About My Mum

My Mum has always knitted for as long as I remember , it was her who taught me to knit.
My Mum knits beautifully and so damn quickly.
I remember the cabled jumpers my dad wore and the reindeer jumpers she made for my brother and I. The school jumpers she made for us. For some reason I don't remember hats or scarves though.
I remember the pattern she couldn't read as it wasn't in English. It was a jumper made from wrist to wrist in two pieces, just a front and a back with no separate sleeves. It had a parrot ( or some bird) that went right across the jumper and around. She couldn't understand the pattern at all and still made the jumper just from the pictures. That jumper is amazing.


When I first tried making a sock my Mum said " Why on earth would you want to make a sock? " I told her I just wanted to see if I could. I wanted to see if I could understand the pattern. My first pair of socks is still unfinished as I finished one and then did most of the leg of the second and ran out of yarn. But I was happy, I could make a sock.
So when Mum saw the Retro Ribby Sock that I am working on I wasn't expecting much of a reaction...It's a sock.......
But Mum loved it. She loved the pattern, she loved the yarn I was using,
she was actually excited about something I was making. (At this point I started pinching myself cause I must have been dreaming)
Mum and I discussed what other yarn she would be able to use to make some.
It turns out she has some BlueBell yarn that should be ok for her to substitute. White Blue Bell yarn that has been sitting in the cupboard from the last baby cardigan she made.23 Years ago. She has yarn that has been sitting there for 23 years.
After 23 years, surely it must fall apart when you pick it up. I asked her if it's still any good after all that time, she says it's fine.

Anyway she sat down to start making herself some Retro Ribby Socks....... got out her yarn, her dpn's. Then she read the label on her yarn and found that as it is so ancient it will need to be handwashed. ( her words).
So she decided she isn't going to be bothered to handwash her socks and didn't make them after all.

WHAT THE?????
Is it really that hard to handwash one pair of socks????
Isn't the specialness of wearing handknit socks worth the handwashing?
She could just buy some other yarn that is machine washable.......
Blah I do not understand my Mum.



So this brings up a question.......... What is the oldest yarn in your stash and how long have you had it for?

Ok two questions......... Are handknit socks worth handwashing for?