Grace surprised me with a box in the mail today: a shawl she had designed based on my patterns and that she’d named after me.  Wow. Thank you, Grace! I so totally did not expect that!
Joanne Seiff and I grew up on opposite sides of the Potomac River, fellow Washingtonians and email friends. She has been working on a book, “Fiber Gathering,” a celebration of the various American fiber festivals, and a copy arrived yesterday.
There is a Fishtail vest that was designed by Terri Shea, who, years ago, sent me a copy of the children’s book, “Love You Forever,” having no idea that I’d wished for a copy but hadn’t bought one because my kids were really too old for it; but I used to sing the little poem in it to my friend Lisa’s baby, Tara, whom I designed my Redwood Burl shawl for–Lisa and the by-now-teenaged Tara both, whose story I told in my own book.
Lisa’s family came from Michigan to Sam’s wedding reception five years ago, and I asked Tara if she remembered that song at all; she didn’t, which was no surprise, but someday I hope to sing it to her children. And to my own children’s children.
Terry’s Fishtail is held together in Jeff’s photo by a shawl pin designed by–I don’t see it in the text, but I recognized it instantly–my friend Rosemary Hill. (Wait–“Resources,” pg 160. There it is.) And there were other patterns designed by people I recognized from the Knitlist and whom I’d had a conversation or three with over the years. Going through this book was like reconnecting with old friends.
Then there’s a picture at Estes Park, Colorado, at a spot I recognize: it’s next to where I snapped probably my own best-ever photograph. A friend’s dad had lifted his hand up to a very large bird soaring near us, and it had come and landed at the edge of his hand. There was a backdrop of a single white cloud framing the bird as I shot the picture from below. I will forever think of Estes Park with that breathtaking moment.
I can just imagine all the memories Joanne and Jeff created together as their book came to be.
