We had a great time at the Central Ohio Folk Festival this past weekend. We got to connect with old friends, meet new ones, and even spend some time with folks we’d only known in 2D before – everything is better in 3D, isn’t it?
We stayed in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus on Friday night at the home of a CFMS volunteer and new friend named Linda. She makes a fine vegan chili, I tell you.
On Saturday morning, I sat down in the living room to have a cup of coffee and do some writing when I noticed a knitted afghan on the living room couch, and it stopped me in my tracks.
I recognized the cable pattern immediately.
My mother used to knit this one, I thought. And in this exact color, too!
It even had row of three-tailed tassels along the top and bottom edges, just like she used to make them.
I wonder if this is one of hers?
My mom’s knitting was well known. She knitted and shipped so many afghans and baby blankets and placemats and dishcloths for friends and family all over the world. And here I was, in Columbus, Ohio, admiring this beautiful afghan. I picked it up and looked for the personalized tag she put on many of her creations and did not find it.
Linda walked in a few minutes later, and during the conversation, I said, pointing, ‘I was admiring that afghan.’
She immediately said, ‘Would you like to have it?’
I laughed a little. ‘Oh no, that’s alright—‘ to which she immediately responded with, ‘I have no sentimental attachment to it. I found it secondhand and thought it would go well with the couch.’
I was so tempted to take it.
The only afghan of my mother’s that I have is one that was knitted for a dear friend who gave it to me when she learned that I had never been the recipient of one of my mother’s many creations. (It’s one that I’ve blogged about before.)
I stood there, pondering for a moment, and finally I said, ‘It does go well with the couch.’
And there it remains.
After Linda had left, I carefully folded the afghan lengthwise and laid it across the back of the couch, and I’m so happy to know that it’s still there, regardless of who created it.
Dispatches From The World of Singer/Songwriter Heather Pierson 