In Praise Of Her Triumph

This sock,

To you and I, perhaps, a simple exercise,

To her, a labour of love. My mother's right hand, once dominant, now dormant

In its new place -- even now nearly 18 years since the aneurysm and strokes -- as second to the left.

Time once was she lulled me to sleep with quicksilver clicking and sliding of needles, yarn dancing in her hands.

Gifts for herself and others all but flew from her tips.

Today, each stitch a miracle of patience and perseverance.

The woman who dared once more to live, to walk, to speak, to drive, to fight for independence...

The woman who dared not dream of gardening, of grandchildren, of quilting, of knitting...

All these, now, she enjoys,

And with her we celebrate.

We praise her triumph daily.

How could we have predicted the extraordinary work she would do to retrain her left hand, befriend that sinister side, as she determined to knit again, one-handed, nearly fifteen years after the insult? Then on from dishcloth to scarf to sock, and not one but two at a time?

Hers is a simple faith and patience

That each stitch can be made, each technique mastered,

In its time.

Which is saying a lot.

For her time moves more slowly now,

And socks that once would have been the whim of a week now occupy the steady ticking of a year.

But oh, what a glorious year:

Each stitch, each day, a blessing without equal!

Pattern: Mash-Up Magic Toe-Up Socks (MUMTUs) by Zhenya Lavy. Ravelers get it here. Or find it with a full pictorial on Aesthetic Entanglementz.

Modified for a short-row heel.
Started: January 1, 2010, on Orcas Island in the San Juans (WA)

Progress: New Orleans (LA) and Mentor (OH)
Completed: December 17, 2010, in Lake Forest Park (WA)
Materials: Crystal Palace Yarns' Mini Moochi, Green/Purple 103, 2 skeins
Needles: US 2 (40" circular)