Wednesday, May 18, 2011

My Mother's Progress


My mother looks pretty normal, but I have a sneaking suspicion from all my years of knowing her that on the inside, she is just a teeny-tiny bit loco. For those of you who do not know, she is knitting a bed cover in strips using size 10 crochet cotton on size 2 needles.

She began the project about 3 years ago. With only a helmet liner in between, she has worked on this project steadily, taking only a few short breaks. When she was at full tilt, she knit on it 3 hours a day: an hour in the morning, an hour after lunch, and an hour in the evening. 

She has calculated how many stitches it is--almost 1.4 million. 


I have been asked many times how it is going. As of this month, the knitting part is finished.The cover is made of 15 strips, each with 20 diamonds. That was 300 diamonds to make.

 And the 15 strips are sewn together. Do you see the seam in between the cables?

 

After the bed cover was assembled, she washed it in the washing machine. (She told me that she never left the washer's side.) It was dried on a bed, not the dryer. Do not even think that it went in the dryer.

And now the only thing left is the fringe. The fringe is quite an undertaking. (If you don't believe me yet that she's crazy, you will soon.)

Mom worked on several versions of the fringe before choosing exactly how many strands it needed, how it was to be knotted, and how long it would be. The final contenders are below, and the winner is the longer one on the left.



She chose a book specifically for the size she wanted to wrap the fringe. (Or maybe for how you are supposed to feel about her bed cover.)

 





And she is making hundreds of pieces, each exactly the same length with exactly the same number of strands. She puts them in a box, tied loosely, so that she can just pluck them out to attach them. This is my Dad, plucking one of them to show you:

(I have a strong suspicion that he is particularly impressed with this undertaking.)

A fringe pile:



She bought a comb that had teeth with the proper spacing she needed to comb out the fringe as she made the loops:
And that is where she is. Cutting and combing.

Mom has promised me that when the bed cover is done, we can have a big party for her in the store. I suspect it will be in the fall. Look for the day and time in our newsletter. You are invited. But be warned that this will be one party with no food or beverages.

7 comments:

tinahay said...

Wow, that's just nuts. Wait! I mean, That's tremendous.

The Queen said...

Your mom is amazing. I will come and lift an empty glass in a toast to her amazingness and wondertude.

Jim said...

That is so beautiful.

Cindy in (un) Happy Valley said...

Holy crow!! I'd call that crazy all right....but in a good way!

woolbearers said...

wow -- that is most impressive!

Misty said...

Your mom is hard core! We'll wear white gloves so as not to dirty it if you have a party at the shop.

daniel said...

I'm totally in awe of this.