When my mother had to take time off from work while undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer this year, she needed something besides reading (she’s a fantastic reader and can get through a whole book in a day) to keep herself occupied. When I was little, she used to knit baby clothes, pretty ones with flowers and butterflies. As time went by, she found other things to fill her time with (another child and a teenage me, perhaps), and got rid of the needles. But now, two decades later, in need of a new pastime, knitting became well-needed therapy.

While home for the holidays, I was very inspired by this and decided to try my own hand at a scarf. We went to the store, and bought needles and a few skeins of yarn for me. I had completely forgotten how to, but after a few minutes under mom’s tutelage I was knitting away. It was going to be a Christmas present for my boyfriend, a white scarf.

I started with a simple purl, but decided that adding ribbing would be fun, and started doing two purl and two knit. After knitting about four rows, I must have gotten confused and mixed it up, because where there was supposed to be a purl there was now a knit and vice versa. Actually, it didn’t look bad, and I decided to go with this new pattern. A happy accident.

Accidental pattern.

Every night in front of the TV, I worked on my scarf. It was such a joy to see this amazing thing take shape. Buying a similar one would definitely have been cheaper and faster, but to have something that you actually made with your own hands is just so much more valuable. I was showing off my masterpiece in progress to everyone, like a proud mother, and they were all impressed by my craftiness.

Three months later, I finally finished my scarf, after an emergency phone call to my mother because I realized I had forgotten to leave enough yarn for binding off. I modeled it around the house and my boyfriend’s son asked what super-powers it endowed me with. Happiness and hugging were both not acceptable, so I wrapped him up like a mummy in my beautiful handmade scarf. He laughed.

Two therapy scarves.

The most beautiful scarf in the world will always be the one my mother made for me, a gray one with pink stripes (ribbons if you will). She beat the cancer, and inspired me to take up a new hobby. Knitting is her legacy an now my therapy too.