scifiknitter

A new knitting goal for me is to envision the next person who will use any knit that I make for myself. I am still busily knitting for myself, because I love wearing clothing that I made for myself, and knitting is my preferred craft - and because it is harder than you would think to knit something for anyone else. I’ve gone wrong more often than I care to admit, giving a hand knit that I was proud of, only to see a lukewarm smile on the recipient’s face. This particular project, the Endless Circle Vest designed by Julie Farmer, is especially personal, because I spun all the yarn for it. That process took a lot longer than I expected, and I ended up with a bulkier yarn than was my goal when I started the project. The yarn was consistent, though, and very knitable, so I searched for a project that would work with the amount of yarn I had and that would be forgiving of a yarn that wasn’t mill perfect. The vest is kind of funky, but so is the yarn, and so, for that matter, am I. ...

I continue to knit nearly every day. These days I think of my knitting as my legacy in stitches. Legacies. What will persist beyond our lives? This is something that surely other people think about when they realize that the end of their lives may be nearing. When I think of my life and my work, I realize that my knitting is the work that might endure the longest. My accounting work? The general ledgers of each year I closed will live on as PDF files on a server in Ithaca, but with a document retention schedule of 6 years for nearly everything else, almost every piece of paper I carefully filed away during 13 years of work will be shredded within five years time. I did leave the organization in a healthy financial position so it is more likely endure for many years, and there is a plaque on the wall of a kitchen memorializing my name and my work. I cannot take credit either for the work that the agency continues to do or for its continued operation. My knitting will surviv...