What We Leave Behind

We came across an interesting article that has some relevance to rug hookers.  It's really about knitting and knitters, but so much of it will resonate with anyone involved in doing hand crafts.  It is a tribute by the writer to her grandmother, and other creators who leave behind things of lasting beauty.  While she waxes poetic about blankets, we can apply the same thinking to the many rugs we create.

You can read the whole thing by clicking on this LINK, but here are some of the pertinent points for us:

I’ve been thinking recently, as friends and family age and get sick and die, about what we leave behind....

What I’ve realized is this: We are the lucky ones.

We are the makers. From our fingers come one-of-a-kind, truly unique items that mean something.

What we make lasts. What we make is useful. What we make is beautiful.

The non-makers of the world leave behind things. They leave vases and furniture and jewelry and silverware. These things are nice to have, but you can’t cuddle a serving spoon. Kitchen tables don’t warm cold feet. Diamond rings don’t dry tears very well (though I’ll certainly give it a shot, if you ask me to).

We, on the other hand, leave behind so much! (Let’s not even think about how many unfinished objects my loved ones would find....if I were hit by a bus today. It’s more than ten, fewer than a hundred. Probably.)

We leave finished objects. We leave sweaters that are out of style but still soft. We leave socks that have a tiny hole in the toe but are still warm. We leave stuffed animals that have been worn into realness, like the Velveteen rabbit.

Best of all, I think, we leave blankets.

Blankets are the Holy Grail of leaving-behind. They don’t go out of style. You can wear absolutely anything under them, including (especially) pajamas. They’re shareable, and even with moth holes and dog-chewed edges, they’re still full of warmth and love.

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Those blankets are the hugs of the knitting world, reminding us of arms that can’t hold us anymore.

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We also leave behind things that are more nebulous, more difficult to measure and store.

We leave knowledge. We leave legacy. We leave attitude.

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We also leave behind unfinished works.

The heartbreaking things are the pieces left unfinished. In Anne of Green Gables, when Ruby dies, Ruby’s mother gives Anne an embroidered centerpiece she’d been working on.

“Ruby would have liked you to have it….It isn’t quite finished—the needle is sticking in it just where her poor little fingers put it the last time she laid it down, the afternoon before she died.”

“There’s always a piece of unfinished work left,” said Mrs. Lynde, with tears in her eyes.
“But I suppose there’s always someone to finish it.”

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We are the lucky ones.

What we make lasts.....

What we make is useful. It’s warm, soft, and comforting.

And what we make is beautiful, just like we are—just like the ones who went before us, and just like those who will come after, the ones with cold feet who will need our leftover warmth and love.