The Sweater
by Helga · 18 June 2026 · Biography & Memoir
Her mother's lopapeysa has been in the wardrobe for forty years. A unique pattern written on a receipt she can't find. Helga doesn't wear it. It still fits. Some things are for keeping, not using.
My mother's lopapeysa has been in the back of my wardrobe for forty years. She knitted it herself, in a pattern of her own design that I've never seen anywhere else — a ring of small geometric shapes at the shoulder that she said came to her one morning and that she wrote down on the back of a shopping receipt because there was nothing else. I've looked for the receipt. I haven't found it.
I don't wear it. It still fits, which surprised me when I tried it on last winter. I put it on and stood in my bedroom for a moment and then took it off and put it back. Some things are for keeping, not using. I know this is sentimental and I don't care.
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