73. Darning mushroom.
I inherited this sycamore darning mushroom from my mother-in-law. She was a demon knitter and the only female in a household of males. She knitted socks and jumpers, scarves, hats and gloves. Her husband and sons must have given her handiwork quite a bashing because the surface of the mushroom is pitted from years of use. It is a satisfyingly practical object, the wood is light and comfortable in the hand, far superior to the ugly plastic mushroom that I used before inheriting this.
I was taught to patch and darn at school, a place described as being for 'young ladies'. What do 'young ladies' care about patching and darning? Very little, I can tell you! We had to practise these skills on small squares of fabric. How pointless and time-consuming it seemed. I was marked 0.5 out of 10 for all my effort.
My heart still sinks when I discover a small hole and know that I shall have to get out the darning mushroom and set to work.
The museum at No. 1, Royal Crescent, has several of these in their kitchen which they call 'pestles'. I told them that my mother used to darn my socks with them, and they had never heard of such a thing. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI have my mother's mushroom somewhere. I've always though what beautiful things they were. I can still picture her using it.
ReplyDeleteAm I surprised, Tom? Not a bit.
ReplyDeleteBut I bet you've never had to darn with the darned thing, Cro!
I have this exact darning mushroom from my mother. What a good idea this blog is and what lovely things. I shall press on through the hundred and may emulate!
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