The Potholders

This is the story of the potholders. It’s a little thing, but I believe it’s a rare tender mercy and I will forever treasure it.

Evie had brought a pie over for a dinner we had together. It was still hot and so she brought it in with two potholders. After dinner she forgot the potholders and I was so glad that she did because they were the BEST potholders I had ever used. Crocheted out of cotton, they were not intricate or particularly beautiful, but they felt good in the hand and protected from heat like no other I had used.

I kept them.

Finally, nagging guilt made me confess my theft to Evie and in usual form, she laughed and told me I could keep them, that they were easy to make and she had several.

Evie has always been my crochet guru. I can’t knit (even tho’ she tried to teach me) and I DEFINITELY can’t sew, but I’ve always been pretty good with a hook. I asked for her potholder pattern but she told me she didn’t have one. She had been given a potholder to “figure out” how to make one, but alas, could not. Not to be thwarted by a simple kitchen textile, she drove to Sherry Moore’s mother’s house, yarn and hook in hand and demanded to be taught how to make it.

“Show me,” I said. “I will…next time we get together,” she replied.

We got together many, many times after that but never got around to the potholder situation.

I moved to the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

She and John came to visit us. We had a wonderful time, but I didn’t learn how to make a potholder.

Nearly a year went by after their visit and one day, in the mail came a hook, a ball of cotton yarn and hand written instructions explaining how to make a potholder. At the end of the instructions, the note said, “If you can’t figure it out, I’ll show you next time we get together.”

After no less than 12 attempts and 12 times tearing it apart, I successfully finished a potholder.

Evie thought it was funny. She laughed at me.

A week later, Evie left this earth. 

This Christmas, I’m giving all my neighbors potholders instead of cookies. Evie said I had to make them each a pair because giving one potholder was dumb.

My neighbors might think I’m crazy. But I know I’m giving them more than a potholder. I’m sharing a piece of my dear friend. I’ll tell her about it the next time we get together.