A friend of mine gave me a bag of yarn and needles that had been her grandmother's. She isn't a knitter and didn't feel right that her grandmother's needles sit idle. What type of knitter would I be if I refused beautiful needles and vintage mohair. I believe refusing mohair is just cause for getting my knitting licence revoked.
In the bottom of the bag, I discovered a dilemma. A few years before she passed away, my friend's grandmother began to lose her sight. When her sight began to degrade, she was forced to give up knitting. In the bottom of the bag, still on the needles is the last piece she was working on.
I felt like an archaeologist finding a Pharaoh's tomb. I was holding in my hands something created by a woman I admire. Now I'm in a quandary. I don't know if I should unravel it and use the yarn (it is a beautiful orange/brown mohair) or bind it off and preserve it for my friend.
When I had Women's History classes in college we often discussed how so much of the items created by women were either used up or discarded at inconsequential. Granted, most women's artifacts were of the practical nature, but think of how much more we would know about women in history if their work was preserved.
My desire of preserve this piece of knitting is partly because it shows another side of a woman I admire. A. was a business women who created a small empire that is now being run by her granddaughter.
The yarn is so pretty. Talk to your friend. I am sure that it would be better to talk to her about it and see what she would want. I am she that she would appreciate it if you did preserve it though. Do you know what it was she was knitting? Was there a pattern with it? If so how about finishing it and giving it to your friend.
Good luck on your decision.