MY MOTHER IN LAW’S MOTHER IN LAW’S TOTE

By now, you all know that I’m not the world’s best photographer.  But, I had to TRY to show you this lovely tote.  Here’s its story.

My mother in law is 87 years old.  She married my now deceased father in law when she was 15 and he was about 20 years old.  My father in law’s mother died when he was two, leaving him and his elder brother.  She was about 19 years old in 1914 when she died.  My FIL’s father remarried a few years later to the woman my husband called periamma (grandma).  At some point early on, periamma crocheted this lovely tote. When I was in Chennai, India (the family home) in November, 2009, my MIL gave the tote to me, knowing that I would appreciate both its history and the lovely thread work.

What surprised me, and what does not show up in these photos, is the vibrance of the colored threads.  They are very strong, bright yellow, red, blue, pink, and green.  The thread is size 20 and the stitches are amazingly even.  This is the kind of tote that a housewife of the era would have carried to the market or have used to tote around her crochet projects. However, this tote is in mint condition so I don’t believe it was ever used.

I feel so honored to have this piece.  It was yellowed but in otherwise excellent condition when I received it.  I soaked it for about a week in Oxyclean, rinsed it thoroughly in cool water, blocked it and laid it to dry on my glass-topped dining room table.   Many of you will know that during the era when this piece was crocheted, there were virtually no patterns for crochet.  My MIL also knits and she has told me that she never had an actual pattern.  One knitter would pass along her knowledge to another so patterns spread around the world this way.  Each artisan would interpret the piece in her own way, adding or subtracting elements to please herself.  It’s amazing to me how reliant we have become on patterns, altho’ there are still places and people who have no access to patterns or can’t read them.

I have very few mementos of this ancestor.  I wish I had known her.  But, I’m sure she would be happy to know that her grandson’s wife cherishes her work.