Knitted with Love: A Family Legacy of Stitches and Strength

I visited my Mum at the weekend, and watching her brought back a flood of memories. She has always knitted and crocheted, just like her mum, my Nan, did before her.

It was a craft born out of working-class reality. My Nan was raised in a Workhouse, where learning to knit and sew wasn't just a pastime, but a survival skill. She and my Mum lived through the hard years of the Second World War and its aftermath, a time when resources were scarce and simple luxuries didn't exist. My mum actually admitted to me recently that she didn't see a banana until she was 14 years old.

Growing up, I was always the kid at school in the hand-knitted jumper. Later on, when I was at university, Mum and Nan teamed up to knit me these incredible mohair jumpers. I was determined to look like Captain Sensible on the front cover of The Damned’s Machine Gun Etiquette album, and they made sure I had the look down to a tee.

Mum has knitted her entire life. These days, her arthritic fingers make it a painful task, but her spirit hasn't slowed down. Over the last six months alone, despite the quiet daily pain, she has lovingly knitted a mountain of hats and baby cardigans for charity.

That quiet generosity, turning pain into warmth for someone else's child, is just who she is. It’s a legacy of warmth, resilience, and heart, woven into every single stitch.