned to knit when she was 11 years old from her Grammy.  (That's what she said, too. This cute little old lady sitting across from me called her grandmother Grammy.  I don't know why that surprised me, but it did.)  Her Grammy never learned to read or write, she never had a pattern to follow.  All of the measuring she did was with her hand.  The length of the cuff of a sock was the length of her finger.  Different fingers for different sizes.  Her thumb was for a child's, her index finger for a woman's, and her middle finger for a man's.  A sweater was just held up to the person to see if it would fit.  She knew the difference in the width and length of her hand and others in the family, so she could knit mittens for them from memory. 

Gramma is now in a nursing home and today is her 102nd birthday.  She is teaching others in the nursing home to knit.  She has seen a lot and been through a lot.  Just the fact that her fingers are still nimble enough to knit astounds me.  She has an amazing faith in the Lord and trusts Him with his plans for her each and every day.  My Gramma is amazing.


1 comment:

  1. I love this story. You are so fortunate to have a Gramma who shares her knitting knowledge and family stories.

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