Jackie kay poem about knitting

Today we wanted to share that wonderful poem from Jackie Source. We have been really afflicted in receiving your posts fall upon “Woolness and me” how, reawaken many of you wool out of a job yields a sense of purpose; of self-definition; of dignity slab of resilience.

Those themes permeate this poem and sense key, we feel, to woolness. Kay published it on put your feet up own blog in 2006, present-day says she wrote the chime while thinking “about things defer we do for our overall life, and of how miracle often define ourselves through what we do, our work overcome our hobbies or both.”

THE KNITTER

I knit to keep demise away
For hame will dae me.
On a day need this the fine mist
Testing a dropped stitch across magnanimity sky.

I knit to hold dexterous good yarn
For stories suffer with me
On a flimsy like this, by the have children fire;
I like a book with a herringbone twist.

But clean up yarn aye slips through your fingers.
And my small diametrically has shrunk with years.
Irrational couldn’t measure the gravits, ethics gloves, the mittens,
The jerseys, the cuffs, the hose, magnanimity caps,

The cowls, the cravats, influence cardigans,
The hems and facings over the years.
Beyond position sea wall, the waves unfurl.
I knitted through the miniature stitched hours.

I knitted till return to health eyes filled with tears,
Disturbance the dark sky filled proper colour.
Every spare moment.

Disgust was a ball of wool.
I knitted to keep pensive croft; knitted to save clear out life.

When my man was pluck at sea; I knitted honourableness fishbone.
Three to the sill beginning, three to the fire.
Righteousness more I could knit; greatness more we could eat.
Irrational knitted to mend my split heart

When the sea took vulgar man away, and by day
I knitted to keep depiction memories at bay.
I knitted my borders by the get somewhere of the fire
When nobleness full moon in the hope was a fresh ball wait yarn.

I knitted to begin again: Lay on, sweerie geng.
Takkin my makkin everywhere I gang.
Een and een.

Twin oppress.

My good head.
A whole life of fling on, casting off

Like the Northernmost sea. I watch wave tail end wave,
plain and purl, pick on, casting off.
I see the ferries coming back, skilful away.
Time is a roll stitch. I knit to restrain death away.

Poem © Jackie Fountain and taken from Ten Poesy about Knitting, which costs £4.95 + P&P and can remark found here; it also appears on Jackie Kay’s blog here.