Monica Comas Novelist
Journalist
Avid Cook

I’ve spent the early part of spring getting back into knitting. Now, I’ll be honest: I’ve taken up knitting before and didn’t stick with it consistently enough to…well, make it stick. But I longed to rescue this fledgling scarf project of mine, so I signed up for another beginner’s knitting class, which, predictably, led to another scarf project. But this time? I didn’t choose a muted oatmeal yarn. Oh, no, no, no. This time, I selected a deep garnet worsted wool. A bold yarn. A confident yarn! With this gorgeous wool, I vowed to learn an art I’ve been desperate to call my own.

Spring has held other creative pursuits: namely, basket-making. I’ve always been drawn to baskets but never actually made one. Not only did I attend a basket-making class on a farm (a farm!), but after that class, so enchanted with the experience, I joined their subscription club, and now I’m sent these lovely basket kits to make on my own.

This is how spring started for me. And here we are at Mother’s Day, a tender time of year for so many. Little wonder a day dedicated to honoring our mothers anchors a season of rebirth and renewal. Every year I like to do yardwork and plant something in honor of my sweet mom, whom I adored doing yardwork with. We don’t have outdoor space now, so, making the best of it, I rooted some cuttings from a plant, which I’m going to repot. It’ll be perfect.

But the way recent weeks have unfolded got me thinking. What I didn’t realize while taking these classes and cozying up to new crafty endeavors was that I was doing things that made me feel closer to my mom, tethered to her cheery essence. My traditional way of celebrating her with plants and yardwork expanded this year with these new projects, but the more I think about it, it’s not surprising at all. It feels organic.

That’s because my mom was the ultimate crafter. To be clear, first, she was an expert sewer—she actually made my sister’s wedding dress, which was stunning. But she was also a skilled embroiderer, famously making embroidered felt ornaments with beads and sequins of beloved storybook characters. They’re cherished and every year I hang them on our Christmas tree.

My mom taught me cross-stitch and I loved our trips to JoAnn Fabrics to buy floss and canvases…along with other goodies that inevitably made their way into our shopping baskets. Years ago, my mom gave me her quilted sewing keeper that she’d lovingly packed with sewing notions, a pair of tiny scissors, and a cross-stitch pattern of her very own making.

It won’t surprise you that my mom also knitted. Or that she collected lovely baskets. I’m lucky to have several of her baskets displayed throughout our home…I’m grateful to have some of her knitting needles as well.

In this impetus of mine to re-learn knitting, to make small baskets, I can feel my mom smiling down on me. She gets it, this need to do something arts and craftsy with my hands. Her hands, after all, were the same. And while I get my love of gardening from my mom (playing in dirt, she always called it), I also love to craft. What a joy it’s been to get in touch with my crafting roots—and how perfectly poignant, a thread of my present tying a bow with a thread of my past. I have a feeling my mom is absolutely loving it.

Spring is indeed a special time of year. However you honor your mom or the mother figure in your life this Mother’s Day, my hope is that you find your own gift within the celebration…one that makes the approaching seasons shimmer a little more brightly with meaning.