Weebug Knits

A week ago, we were down at my sister's house. My mom, my sister, Fiona and I were all knitting away and I was struck at the diversity in knitting styles and how time has weathered the mainstay of our craft. Our hands.

Papa doesn't knit, but he does use his hands a lot. At 84 (and counting) he regularly works the land with these two hands, the same hands taught me to tie my shoes and plant seeds in our garden, They turned the pages while he read to me and wielded the pencil while explaining the complexities of physics to my stubborn teen-aged brain.

Mom taught me to knit when I was young, neither of us really remembers when the event occurred. These hands also taught me to sew, to crochet, to can. They corrected my English papers and guided me with piano practices. She has been knitting for what seems like for ever. Some day, if I am fortunate enough, I hope to have her guest blog here and tell her knitting story.

I think of my sister's hands as nursing hands. From the time that she was little, that is what she aspired to be. I think of her hands deftly turning fabric through the teeth of her sewing machine, a better seamstress than I ever wanted to be. I remember her playing the flute when she was younger as well. I thought that the ability was cool. I on the other hand, couldn't even get a squwack out of that particular instrument.

My hands. They are starting to show the wear and tear of time. I imagine that at some point they will be come gnarled with arthritis and unable to do some of the things that I can do now.

My daughters hands. They are at the other end of the spectrum. They have lost the baby look and are beginning to take on the maturity that will come with time. They fly over the keyboard, chord the notes of the cello, and are beginning their knitting journey. They carry with them the future of many different things, and who knows what stories they will ultimately tell.

Four pairs of knitting hands. All different and on separate journeys through life. What strikes me is how differently we all hold the yarn and how the resulting fabric is unique to each person. How much like life knitting is.