Warm Juju

It’s been cold for weeks. We’re through the election, the holidays and the Inaugural celebration and there is nothing to do now except get over our colds.

The temperatures here are so low that I am wearing three hats, two neck warmers and an old stand-by scarf that I made when I was 17. It’s funny for all of the zillion of things I’ve made that this scarf has stayed with me. I bought the yarn in Australia on my one and only visit there and the only time in my life I ever saw my Granddad Powell. That was 33 years ago.

A good piece of knitting is like a talisman. Energy is knit into each piece and you can feel the comfort of patient attention when you wrap something hand made around you. It protects you.

Great yarns also lend their magic. My yarns are a little like vintage wine, the wool comes from the same stock, yet each season is slightly different. After the death of Mother Trucker, I was happy that I had enough of her vintage left over to knit my grandson a sweater. Yarn of a good era, a grandmother’s love – all I needed was the right pattern.

My grandson is a growing beanstalk so I chose Trellis to sustain him as he gets up off the ground. The pattern is free and if you’re on Ravelry you can see over 600 versions of this pattern. (If you’re not yet on Ravelry and you are knitter, you’re really missing out.) I meandered through the photos to study color finally deciding on red tones, but hadn’t landed on an exact shade. So I left Ravelry and went to my dye books where Karen Kahle’s Vintage Dyes brought me to an old color, Vermont Barn Red. I loved its rich subtlety and with my son-in-law from Maine, I was happy to find a color representing his region.

So there it is. Mother Trucker and her sisters gave the wool, the color pours in from the baby’s father’s side, and I knit while wearing a scarf that brings me the protection of my own granddad. Chains of family spirit linked together in a very simple and meditative craft. Good Juju and something only love and time can purchase.