It started when a man who works with my dad asked if I could knit him some socks. He knew a woman who used to make him hand knit socks but can no longer knit due to arthritis.
Then a woman I used to work with last year approached me and asked if I could finish a sweater vest. It was started for a friend of hers by her sister. Then the sister passed away before finishing the project. The woman could not finish the sweater herself and would love to have something made by her sister. I said I would finish it. Most of it is already done. Even some of the seaming.
I started thinking about prayer shawls and about Christmas knitting. When we knit things as a gift we think about the person we are making the item for. When we knit for charity we think about our work going to a good cause. Many would say that we knit a little bit of ourselves into our work. I like to think that when my friends and family put on socks that I have made them or mittens and scarves that they think of me and are kept warm by my good wishes as well as the fabric. I want to believe that the vest will let this stranger keep a little bit of her sister close to her.
Now everyone go and have a cup of tea or hot chocolate and knit some gifts.
