Knitting Together
August 22, 2008
On the envelope, it says "Open and begin knitting immediately." Not that I follow directions -- I tend to follow the spirit of the directions -- which is probably why I get lost driving so often. Not that I follow directions, but I open the envelope, and pull out the book immediately. Not the knitting part. I haven't held knitting needles in my hands since I was a young teen. But the book, I open. It is beautiful. This is a knitting book? MASON-DIXON KNITTING OUTSIDE THE LINES. I can't believe it -- I look at every page in the entire book, reading most of it. There are inspirational quotes knitted into what Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner call "A Mystery Sweater" -- from Martin Luther King Jr "The means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek." And Gandhi "You must be the change you want to see in the world." On the back, from Margaret Mead -- one of my childhood heroes -- "Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." This week has been a week of bad news for me, and its impact hurt, but barely damaged my spirit, as my soul has been connecting instantly to smiles and inspirational thoughts and cuddly black cats. I'm a bit puzzled over the knitting. What is it about this knitting book...?
I read a parody about the Knitting Police pulling over a woman who forgets to block her swatch. Huh? And the memory floods back, my mother putting soggy sweaters on towels and calling it blocking. I liked knitting, but lanyards were faster, and I soon fell away from knitting. But, my mother persisted in knitting sweaters and sox.
And then I see it -- the pattern for the Christmas stocking! I don't have my mom, but I have Christmas stockings that she made decades ago for my two sons and their father and me. Each is three-feet long, a foot wide. Mine says Mommy on one side, and Diana on the other. The boys' have teddy bears pictured at the top, along with their names. Every Christmas I met the challenge of filling each stocking to the top. I haven't a clue anymore how to knit, but somewhere inside me there's a woman itching to.
Last page of the book: Mason-Dixon Rule Number 61: Never say never.
On the envelope, it says "Open and begin knitting immediately." Not that I follow directions -- I tend to follow the spirit of the directions -- which is probably why I get lost driving so often. Not that I follow directions, but I open the envelope, and pull out the book immediately. Not the knitting part. I haven't held knitting needles in my hands since I was a young teen. But the book, I open. It is beautiful. This is a knitting book? MASON-DIXON KNITTING OUTSIDE THE LINES. I can't believe it -- I look at every page in the entire book, reading most of it. There are inspirational quotes knitted into what Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner call "A Mystery Sweater" -- from Martin Luther King Jr "The means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek." And Gandhi "You must be the change you want to see in the world." On the back, from Margaret Mead -- one of my childhood heroes -- "Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." This week has been a week of bad news for me, and its impact hurt, but barely damaged my spirit, as my soul has been connecting instantly to smiles and inspirational thoughts and cuddly black cats. I'm a bit puzzled over the knitting. What is it about this knitting book...?
I read a parody about the Knitting Police pulling over a woman who forgets to block her swatch. Huh? And the memory floods back, my mother putting soggy sweaters on towels and calling it blocking. I liked knitting, but lanyards were faster, and I soon fell away from knitting. But, my mother persisted in knitting sweaters and sox.
And then I see it -- the pattern for the Christmas stocking! I don't have my mom, but I have Christmas stockings that she made decades ago for my two sons and their father and me. Each is three-feet long, a foot wide. Mine says Mommy on one side, and Diana on the other. The boys' have teddy bears pictured at the top, along with their names. Every Christmas I met the challenge of filling each stocking to the top. I haven't a clue anymore how to knit, but somewhere inside me there's a woman itching to.
Last page of the book: Mason-Dixon Rule Number 61: Never say never.
Labels: Ann Shayne, books, Christmas stockings, Kay Gardiner, MASON-DIXON KNITTING OUTSIDE THE LINES
posted by Diana Page Jordan @ 3:39 PM
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