A tangled tale of yarn and streaming.
One of the famous characters of one of my favorite authors, Dame Agatha Christie, is Miss Jane Marple. JM is shown as an avid knitter, ‘churning’ and doling out scarves and sweaters one after another, solving mysteries and exposing criminals while giving the appearance of a rather dim and sort of lost and forgetful old maid, whereas she was nothing of the kind! JM was also the favorite of my most favorite person, viz. My Mother.
She too was passionate about knitting. Caps, cardigans, sweaters, scarves, shawls, gloves, tea cozies — for adults and children, ladies and gents, boys and girls — you name it, and she could make it. She had a basket full of yarns of different piles, colors and types. Not to waste a minute, she knitted at home, while traveling, visiting guests — wherever and whenever she could, she would.
Shortly before she departed at the young age of just 42, she knitted a full-sleeved sweater in beige, which kept me warm for years after she was gone. (Her 96th Birth Anniversary is on 28th December).
My wife is equally fond of and dexterous at knitting, and she has introduced our granddaughter (GD) too to this very productive hobby or pastime, depending on how one feels about it. There is a drawer full of knitting needles, through not all from size 50, but from perhaps number 20 down all the way to zero, the diameter being inversely proportional to the number. Both ladies purchased and collected pattern books and knew/know many of the stitches — the two basic ones being Purl and Knit stitch, of course, as well as more complex ones like Garter, Moss, Rib, Seed, and many others.
TIMELINE:
The JM novels/stories took place circa 1914-18, the years of the First War, in Ye Olde England.
My Mother was with me in the 1950s and 60s.
But GD is of the digital age of electronic devices and OTT channels, Netflix being the pioneer, GD has grown up with NF and is also catching up with Grandma’s forte. So it is hardly surprising that she is saddling, in a manner of speaking, both the old and the new.
Hence the new term:
Netflix + Knitting = Knitflixing!
In the cold and wet winter,
The atmosphere outside was frightful,
But the “yam” was so delightful;
And since she had no place to go,
Another row, another row, and another row!
And she managed to finish simultaneously
The knitting as well of the movie,
Did good old GD of the new age!
