Ravelings: My Favorite Sweater

Like many people, especially knitting people, I have a favorite heirloom sweater. This sweater caught me by surprise—I didn’t expect it to become my favorite. It’s acrylic, in shades of brown, black, green, and red. It’s intarsia. It has a never ending halo of pilling, no matter how much I try to eliminate it. How did this garment of polyacrylonitrile made by a veritable stranger become my most treasured and most often worn piece of clothing?

Years ago, my mom owned a small, local yarn store. One of her customers was an elderly woman who spent all her time knitting sweaters and making quilts. She was a frequent customer and knitted with a wide variety of yarns, from luxury hand-dyed to the most economical acrylic. Since she didn’t drive, her husband would bring her to the store, sitting and conversing while she browsed the shelves. She knitted and quilted an incredible number of items, and filled her craft-room shelves with stacks of finished sweaters and quilts. When she passed, her husband was at a loss for what to do with so many garments and blankets. Even after giving away dozens to family and friends, a huge number of sweaters remained, so he brought a stack to my mom’s store, and my mom gave one of them to me.

I have knitted several sweaters in my life and designed a few. I was lucky growing up to have sweaters handknitted for me by family members; there are many childhood photos of me proudly sporting handmade garments. If they were made for me by my mom, she would let me help pick the pattern and the yarn colors. I absolutely loved the handmade garments she created for me. As an adult, I have had sweaters made of cashmere, silk blends, complex lace, and twisting cables. I have had handspun sweaters made from the wool of sheep whom I considered friends. I have designed a couple sweaters that hit that special place in a knitwear designer’s heart, that perfect moment when your vision comes to fruition exactly as you had hoped.

I’m not a yarn snob, but I do typically prefer wool above all else. I love the natural elasticity of wool, the smell, and how closely connected to nature it is. I love natural fibres of all kinds and typically don’t wear synthetics at all. But there is something very special about my favorite sweater, as if it is imbued with a special energy. It’s the legacy, the care and thought of the maker. The love of her husband, who absolutely adored his wife, and how, as part of his grieving process, he made sure that all the items made by her hands found loving homes.

I am one of the lucky ones who inherited a handknitted sweater, and I value every part of its legacy. An heirloom is simply an honored item that is inherited. Its inherent worth is not determined by its fiscal value, but by the legacy, the thought, and the memory that comes with it. This sweater is an heirloom piece, and I treasure it.

Caroline Dick is a Tahltan/Irish 2Spirit knitwear designer, dyer of fibre, and co-founder of Radicle Threads Magazine. She lives on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, where she spends her time knitting and admiring chickens. Find her work on Instagram @cdickdesigns.

This article originally appeared in Interweave Knits Winter 2022.

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