Atlas Insider
The Craft of a Life
I always feel the most grounded in the first two weeks of June. Filled with a sort of sweet nostalgia that’s pleasantly heavy. Maybe it’s the thick blanket of heat or the turning of an age or something else entirely. No matter the reason, it feels like a really good time to tell you about my grandmother.
Her name is Virginia Ann, but I have never called her anything but one name: Ita (ee-ta). Her desire to be called abuleita was always going to lose in the fight with a toddler’s hard-headed will and early stage language development. So, Ita it was, and always will be.
This year Ita moved out of her home of 50+ years. The Herculean task of clearing a home of fifty years worth of treasures, trinkets, and life was left to us, her family.
This includes, but is not limited to: a room full of yarn. Carefully sorted and labeled by color, variegated or not, exotic pinks or non-exotic blues, accompanied by boxes of finished and unfinished projects, ideas for projects, hooks and needles, and whatever else you need over a lifetime of crafting. Careful not to step on a bottle of Aleen’s Tacky Glue!
This is where I tell you that Ita is not a knitter—gasp—but instead a prolific crocheter. Although, while sorting through the “Work Room,” as we like to call it, I found a few knitterly items. Like a half-knit sweater, circular needles (still in the original package!), and project labels. (Who’s Nannie? We don’t know!)
I’ve always thought of Ita’s house as a little museum of her storied life—the most important of the relics being the ones she made herself. Now getting to see it all at once, I am struck with the truth that Ita is not just a crocheter, painter, paper-mache-r but an artist. An artist who carefully tells the story of her life with her hands.
Aren’t we all working on a thesis of life that says This Is Who I Am? And as crafters, isn’t it so often a collection of things made by hand that will tell the story of our life when we, inevitably, can no longer tell it ourselves?
So the story of Ita’s life so far is this:
A room full of yarn leftover from afghans that cover the arms of couches in many friends and family member’s homes.
Big and small paper mache angels that bring her presence into every room.
A baby hat and blanket that was too late for the youngest grandchild, but (one day) will be right on time for a great-grandchild.
“Giraffe eggs” just for fun.
A tree of life inspired by time spent in Mexico.
A hat for a daughter.
Isn’t it beautiful that a collection of craft supplies can tell the story of a life?
And isn’t it even more beautiful that I learned how to craft the story of my life from the way she has crafted hers?
Blessed be those who craft, and teach the craft of life.
PS: When I visited her last, she told me to bring the afghan she was working on the next time I came. Yes, you can have a WIP at 95 years old!
Lovely! ❤️
Such beautifully written tribute to your grandma! Thank you.
This is lovely — it turns the usual lament about stuff left behind into the story of a lovingly crafted life and all that can mean.
Lovely.
What a beautiful tribute! Thank you for sharing this!
What a beautiful story. So glad you saw the value in her artists’s life rather than a room filled with junk. And yes I also hope to have a WIP at 95.
Thank you for sharing, Emily! I enjoyed a chance to meet Virginia Ann through her crafting history while also appreciating the universal experiences also described. Such a well-written piece!…. and , as a giraffe-lover, I really really love the eggs!
A lady who answers the call to leave it better than you find it. Inspiring ✍️.
A beautiful, beautiful tribute to the life of and love of your grandmother. As a grandmother myself, I look around my “craft” room filled with my stash of yarn, embroidery and sewing supplies, paper and WIP scrapbooks and feel this need to hurry to complete. Reading your words gives me the perspective that what doesn’t get completed or used might just be the source of inspiration or even a gift to a future crafter. Thank you for sharing her story.
Welcome, Emily!! I love this homage to your grandmother and crafting. She is an artist! My grandmother, a knitter, died a few months shy of her 100th birthday. How I wish I had been knitting at the time. Oh, to have a pair of her pins!
And I love this: “Yes, you can have a WIP at 95 years old!” A new knitting goal!
I love this! My Gran had a similar legacy.
Beautiful! I feel a little better about my “workroom” now
Delightful! Yes a “storied life of crafting”. Thank-you for sharing.
A wonderful story Emily!
A beautiful story. After my mother-in-law passed away and father-in-law was living in assisted living, we started on the house they had lived in since 1963. Since he wasn’t keen on selling the house or getting rid of his possessions, we began our work in her “sewing room”. Some things were garbage (why did you save the felt that was all cut up already, Jo?). Some things were treasures. If she liked a design, she bought it, the fabric to stitch on and all the threads. Ready-made kits! I took most of her unfinished canvas thread works. I learned really fast how to do it and I am happy to say I am on the last one (unless my sister-in-law has a couple squirreled away). Enjoy your treasure hunt.
What a beautiful testament to a well lived life! My grandmother was and is, my teacher, inspiration and the most influential person in my life! I too have some treasured memories as well as the knitted, crochet, crafted, and quilted things she either gifted or left behind for me. I miss her every day, but she lives in my heart and every creation she gave me the skills to make!
What a legacy
Welcome to the MDK clan, Emily!! Great job at NashFest.
What a wonderful Ita you have and what wonderful gifts she has passed to you. She will be with you forever.
If you need a home for all that crafting material, please send to Ebb and Flow, a craft thrift shop in Blue Hill, Maine. The owner of the shop, Sofina Paz, will be delighted. And if you are anywhere near mid-Coast Maine, VISIT THIS SHOP! Full of tool, antique textiles, sewing boxes, fabric and yarn!
Thank you Elizabeth, for this suggestion! I am working on downsizing my craft supplies and thought I was going to just throw stuff out. I would much rather donate my treasures.
What a sweet story. How fortunate you and your Ita are to have one another. I always feel sad when I see a pile of yarn and half finished projects at a Goodwill.
My wife’s best friend forwarded your touching story as I am sorting her “sewing room” and finding homes for the treasures she amassed over her 70 years and 50+ years of doing things “for the fun of it”. Our textile artist flowed through multiple interests and was intrigued by each. Some persisted but she was always thrilled by creative pursuits until early onset dementia robbed her and everyone in her orbit. Hats off to the “crafters” of the world and the joy they bring while following passion. Thank you for the lovely reminder.
Finding the daily inspiration to create is a life lived well.
Enjoyed your story and photos so much. Right now I am putting my mother’s needlework room back together after painting. A library of hundreds of magazines and books on knitting, crochet, needlepoint not to mention dozens of half completed knitting and crochet projects still on the needles. And more yarn and pearl cotton than some shops carry. I inherited all of this after she passed away. The stacks of beautiful crochet tablecloths and unfinished knitting projects tell a story. Thank you for sharing yours…
I love this.
A Tree of Life made by Ita is amazing! I love those too and finally bought one on our last trip to Mexico. Well done all around Ita! Thanks for this story.
What a wonderful story Emily! Many thanks for sharing it with us.
Blessed are those whose life and creativity was allowed to continue and grow peacefully like a calm river meandering through the craft’s various aspects. Undisturbed by disruptions brought by major upheavals, like wars or natural disasters that bring sudden destruction to everything that one cherishes or that would mark one’s creative endeavours.
Thank you Emily. Grandmas are to be cherished. Grandpas too.
When we cleaned out my mother-in-law’s house, all the half-finished quilts, crochet and knitting projects were in a trunk, and had obviously been projects that her friends or neighbors had bequeathed her. I donated most of it to Goodwill. In our knitting groups, I’ve heard from many women that they frequent Goodwill to pick up supplies that they re-use for their children’s or grandchildren’s school plays, etc. Or, there’s a project that they have in mind, but don’t want to spend so much in a retail store. I figured that the half-finished project will get finished – in some way or other – by someone who really needs the supplies. I hope my mother-in-law, and all her crafty friends and neighbors long-gone, marvel at the ingenuity of future generations.
What a lovely article. Your grandmother is very special. I hope my grandchildren have fun with my yarn stash one day. I really enjoyed reading this. thank you.