Nephew dearest had finally found his soul-mate and life partner…and the entire family breathed again!
Weddings are becoming rarer, and therefore more precious to us senior folks. Talking about marriage is a strict no-no with our strong, sensible and stable children, and one has to just wait patiently for wedding notifications in the inbox.
The wedding dates reached me as soon as they were decided, and I had already figured out what was going from me to this new couple. It would be a knitted throw…something which can be draped over chairs, beds, sofas or themselves. It would be unique and it would have zing and brightness. The wedding was slated for July, so I gave myself some time to ponder over colours and patterns. Quilting books, patchwork tomes and ravelry searches were indulged in. The process was slow, steady and satisfying.
By May, the design had crystallized in my head and it was time to bring the knitter into the picture. After the usual gauge sample, Niru started the individual squares and life was swimming along.
Weekly phone chat with daughter– “Mom, is the present ready?”..Me “Ready? where’s the hurry? I have to get it ready by mid June and then I will send it to you.”…Daughter “Mid-June? both of them would be in the US by then. will you send it to their new home in Texas?”….Me ” what? are they moving in together before the wedding?”…Daughter “MOM!! the wedding is on 4th June. They are leaving India on 12th June AFTER the wedding!”…Me ” 4th June? you have got it all wrong, my dear girl. Its 4th July”….Daughter “MOM!!!”…. Me ” EEks, eeps, oops!!”
And there, instead of a good 8 weeks in hand, I had to complete the project in less than a month. Chaos, confusion and panic reigned supreme.
The squares need to be made by one knitter only.
Changes in tension would skew the final throw pattern.
Niru would require a lot of help and lots more push to complete the throw!
I plunged into emergency mode. Yarn hanks were whirled into yarn balls by me, the stitching of the squares was my department, as well as the final border . It was hours of frantic knitting and sleepless afternoons ( nothing can effect my night slumber), hours of keeping my eyes on the throw and the spread, days of avoiding all time-wasting activities ( surfing the Net, checking Facebook, chatting with the women taking veggies to the market, playing mad games with dogs and monkeys).
Viola….here is the final throw!!! I loved it and I knew it would be cherished and enjoyed by this new couple! After all, we all want some bright colour in our lives! The throw reached them on the first day of their wedded life and it has been admired and complimented by all. I hear there are plans to just frame it and put it on the wall…
Hmm, time to plan and make another one of them.
Time to bring these creations onto the counter.
Time to go to the market with some wares!
Can something that is home knitted look so fine and beautiful?? Wow!!