There are always two parts to a project; what you're knitting and why. We've covered the what (Meema's Felted Marsupial Tote). But for this project, the why was just as important.
I was knitting it to take to my grandmother's funeral.
Although she never taught me to knit, she was a knitter. My mother repeatedly talked of a dress she knit for my younger sister, which was knit and then folded back, to reveal a decorative border. I inherited a lot of her stash, after she move to the care home, when we cleared her house out to sell. I haven't knit any of it yet, but there is some lovely yarn there.
For me, knitting is, at least in part, about connecting with the generations which have gone before. Knitting is a way of connecting with her in her absence. It was only half way through the project that I thought about the name. Meemama was what her great
grandchildren called her. It was as if the knitting fates had approved of my decision.
Her death didn't make me sad for her. She was 97 when she died, had Alzheimer's and no quality of life. My heart broke seeing my dad carrying in her coffin.
Everybody leaves a legacy of some sort. This one is remembered in needles and yarn.
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