“Everything goes around, goes around, goes around”

Sidetracked with family gatherings and memories, as you get in December…

My granddaughter, Lili, and I are both wearing jumpers hand knitted with love by our grandmothers. Shown here with an old pic of my mommom, Sara.

December was super busy, applying for exhibitions, marking coursework and preparing for the holidays, so I didn’t manage to write a journal entry last month. I intend to make up for that this month, with some good stories to share. Here is the first one, which I hope you’ll enjoy….

This story is very personal and close to my heart.

“Everything goes around, goes around, goes around…” Sara Gayman

When my granddaughter, Lili, visited me in Scotland last May, I took her to At Birkhill House, (a.k.a. “my happy place”) https://atbirkhillhouse.co.uk/ and she got to meet some amazing characters (some human, some Alpaca)

Lili and I with Percy

I’ve spent a considerable amount of time since then writing and illustrating my first “Textiles Tales”  story for my granddaughter, Lili.  I wanted her to know how much she means to me and felt the need to share my passion for textiles with her, so I wrote “Lili’s Favourite Jumper”. This interactive children’s book is a heartwarming tale of a grandmother who visits an Alpaca farm, befriends Percy the Alpaca and Farmer Lara, and together they learn how to make a jumper for Lili so that every time Lili wears it, she will feel a warm hug from her grandmother who lives far away. The book comes with a hand felted ‘Percy’ character, and, of course, a hand knitted jumper for Lili, made from Percy’s fleece. (The next step is to have this book published, if anyone knows of a reliable publisher, please contact me at marniecollins25@gmail.com, thanks!)

.  In December, I visited At Birkhill House again to show Lara my prototype book and buy more yarn made from Percy’s fleece so that I could, in fact, knit Lili a Jumper from it.  I don’t claim to be an expert knitter, (felting is my thing) but, after several days of knitting over the holidays using Percy’s gorgeous wool, I was pleased that I managed to knit Lili a jumper.

I flew to USA on the 31st December, heading to Philadelphia where I was born and where my parents and much of my family still live, before continuing my journey to Denver to visit my son’s family and sisters in Boulder.

Spending time in Philly was great, and one of the highlights was visiting my Aunt and Uncle.  It was great to catch up with them and show them some felt paintings and felted jewellery I had brought with me.  They were so impressed, and when I showed them ‘Lili’s Favourite Jumper’ my aunt was especially delighted when I reminded her that her mother, my mommom Sara, taught me how to knit. I embarrassingly showed her some mistakes I’d made in Lili’s jumper, and my aunt just laughed, saying “Mom always made mistakes in her knitting.  The neck was always too tight, or the sleeves didn’t fit, in fact, I think I still have a couple of sweaters that she knit for me in High School, that I never wore, because they didn’t fit”. 

My mommom Sara had been filmed “interview style” several years before she passed away, and I asked my uncle if he could send me a copy of the film so I could watch it and share it with my sons. Watching it today, back in Bonny Scotland, my heart warms to see her again.  She tells the tales of how she emigrated to America at the age of 7, and childhood stories leading to adulthood.  One of my favourite stories involves mommom Sara talking about how her sweet sixteen party was a few doors away from where my sister had her first furniture store decades later, smiling and saying “Everything goes around, goes around, goes around”.

I arrived in Denver in time to celebrate my granddaughter’s second birthday. I was relieved that the jumper fit Lili well, and was delighted that she took an instant liking to Percy, the felt alpaca I made her.  We spent much of the next nine days enjoying getting reacquainted and reading ‘Lili’s Favourite Jumper’ together, which has become a wonderful, lasting memory for me.  Perhaps I’ll teach Lili how to knit when she is older so she can knit her granddaughter a jumper, because, as mommom Sara says, “Everything goes around, goes around, goes around”.