By Karrie Beck
It’s been a little over a year since I lost my friend, and grandmother, Lois. Thanks to the help of one truly terrific Blue Water Area resident, Kathy Cole, my grandma’s loving spirit and the truly good life she led, live on.
Loss is a part of everyone’s life and how we choose to handle it is individual. For me, having some of my grandma’s simpler household items around my own home helps me tremendously. Whether it’s the kitchen mixing bowls she used every day, or the old and worn out potholders; each one makes me feel like she’s still part of my life. Without fail, they make me smile.
A person’s idiosyncrasies live on. For my Grandma, my Miney, it’s sweaters. She wore them all the time. Summer or winter, it didn’t matter, she loved her sweaters. Her closet showed this truth well. The array of color, design, and the multitude of fabrics were fantastic. Seeing them as we packed up her things brought back to mind special days and events. I can close my eyes and still feel her hug when I see the pale pink, double knit zip-up she wore when I was five months pregnant with my son. Or the green basket weave V-neck she wore so often. Numerous photos of her wearing these treasures tell the tales. Therefore, I knew they needed to be re-purposed and it had to be in a way that everyone could share in her memory. I gathered up as many as I could safely store and waited for inspiration.
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One spring evening while cleaning out closets, it hit me. I found a pair of mittens that a friend of mine had given me. These handmade mittens were crafted by avid sewer Kathy Cole. She crafted and sold mittens at their annual church craft bazaar and they were perfect! Suddenly I could envision my grandma’s sweaters transformed into something useful that my family could cherish.
Kathy did that and more! She listened as I shared stories about about who my grandma was and the things we did together. She shared stories about her own mother and grandmother and how she learned to sew and loved to create. She suggested adding details, like personal buttons and embellishments that at times reflected my grandma’s own tastes, I thought to myself, “…did these two know one another?” The whole process was so therapeutic. The project grew and Kathy turned my memories into beloved mementos. Not only did she transform the sweaters and shirts into mittens, but pillows too. She blended one of my grandma’s favorite fabrics, corduroy, with the striped green collar shirt she’d worn golfing a hundred times, and turned the yellow floral print button-up she wore on her 80th birthday, into throw pillows for my mom and aunt’s bedrooms. For me, Kathy captured a piece of my grandma’s essence and I’ll forever be grateful to her for the quality pieces she created. It’s obvious she cared for my Miney’s treasured sweaters as though they were her own.
I could never eloquently put into words what that experience did for me, but I had to try. Perhaps you’re like me and you’re looking to re-purpose a special item that once belonged to someone who meant the world to you.
For information on Kathy’s creations, send me an email at: karrie@gbsmediapro.com
