Letter to Kit
Thursday December 07th 2006, 5:35 pm
Filed under: Knit

I wrote this today over at KnitTalk (with a few editorial tweaks here for clarifying) in response to the comment left on the last post, which was also emailed to KnitTalk after Kit didn’t think it went through here. That comment was written by the person who received my Rabbit Tracks shawl in the mail, the white one that I posted about a few entries ago:

Kit, it did go through on my blog, Blogger just doesn’t know how to count, so it looks like the number of comments didn’t change–and wow. Thank you! Wow. I’ve been kind of overwhelmed all day. I’m so sorry for your loss. I wish I could come give you a hug, and I’m so glad you have stitches from me to keep you and your loved ones warm.

Let me tell you about that shawl. It’s the one I’m wearing in an earlier post on the blog, with my grandmother’s big turquoise ring pulled through. When I signed up for the knitswap, I told Margo Lynn that sure, I’d knit a quick scarf for someone, but it had to be in the US, because I currently am not driving and I couldn’t count on being able to get to the post office. I had to be able to just stick it outside for pickup without worrying about it (another reason to keep it small and lightweight).

Sure, no problem.

And then when the emails came in, Margo Lynn just felt strongly that I should be assigned to you. She told me she tried to make the feeling go away, but it wouldn’t, she tried for a few days, but it just was insistent, so finally she gave up and snailmailed me the customs forms, the info on how much postage for how fast a delivery, yadda yadda, so I could still just stick it outside. Then she emailed me and apologized profusely for not setting me up the way I’d asked.

I confess I sat on it for a few days. I was just going to make a quick lace scarf. No more. No biggy. Not something to get in my way much. But the scarf refused to go on my needles, absolutely refused. You’d said in your note she’d forwarded that you were getting married shortly, and my white baby alpaca is so very very soft–not to mention warm, which, being in California, I could only imagine you’d want in Canada for a wedding in the winter. Not that you have to wear it that day (something borrowed: you borrowed my time, perhaps? Very gladly offered, in any case.) But anyway. I wanted to make sure the pattern was something from me personally but not something that would violate the terms of my book contract by putting one of the shawls from it on any kind of public display before publication. So I used the simple Rabbit Tracks pattern that I have had up on my website for a few years. All well and good.

I didn’t know why it was so important that I make what I did. All I knew was, it felt strongly that I was to make you a shawl to celebrate your marriage, and to wish you well in all of your life together to come. I knitted that thing in record time–three or four days. It felt SO wonderful, and that it was SO important. And I had not a clue why till today when you wrote.

My sweet husband, that tall cute guy who manages my blog when the computer drives me nuts, drove me to the post office after all to see the thing off. Turns out he found he was going to lose vacation days if he didn’t take them, so he took them and was available to help out.

And then I sat down with my needles and some red cashmere/merino yarn for three days, had my hubby snap a picture when I got done, and wrote that post thanking Margo Lynn for the knitswap. I’m hoping many people thanked Margo Lynn privately; I haven’t heard a whole lot, but then, I’m not the one to be thanked, she is, so that’s perfectly fine. Kit, your shawl happened because Margo Lynn listened to the persistent feeling that I should be given you as my knitswap partner. Her saying that she’d felt that, even after trying to ignore it–and I think it was important that she mentioned that part to me–is part of what prompted me to go ahead and knit what I knit. And then I tried to convey why I felt so good about the knitswap without saying too much, before you got your package.

I wish for all the world I could bring your fiance’s mother back. But at least I got the chance to send love from me, and by extension, from all knitters everywhere, to you and all those who love you and your mother-in-law-to-be. And your fiance. May your life together be long and forever loving.

All my best,

Alison


4 Comments so far
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I’m sure you have made a difference in Kit’s life. It’s amazing to me how knitters find one another and how people reach out and share love through their knitting often with total strangers. If only the world could have more knitters I’m sure it would be a much better place with much less violence. You are truly a wonderful person Allison

Comment by AM 12.09.06 @ 8:48 am

I don’t know why my last post listed me as “AM” – this is “the other Allison”

Comment by AM 12.09.06 @ 8:49 am

I just started knitting. Rabbit tracks is still beyond my ability but I’m sticking with it. Great to hear other people out there love knitting also.

Comment by Anonymous 04.02.07 @ 9:03 pm

You can do it! I wanted really badly to learn how to do lace, years ago, because I wanted to do Barbara Walker’s Drooping Elm Leaves pattern. It took me an hour to do one repeat with several mistakes, which I then promptly frogged and walked away from–that was enough angst for one moment. But I came back later, tried again, and it came much easier and without mistakes that time. You learn as you go along, and you definitely get better as you go.

Comment by AlisonH 04.03.07 @ 12:02 am



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