39 wash cloths completed by 2 December. Gift giving has begun with positive responses, although one of my volunteers guessed it was either a lining for his cod piece OR a wash cloth. Even he admitted it was beautifully knitted, though. The guys (apart from the cod piece remark) were particularly responsive to these gifts, which I didn't expect.
All of the yarn was purchased second-hand and no ball cost more than $1. In the main I got 3 wash cloths out of 2 balls. There are very few scraps left. I will be a making stripey garter stitch cloth for myself with the left overs.
I've been thinking about why these were the perfect items for hospital bedside knitting. Some reasons are obvious -
- portable
- simple
- distracting when necessary
- easily cast aside when required to assist the patient or the staff. With no more than 52 stitches to a row, you're almost always near the end of a row.
- quick - one cloth a day was not uncommon, so a sense of achievement was maintained
- rythmically comforting
Not so obvious reasons included
- something positive to talk about with Mum, visitors and staff that wasn't about illness, hospitals etc. It seems everyone was grateful at some point to have another topic of conversation, even for just a while.
It wasn't until I started wrapping them to give away, however, that I recognised a potential benefit to these knitting these simple wash cloths. The wash cloths were gifts. Intended to be given to other people. Had I been working on a large project for myself or my immediate circle and had Mum died, something that was a very real possibility and almost happened several times, I don't think I would have been able to deal with seeing the item again - it would have reminded me of a loss far greater than 39 wash cloths.
5 comments:
It is indeed a miracle Taph! Well done you! Monumental effort! And all very good reasons for why dishcloths are great hospital items. That's what I made when visiting my dad!
See you this afternoon???
ps glad to hear your mum is still with us.
they are wonderful. youre an inspiration :)
Amazing. I have a high tolerance for repetition and sometimes even miss my old switch-off-the-brain jobs like supermarket shelf stacking. Even so, I think your washcloth achievement is remarkable!
Highly impressive, as ever, my dear :D
Yes, washcloths do indeed seem to the ideal hospital knitting. But there are, of course, also unicorn blankies (which, let's face it, are washcloths).
So glad they're being well received... adds to the sense of achievement and fulfilment.
Glad I stopped by your blog to see how things have been going for you.
Sounds like it's been pretty heavy going there - amazing results with the washcloths though.
Will be back on deck in the new year and very much looking forward to a catch up!
Hope xmas is ok and sending lots and lots of good health vibes.
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