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'It's like it was meant to be': Sweater returns 50 years later to N.S. woman who knit it

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SYDNEY MINES, N.S. -

It's a clothing coincidence a half-century in the making.

Sandra Rice can still recall making a child's cardigan back in 1971 and entering it in the Cape Breton Farmers Exhibition, where it took home second place.

"When I was 18, I did a lot of knitting," Sandra Rice recalled. "After that, I gave the sweater to my sister-in-law for her son. That was 50 years ago, and I hadn't seen the sweater since."

Recently, a friend gave Sandra Rice's daughter-in-law, Stephanie Rice, a vintage yellow sweater that she found at a thrift shop.

Fast forward to a few days ago, when Stephanie Rice and her baby daughter paid Sandra a visit.

"I brought her (the baby) over in the sweater," Stephanie Rice said. “And as soon as I turned the corner, Sandra knew that was the sweater she had made 50 years ago."

While Sandra Rice knew in her gut it was her sweater, it was seeing the tag 'Made Especially for You by Sandra' that really blew her mind.

"I couldn't believe it. I was stunned, astonished," said Sandra Rice. "I couldn't believe it, I was that surprised. And I mean, 50 years later and here's the sweater."

For a half-century of being passed down and donated, the sweater was still in good shape – with one exception.

"The tag was hanging on by a thread," Sandra Rice said. “One more wash, and the tag would have been lost in the washing machine."

"It's like it was meant to be”, Sandra Rice said.

Sandra Rice said it’s a Christmas gift she would never have expected, adding that the sweater will now remain in the family in the years to come.

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