It is by far the best scarf I own. When I got this assignment and decided to write about this scarf, I looked at it closely, something I don’t think I’d ever done. I was amazed at the intricate work which went into its creation. Since I don’t have any real knowledge of the art of sewing or knitting, I couldn’t describe it in any technical sense. All I see are lines after lines of perfectly stitched wool. It has alternating sections of black and white material. At both ends, the scarf goes out into strings.
I’m not sure if this was for practical or artistic reasons. I can’t even guess how long it took my grandmother to sew this scarf. It stretches for five feet, the longest scarf I’ve ever seen. In her later years, my grandmother lived in a colder climate than I did. That might explain why she made the scarf such a full length. I can remember when I was younger, I was somewhat reluctant to wear it because I thought it was too long and a bit cumbersome. Lately, I’ve come to have more appreciation for the size of it.
I can layer it for warmth and still cover my face with it on particularly windy days. The very high-quality stitching of this scarf is even more remarkable because diabetes had caused my grandmother’s eyesight to deteriorate dramatically in her last years. I suppose a lifetime of sewing experience helped her overcome this handicap. She must have done a great deal of stitching in her life, because I’m sure there was never a time when my grandmother paid someone else to do sewing, or any other domestic activity.
She had eight children, more than twenty grandchildren and more than sixty great-grandchildren. She and her husband, my grandfather, never had a great deal of money to raise their large family, but they managed. Occasionally, I will think of the scarf’s connection to my grandmother while I’m wearing it and in the future, after the time spent writing this essay, I’m more likely to think of
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