I am one of the photographers here at C&T and have studied photography for the last 10 years. I am not necessarily a crafty person, but I recently started a crafting group with my friends so I could finish some projects that have been put on the wayside for my photography endeavors and to just hang with the girls.
I have been knitting this scarf for the last four years, and what is even worse is that I bought the scarf already half-knitted at an estate sale. You may wonder why a half-knitted scarf was even for sale or why someone would buy a half-knitted scarf. At the time, I was working on a photo project called “Estate Sale” in which I would purchase interesting and soulful items of the recently departed and then photograph them so their possessions could live on in an image. At one estate sale, I came upon the most soft, richly colored yarn that happened to stem from a half-completed scarf. And since most of my time is devoted to my true passion photography-well a half-knitted scarf was right up my alley.
I have done a little here and there and every fall, I will pull it out of my drawer and proclaim that this next winter I will be wearing this scarf! But life gets in the way, and then I end up forgetting how to knit. Well I am determined learn again and finish the scarf this summer with the support of my crafting group, a summer break from school (two more semesters left till I get my MFA in Photo-YES!), and the desire to finish a scarf I saw laying on a chest half-knitted at a estate sale because the woman had passed away-I want to finish it for her most of all.
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3 Comments
Christina, that is such a great story thanks for sharing.
Oooo, your story gave me goosebumps!
Christina, I like the idea for the photography project using estate sale ephemera “left behind”. I can imagine how “unsettling” it would be to leave this earth with the box of unfinished projects I have squirreled away at the moment, not to mention my loved ones and others. Your photographs and attention probably helped countless folks “rest more easy”. My Mom’s little bag of UFOs still lies in a box in my closet; it is five years this summer she passed and I still find it difficult to handle her neatly organized threads and needles. She was working samplers – 1 for each grandchild – which I will complete for her one day very soon. I’m getting there and cannot imagine selling her things and I am certain she rests more easily knowing I, and others, are finishing up her important things. Your fuzzy blue scarf will be done in it’s own time; I think you honor someone with your completion of it.
Suzanne