Re-surfacing

Saturday, October 20, 2007 in reasons I haven't been posting (an occasional series)
Tags: family

I’ve had a cousin staying with me for about three months. She lives in Melbourne and is on her gap year, visiting our conveniently spread-out family. I wasn’t expecting a long term guest, but it was lovely to have her here and I’m glad that she felt able to just turn up and put herself in our hands.  I am very fortunate in my family – every single person is fascinating and brilliant, and well worth getting to know.

We got on very easily – so easily I was surprised, because I had never paid much attention to her at the various family events that previously brought us together.  Maybe it’s just that she is a little older and more herself.  There is something ineffably familiar about her way of looking at the world that brings up the nature/nurture debate.

Of course, once I had her in my clutches I had to do my best to get my cousin knitting.  She learnt to knit (just that, the knit stitch) at school, but couldn’t cast on or off or purl.  Happily she seemed keen to give it a go, and the first thing she made was a Panta headband from some of my leftover Lion and Lamb. It turned out to be gorgeous, with very firm but even stitches. I said loosen up! Chill out! It’s not trying to run away.

The second project she chose was Eunny Jang’s Endpaper Mitts (wow, I know!). I explained how important tension is in two-colour knitting. “Loosen up!” I said. The first mitt went beautifully. It was still firmer than I would like, but she is tiny and has very small wrists. I said, “try not to knit quite so tightly.” The second mitt went beautifully – they both looked better than the ones I had done as stash busters. Then she put them next to each other. I wish I had taken a picture. The second mitt was perfect in every way, almost one and a half times the size of it’s mate. I should have thought to check, but her gauge had been so consistent (until she relaxed upon beginning the second mitt) that it had not crossed my mind.

Undeterred, she went on and made this rasta-ish hat in LL Fisherman’s wool Black Pearl (the colourway is gorgeous in this pattern), with no input from me at all.  I was inappropriately proud.  One of her last acts was to wash the Jaywalkers that I had lent her for her chilly Australian feet. They were made from Posh Yarn Lucia and semi-felted for extra cosiness. Now they’re really felted and really cosy and have gone from my size 11 to her size 6. I understood what they were trying to say to me. They’re obviously happier elsewhere and have gone on to the US with my cousin.