What’s Old is New, Again

aside ~ It’s always wiser to begin these posts NOT reading Freshly Pressed blogs…. there are some awfully great writers out there!  

We all know that no one person accomplishes any great feat on one’s own.  We also know that some people are remiss at not giving credit where credit is due.  I believe it most important to realize this, acknowledge the support that I have been given in this art form of knitting, and appreciate from whence my talent has come.

‘Tis the perfect moment, this hot summer day, to recall the beginnings of my journey with knitting as it will take me directly to the Blizzard of ’77 in Buffalo,  NY.

a little history During Winter Break from college the blizzard hit, hitting hard and furious; I was home.   A frozen tundra where life virtually halted… for weeks.  Physically, we were unable to move due to the burial of our homes but emotionally, of course we concerned ourselves with one another, as in any storm, friends and family on the lookout for one another.  In this arena of winter’s fury, somehow digging a trench with a hand shovel, (I do not remember how I ever got out of the house) I found myself at my neighbor’s house.  (no internet, then for check-in) She, an elderly widow, me a young collegiate.  What did we have in common?  In our limited conversation, we covered the basics of our needs and assured our safety of one another.  I was saying my good-byes when I took one last look and…. there she was, with two long sticks (what did I know, then?) in her hand, a ball of yarn upon her lap, and a blissful expression on her face I still can see today.  With the rhythmic sound of tap, tapping in the otherwise silence of the room, I stopped, looked, and listened.  Immediately, I became transfixed.  Off went the outer-wear, I sat down beside her, she knitted and talked, knitted and talked, and the rest is history.  Whether it was her keen interest in the craft, her kindness in teaching me the knitting basics, or her magnificent finished objects I was later privileged to see, I became smitten.  After watching for a spell on that day, she gave me some leftover yarn that she had, navy blue, and a pair of knitting needles, no particular size, and set me out on my first sweater, a basic crew-neck Raglan long-sleeve that I completed and eventually had professionally monogrammed (the style, then).

Mostly as I look back some thirty-five years ago, I remember Mrs. Graf’s knitted suits.  Truth be told, her suits are all I remember from her collection.  Always knitted in stockinette stitch, styled classically, her work was meticulous.

So, to Laura Graf I say thank you, I knit with you in my heart, and I dedicate this post to you.  To my readers, here are my recent efforts at knitting suits, two of three from designer, Calvin Klein.

Vogue Knitting Fall/Winter 1987, fully fashioned, highly cabled and took about a year to knit.

The other, from Vogue Knitting Fall/Winter 1988 … the yarn, each color held double makes for a bulky quicker-to-knit project.

The third suit is in my stash and has yet to be knitted.  Both of these photo shoots were taken near and around the historic sites of the city.  Double check the dates of the issues and you will understand what I mean when I say what’s old is new, again in my wardrobe.

addendum:   Other collections possible even though this ends this series of posts.