I Knit the Highway
three rows to anchor
in the same hieroglyphs
my mother used, columns,
stroked with slanting bars
to toll each line of plain and purl
we used to call ‘angora’
with all its rabbit connotations
while the pattern
labels the garment ‘a gilet’
what happened to bolero?
wore angora boleros
knitted by our mothers
three, five and nine
patting their new gilets
I remember stroking Jennifer’s shoulder
unsure of how to show connection.
This is so beautifully understated and moving, Gail. I love the wry observations about renaming the bolero, a gilet. And the angora /faux fur. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Efi. I just remembered I have used bamboo needles when the old ones were tortoise shell. Not (I hope) they were from a tortoise? Must Google.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they were rom tortoise once upon a time, But all the ones I have known have simply been a colour called tortoiseshell.
DeleteYou brought back some memories!
I really like this. I was intrigued by "I am not good at this". An admission like that always makes me want to read more, much more interesting than a narcissistic expert!
ReplyDeleteIt's true Lisa. My mother was a wonderful knitter who made so many garments for others and so I thought I would knit a cardigan for her. We used to laugh about it as one sleeve was a good bit longer than the other.
Deleteso many memories in wool, and I love the reference to the hieroglyphs. Nice one Gail.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jill. The tally was the only way I could manage.
ReplyDelete